Easy Stories: People

Joan Acosta

www.bestofthereader.ca
bestofthereader.ca
Best of the Reader series of books by Joan Acosta is licensed under
a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative
Works 2.5 Canada Licence.

joan@joanacosta.ca

Copyright 2013

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Contents
Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Susan Aglukark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Jonathan Cheechoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Alix works at a garden centre. . . . . . . . . . . 10

Honoré has a radio show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

A family farm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Mei Yu is a cartoon artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Hannah’s pennies help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Leo helps Sarah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Swedish twins are hockey players . . . . . . . 25

Joannie is an Olympic athlete. . . . . . . . . . . 27

Josh is a Paralympic athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Find it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Answers for exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Welcome
This e-book is part of a series
To the teacher
called Best of The Reader. The stories
in the e-books are from The Westcoast There is a Teachers’ Guide
Reader. It is a newspaper for adults on this website. The guide has ideas
who are improving their English and suggestions on how to use the
reading skills. e-books with students.

Easy Stories: People

This e-book is a collection
of stories from other e-books
in this series. These stories
are at the lowest reading level.

Reading level Acknowledgements

Most of the e-books in this series The author gratefully acknowledges the financial
support of Capilano University for this project.
have three reading levels. This book A special thank you to the learners and teachers
has only one level: who helped choose the articles for this book.
All of the material in this book first appeared in
The Westcoast Reader (1982 to 2009). Some of the
Level 1 articles have been updated. Most of the exercises
and activities for learners are based on material from
The Westcoast Reader Teachers’ Notes (1982 to 2009).

To the reader
✔ You can use this book
in a classroom, with a tutor,
or on your own.
✔ Each story has exercises to go Credits
with it. These exercises can help Photos
Front cover: Rochette, Gbedze, Yu, Sedins: The Vancouver Sun;
you improve your English and Giffin: The Province
Page 5: Aglukark: The Vancouver Sun; sign: Sebastien Lapointe; Page 8: Iva
reading skills. Makarov; Page 9: Canada Post; Page 10: The Province; Pages 12, 14, 16, 19, 22,
25, 27, 29: The Vancouver Sun
Illustrations
✔ You can check your answers Page 5, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 28, 29, 30: Guy Parsons;
Page 8, 10, 11, 12, 14 (map),16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25: Nola Johnston:
at the end of the book. Page 8: (logo) Moose Cree First Nation

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Susan Aglukark

Did you know?

■ Nunavut is a territory
of Canada.

Nunavut

■ About 80 percent
Susan Aglukark is a singer.
of the people in Nunavut
She grew up in Nunavut.
are Inuit.
Susan sings
in English and Inuktitut.
■ Most Inuit
She has won many awards
speak Inuktitut.
for her music.

How do you say it?

Aglukark (say: ah-GLEW-kark)
Nunavut (say: NEW-nah-voot)
A stop sign
in Inuktitut Inuktitut (say: in-NOOK-ti-toot
and English Inuit (say: IN-you-it)
The Westcoast Reader 5/1995

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Is it a or b? Can ada
Circle the correct answers. Here is a list of Canada’s 10
provinces and three territories.
1. Susan Aglukark is a ___. Fill in the missing (capital) letters.
a. singer
Provin ces
b. nurse
1. A
__lberta

2. Susan grew up in ___. 2. __ritish __olumbia

a. Yukon
b. Nunavut 3. __anitoba

4. __ew __runswick
3. Susan sings in English and ___.
a. Portuguese 5. __ewfoundland and __abrador
b. Inuktitut
6. __ova __cotia

4. Susan has ___ many awards. 7. __ntario

a. won
b. sold 8. __rince __dward __sland

9. __uebec
5. ___ is a territory of Canada.
a. Ontario
10. __askatchewan
b. Nunavut
Territories
6. Most people in Nunavut 1. __orthwest __erritories
are ___
a. Haida 2. __unavut

b. Inuit
3. __ukon
6

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Map of Canada

Fill in the names of the missing provinces and territories.

1 N__ __t__w__s__
__ __r__i__ __r__ __ __

7
N__w__ __ __n__l__ __d
Yukon and
• Nunavut
__ __b__ __d__ __

• Alberta •
Manitoba

• Quebec
•
• Prince

• •
Edward
Island
2
__r__ __i__h
C__ __u__ __ __a
6
3 N__ __a
S__ __k__t__ __ __w__ __
__ __ __t__a

5
4 __ __w
__ __ __a__ __o
B__ __n__ __ __c__

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Jon athan Cheechoo

Jonathan Cheechoo
is a hockey player.
He has played for two teams
in the National Hockey League
(NHL).

Jonathan is from Ontario.

He is from
the Moose Cree First Nation.

Jonathan Cheechoo played

for the San Jose Sharks
hockey team for seven years.

Jonathan Cheechoo
Hudson was born in Moose Factory.
Bay It is a small community
Quebec
on James Bay.

James Bay The weather in Moose Factory

Ontario is very cold in the winter.
• Jonathan learned to skate
Moose Factory on a frozen pond.

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Fin ish the chart
Write the singular or plural for each word.

Sin gu lar Plu ral Sin gu lar Plu ral

1. moose moose 8. fox

2. beavers 9. deer

3. mouse 10. salmon

4. bird 11. monkey

5. sheep 12. wolves

6. tiger 13. cow

7. goose 14. calf

Moose
■ Moose live in most parts
of Canada.

■ In the summer, moose live

near lakes and marshes.
They eat water plants.

■ An adult male moose antlers

is about two metres high.

■ Male moose have antlers.

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Alix works at a garden centre

Alix Giffin works What does Alix do?

at a garden centre.
✔ Alix waters plants.
She likes her job.
She says, “ I am always busy.”

✔ She moves plants.

pruning shears

Alix uses pruning shears

to cut off dead leaves.

Alix uses these at work

✔ She helps customers.
Does
trowel this plant
pruning shears need
a lot of
sun?

gardening
gloves watering can
The Westcoast Reader 9/2005 • Adapted from The Province

10

www.bestofthereader.ca
Unscramble the words
Put the words in the right order to make sentences.

1. works centre garden at Alix a

Alix works at a garden centre.

_____________________________________________________________

2. her Alix job likes

_____________________________________________________________

3. busy is always Alix

_____________________________________________________________

Gardening
Fill in the blanks to finish the words.

1 t__
r __
o __
w __l
e 2 __ __ __d__ __ __n__
__ __o__ __ __

3 w__ __ __r__ __ __ 4 p__ __ __ i__ g

__ __n __h__ __ __s
11

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Honoré has a radio show

Honoré Gbedze is from Togo.

He came to Canada in 2000.

Honoré has a radio show.

It has news about Africa.
It also has African music.

Honoré says,
“We have lots of immigrants
from Africa in Canada.
They like to hear news
from their homeland.”

How do you say it?

Honoré (say: on-oh-reh)
Gbedze (say: beh-jeh)
Togo (say: toh-goh)
Honoré Gbedze

Did you know?

✔ Togo is a small country ✔ The official language of Togo
on the west coast of Africa. is French. Many people in Togo
also speak one or more African
languages.

Togo Africa ✔ More than 34,000 immigrants

from Africa live in BC. Most
of these people live in the
Vancouver area.
The Westcoast Reader 9/2008 • Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

12

www.bestofthereader.ca
What’s the word?
Unscramble the letters and write the words on the lines.
1. Honoré Gbedze is from __________________.
goTo

2. He came to __________________ in 2000.

anCdaa

3. Honoré has a ___________________ show.

doair

4. The radio show has news about __________________.

rifAca

5. The show also has African __________________.

ucmsi

Two words in one

Match each word on the left with a word on the right. Then write the new
word on the line.
1. home ball homeland
______________________________

2. news land ______________________________

3. base coat ______________________________

4. down room ______________________________

5. rain paper ______________________________

6. bed town ______________________________

13

www.bestofthereader.ca
 A family farm

Len Gerda

Len and Gerda Kooyman and their seven sons

Len and Gerda Kooyman

have a farm near Chilliwack.
The Kooymans have seven sons. Vancouver

Everyone in the family Fraser Riv

er

helps on the farm. Chilliwack

Chilliwack is 100 kilometres

The Kooymans have 2,000 cows. east of Vancouver.
They milk the cows every day. It is near the Fraser River.

The Westcoast Reader 5/2002 • Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

14

www.bestofthereader.ca
Unscramble the words
Put the words in the right order to make sentences.

1. family farm Kooyman a has The

The Kooyman family has a farm.

______________________________________________________________

2. Chilliwack near The is farm

______________________________________________________________

3. have The 2,000 Kooymans cows

______________________________________________________________

Baby animals Animal sounds

Match each adult animal with Match the animals with
the correct baby animal. the sounds they make.

g
1. cow ___ a. kitten f
1. cows ___ a. quack

2. dog ___ b. lamb 2. dogs ___ b. oink

3. sheep ___ c. fawn 3. ducks ___ c. buzz

4. cat ___ d. gosling 4. lions ___ d. hiss

5. hen ___ e. puppy 5. bees ___ e. bark

6. deer ___ f. chick 6. pigs ___ f. moo

7. bear ___ g. calf 7. frogs ___ g. roar

8. goose ___ h. cub 8. snakes ___ h. croak

15

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Mei Yu is a cartoon artist

Mei’s cartoons

Mei Yu likes to draw cartoons.

Mei (say: may) Yu is 20 years old. How did Mei

She is a cartoon artist. learn new words?
She wrote the word.
Mei is also a teacher. Then she drew a picture.
She teaches children
how to draw cartoons.

Mei was born in China.

She came to Canada in 1989.
She learned English quickly.
“I drew pictures to remember
the English words,” she says.

The Westcoast Reader 1/2007 • Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

16

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Mei teaches you how to draw a pu ppy

1 Start with a big head. 2 Draw the body like a jellybean.

jellybean
candies

3 Keep the legs short. 4 Draw big ears. Add eyebrows.

End the tail in a point.

5 Draw a small nose and mouth. 6 Erase the extra lines.

Make the eyes big. The puppy is finished.

17

www.bestofthereader.ca
 An swer the qu estion s
Write the answers on the lines.
1. Where is Mei Yu from?

She is from China.

_____________________________________________________________

2. When did she come to Canada?

_____________________________________________________________

3. Who does she teach?

_____________________________________________________________

4. What kind of artist is Mei?

_____________________________________________________________

Label the pu ppy

Write the correct words in the boxes.
4.
1. eyebrow

5.

2.
6.

3. 7.

tail ear eyebrow leg nose mouth eye

18

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Hannah’s pennies help

pennies

Hannah

Hannah Newbury is 8 years old.

She collects money
to help homeless people.

☞ More on page 6

Canada’s penny
For many years, Canada had a one-cent coin
called a penny. In 2012, the Canadian Mint
stopped making pennies. Canada’s penny
penny had two maple leaves on it. maple leaf

19

www.bestofthereader.ca
 How does Hannah help?
■ Hannah collects pennies ■ Hannah buys food
and other coins at her church. with the money.

■ She puts the coins ■ Hannah and her mother

in special paper rolls. take the food to a church
in downtown Vancouver.

■ Hannah takes the rolls ■ People at the church

of coins to the bank. use the food to make meals
She gets bills for the coins. for homeless people.

The Westcoast Reader 12/2008. Updage 2015 • Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

20

www.bestofthereader.ca
 What’s the word?
Unscramble the letters and write the words on the lines.

1. Hannah Newbury collects __________________ to help homeless people.

yemon

2. Hannah uses the money to buy ___________________.

dofo

3. Hannah and her __________________ take the food to a church.

rethmo

4. __________________ at the church use the food to make meals.

eoPpel

5. The meals are for homeless people in downtown __________________.

canVuevro

What happened first?

Put the pictures in the correct order.

Number ____ Number ____ Number ____

Number ____ Number ____ Number ____

21

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Leo helps Sarah

Sarah Lepp is 21 years old.

She is disabled.
Sarah uses a wheelchair
to get around.

Leo is a service dog.

He lives with Sarah.
He helps Sarah in many ways.

button for
walk signal

Sarah wants to cross the street.

Leo pushes the button for the
walk signal.

☞ More on page 2 3
The Westcoast Reader 1/2006 • Adapted from The Vancouver Sun

22

www.bestofthereader.ca
 How does Leo help Sarah?

■ Leo opens doors. ■ Leo turns lights on and off.

■ Leo pulls a strap ■ Leo brings things

to open the fridge. to Sarah.

23

www.bestofthereader.ca
Tell Leo what to do
1 2

3 4

Look at each picture and tell Leo what to do.

Turn on the lights. OR Turn off the lights.

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________________________

Can you think of two other ways Leo can help Sarah? Write your answers
on the lines.

1. _____________________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________________

24

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Swedish twins are hockey players

Played in the Olympics

The Sedin twins
also play for Sweden.
They won a gold medal
at the 2006 Olympic Games.

Daniel (left) and Henrik in 2000

Daniel and Henrik Sedin

are hockey players.
They play for
the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sedins are twins.
They are from Sweden.
They came to Vancouver Henrik (left) and Daniel in 2014
in 2000.

Sweden

■ Henrik was voted

the most valuable player
in the National Hockey
League (NHL) in 2010.

■ Henrik and Daniel retired

from hockey in 2018.
Sweden is in northern Europe.
The Westcoast Reader 3/2006, updated 2018

25

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Label the hockey player
Fill in the blanks with words from the box.
skate
1
helmet

puck

hockey stick

Finish the sentences

Use the words in the boxes to finish the sentences.
t wi n s
hockey
1. Daniel and Henrik Sedin are __________________ players.

2. They play for the ____________________ Canucks. ye a rs

V a nc o u
ve r
3. The Sedins are .....................

h o c ke y
4. They are from ____________________.

S we d e
5. The Sedins were 19 ____________________ old in 2000. n

26

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Joannie is an Olympic athlete

Joannie won a medal

Many people
will remember Joannie.
Her mother died
during the Olympics.
Joannie was brave.
She skated and won
a bronze medal.

bronze
medal
Joannie Rochette is 23 years old.
She is from Quebec.
Joannie is a figure skater.
She says, “My dream
is to win a gold medal Did you know?
at the 2010 Olympics.” ■ The 2010 Winter Olympics
were in Vancouver and
Whistler, British Columbia.
How do you say it?
Joannie (say: zho-ann-ee) ■ The 2014 Winter Olympics
Rochette (say: roh-shet)
were in Sochi, Russia.
The Westcoast Reader 3/2009

27
www.bestofthereader.ca
What’
s the Olympic sport?
Match the name of the Olympic sport with the picture.

e
1. bobsleigh (bobsled) ______ a

2. speed skating ______

3. ski jumping _____

4. hockey _____
e

5. figure skating _____ f

28

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Josh is a Paralympic athlete

■ The 2010 Paralympic Games

were in Vancouver and
Whistler, British Columbia.

■ More than 500 athletes

with disabilities competed
in five sports. For example:

sit-ski alpine skiing

Josh Dueck is 28 years old.

He is from British Columbia.

wheelchair
Josh had a skiing accident curling
in 2004.
He broke his back.
Josh cannot move his legs. Update
But he still skis. • Josh won a silver medal at
He uses a sit-ski. the 2010 Paralympic Winter
Josh says, “I want to ski Games in Vancouver.
in the Paralympic Games.” • He won a gold medal and
a silver medal at the 2014
How do you say it? Paralympic Games in Sochi,
Dueck (say: dew-ik) Russia.
The Westcoast Reader 3/2009

29

www.bestofthereader.ca
What’s the Paralympic sport?
Match the name of the Paralympic sport with the picture.

b
1. biathlon ______ a

2. alpine skiing ______ b

3. wheelchair curling _____ c

4. ice sledge hockey _____ d

5. cross-country skiing _____

e

30

www.bestofthereader.ca
 Find it
Look through this e-book to find these pictures. Each one is part
of a larger picture. Write the title of the story that goes with each one.

1 2 3

4 5 6

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________

31
www.bestofthereader.ca
 Answers for exercises
Is it a or b? (p 6) Animal sounds (p 15)
1a 2b 3b 4a 5b 6b 1f 2e 3a 4g 5c 6b 7h 8d
Canada (p 6) Answer the questions (p 18)
Provinces: 1. Alberta 2. British Columbia 1. She is from China.
3. Manitoba 4. New Brunswick 2. She came to Canada in 1989.
5. Newfoundland and Labrador 3. She teaches children.
6. Nova Scotia 7. Ontario 4. She is a cartoon artist.
8. Prince Edward Island 9. Quebec
Label the puppy (p 18)
10. Saskatchewan
1. eyebrow 2. nose 3. leg 4. ear
Territories: 1. Northwest Territories
5. eye 6. mouth 7. tail
2. Nunavut 3. Yukon
What’s the word? (p 21)
Map of Canada (p 7)
1. money 2. food 3. mother
1. Northwest Territories 2. British Columbia
4. People 5. Vancouver
3. Saskatchewan 4. Ontario
5. New Brunswick 6. Nova Scotia What happened first? (p 21)
7. Newfoundland and Labrador Top row: 2 6 4
Bottom row: 1 5 3
Finish the chart (p 9)
1. moose 2. beaver 3. mice 4. birds Tell Leo what to do (p 24)
5. sheep 6. tigers 7. geese 8. foxes 1. Turn on the lights. OR Turn off the lights.
9. deer 10. salmon 11. monkeys 2. Bring me the newspaper.
12. wolf 13. cows 14. calves 3. Open the fridge.
4. Open the door.
Unscramble the words (p 11)
1. Alix works at a garden centre. Label the hockey player (p 26)
2. Alix likes her job. 1. helmet 2. hockey stick
3. Alix is always busy. 3. puck 4. skate
Gardening (p 11) Finish the sentences (p 26)
1. trowel 2. gardening gloves 1. hockey 2. Vancouver 3. twins
3. watering can 4. pruning shears 4. Sweden 5. years
What’s the word? (p 13) What’s the Oympic sport? (p 34)
1. Togo 2. Canada 3. radio 1e 2f 3c 4d 5a 6b
4. Africa 5. music What’s the Paralympic sport? (p 36)
Two words in one (p 13) (possible answers) 1b 2d 3c 4a 5e
1. homeland 2. newspaper 3. baseball Find it (p 34)
5. downtown 4. raincoat 6. bedroom 1. Alix works at a garden centre
Unscramble the words (p 15) 2. Mei Yu is a cartoon artist
1. The Kooyman family has a farm. 3. Leo helps Sarah
2. The farm is near Chilliwack. 4. Susan Aglukark
3. The Kooymans have 2,000 cows. 5. A family farm
6. Jonathan Cheechoo
Baby animals (p 15)
1g 2e 3b 4a 5f 6c 7h 8d

32

www.bestofthereader.ca