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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63095 Easy Calgary Stampede: rodeo and civic festival

Read the following passage.

A. At the first Calgary Stampede in 1912, the last rider in the saddle bronc finals was Tom Three Persons, a member of the Blood Tribe (Kainai) who had been born at Standoff, Alberta. He was the only Canadian in the finals and the favourite of the home crowd, but for his final ride he drew Cyclone, a black bronc that few riders could handle. In 1912 there was no time limit: a ride ended when either the horse or the cowboy gave up. Three Persons stayed in the saddle until Cyclone had bucked himself tired, and the ride made him the saddle bronc champion of that first Stampede.

B. The event had older roots. Calgary's first agricultural exhibition took place in 1886. The rodeo was the idea of Guy Weadick, an American trick roper who had been to Calgary and thought it a prime spot for a big rodeo, and four local businessmen, among them George Lane and Patrick Burns, backed it with their money. Despite its success, the Stampede was not repeated until August 1919, when a Great Victory Stampede was held after the First World War. In 1923 the annual exhibition joined with the Stampede, and that year Weadick also brought in chuckwagon races, known as the Rangeland Derby.

C. The Stampede opens every July with a parade, and the rodeo and other events run for 10 days. The rodeo has six major events, among them bull riding and steer wrestling, and more than 2 million dollars in prize money. In the chuckwagon races, each wagon is pulled by four horses and accompanied by mounted outriders, and the race starts with a tight figure-eight turn in the infield. A team of veterinarians inspects every chuckwagon horse on arrival and again each night before racing. At Elbow River Camp, visitors can explore 26 tipis and meet Indigenous artisans from the First Nations of Treaty 7.

D. In recent years, animal rights groups have accused the Stampede, and rodeos in general, of cruelty to animals. In 1986, twelve horses were euthanized after chuckwagon collisions and other accidents, and in 2002 six horses were put down after a disastrous pileup in the chuckwagon races. The worst accident came in 2005, when nine spooked horses plunged into the Bow River during the annual trek from the Stampede Ranch into Calgary. Organizers then cancelled that trail ride indefinitely as a precaution. They have also been ordered to prove that livestock are safe during the events, although internal and external investigations have cleared them of any blame.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.

Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.

- 1.
Each chuckwagon horse gets a health check every evening before it competes.

- 2.
Cyclone had thrown more competitors than any other animal at that first rodeo.

- 3.
After 1912, several years passed before the Stampede took place again.

- 4.
Back then, a rodeo ride had no set length and lasted until one side quit.

- 5.
A chuckwagon crash in 2002 ended in the loss of several horses.

- 6.
The man who first thought of the rodeo was an entertainer who did clever things with a rope.

- 7.
A yearly ride was called off after several horses ended up in a river.

- 8.
At one area of the grounds, guests can talk with Indigenous craftspeople.

- 9.
The single Canadian in the last round went on to win the title.

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