1
PRE-READING ACTIVITIES
Discussion questions:
 Who wants to have Canadian citizenship? Why? Why not?
 Sit in your groups. Have a group discussion to come up with at least two positive points and
two negative ones (if you can find those!) about living in Canada. The group leader writes
down those sentences on the poster paper for each group.
Vocabulary: Let’s see which group will be the first to copy the meaning for each of the following
words from our paper copy English dictionaries. You may use an electronic dictionary, but note: I
want the English explanation for each word.
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according to (preposition)
apply [for] (verb)
criminal (adjective)
government (noun)
knowledge (noun)
legal (adjective)
prepare (verb)
responsibilities (noun, pl.)
study (verb)
symbols (noun)
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said by someone
to ask for something officially
about crime
the people who run the country
what you know
relating to the law
to get ready
jobs that you have to do
to learn
a sign or object that means something
Taken from: http://www.readingesl.ca/stories/index_canada.html
2
THE CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP TEST (READING PASSAGE)
According to the Canadian government abOut 170,000 people become new citizens of Canada every
year. Permanent residents of Canada must have lived here for at least 1,460 days during the six
years before the date of their application for Canadian citizenship. Applicants may have no
criminal records.
If you want to apply to become a Canadian citizen and you are between the ages of 18 and 54, you
must have benchmark 4 or higher for listening and speaking in English or French. You must also
have some knowledge about Canada. You must write and pass the Canadian citizenship test. On
the test there are questions about Canada’s history, symbols, geography and democratic
institutions. Democratic institutions include parliament (our government) and the legal system (our
laws and courts). On the citizenship test there are also questions about the rights and
responsibilities of Canadian citizens.
There are many ways to prepare for the test. You can take English or French classes. You might
find classes where teachers help you learn about Canada. There is also a book about the
citizenship test called Discover Canada that you can use. A Government of Canada website on the
internet has lots of information about citizenship and immigration. The English pages of that
website are here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
Taken from: http://www.readingesl.ca/stories/index_canada.html
3
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Do you understand the story? Are these sentences TRUE (T) or FALSE (F)? CIRCLE your answer:
1. You must know both English and French to become a Canadian citizen.
T
F
2. If you are 60 years old and you want to become a Canadian citizen, you have to write the
test.
T
3. There are questions about the history of Canada in the citizenship test.
T
F
F
4. If you are in jail, you can still become a Canadian citizen.
T
F
5. You must struggle alone to prepare for the citizenship test.
T
F
/5/
NOW FILL IN THE BLANKS
1. Every year about .................................. people become new Canadian citizens.
2. Canadian laws and courts are part of the ...........................system.
3. You need minimum benchmarks of 4 in ......................... and .................................. language skills to
become a Canadian citizen.
4. The Canadian Citizenship Test is a test of your ....................................... about Canada.
5. Permanent .................................... who have lived in Canada for ..................... days during the
previous ................... years may apply for citizenship.
5x1 =/5/
 How did you do? We will make
8/10
a pass mark for this skill-building reading task.
Taken from: http://www.readingesl.ca/stories/index_canada.html