The Galápagos Islands, part of the Republic of Ecuador, are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, 906 kilometres (563 miles) west of continental Ecuador. The islands are known for their large number of endemic species and were studied by Charles Darwin during the second voyage of HMS Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

Dear Mr. Hodgkins, I am currently enrolled in an Italian cooking class at St. James and am writing regarding some difficulties I have had doing this subject for the past two weeks. I chose this class out of passion and my liking for the Italian cuisine but it turns out that I made a wrong choice. I would like to know if it is possible to change my subject. I believe that the last day allowed for students to make any changes was Wednesday but, in my situation, the circumstance is uncompromising. I could not reach to the concerned faculty due to certain personal problems and missed the deadline. The fact is that, during the enrollment session, no one mentioned that I needed to be well-versed in Italian, which I’m not. Even the course details didn’t highlight any such requirement for taking up the course, neither did it ask for anything that would certify previous qualification in Italian. This is carelessness from the institute’s side. Therefore, you will comprehend that for me, getting an understanding of what the teacher is saying is beyond comprehensible. I tried taking the help of others for translating the lecture but honestly it went in vain. No one can repeat the whole process and that too for the whole term. All others in the class seem to be familiar with Italian and this leaves me being the only naïve one. Moreover, the tests will begin next month and I have no idea what I am going to do. I certainly don’t want to fail. Also, I would have to continue with the same subject for the whole course which would be really hard. Thus, I am requesting that my current enrollment be transferred from the Italian course to the French cooking class. I am fluent in French. I have even enquired and know that there is a vacancy in the French section. Everything is done on my part. I will submit any additional amount, if required. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to you and the staff and look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Jack Mendes

A. Poutine is an iconic dish in Canada and is made from three simple ingredients: french fries, fresh cheese curds, and gravy. Although the recipe is straightforward, its history is not. There are two different restaurants in Quebec that believe they invented poutine in the mid-20th century. Le Lutin Qui Rit in Warwick was serving poutine—minus the gravy—in 1957, but Le Roy Jucep in Drummondville holds the trademark for ’’l’inventeur de la poutine’’ (the inventor of poutine).

B. Apparently, poutine was becoming such a frequent off-the-menu request that the owner of Le Roy Jucep put it on the menu between 1965 and 1967. The name became synonymous with the dish when restaurant chains became involved, but it could also be linked to the fact that other potato-rich dishes go by the name poutine as well. It’s also been suggested that the name comes from the term pudding (pouding in French). Montreal hosts a competitive La Poutine Week every year in February. Although poutine hasn’t been around for hundreds of years, it quickly captured the appetites of Canadians.

C. Annual poutine celebrations take place in Montreal, Quebec City, and Drummondville, as well as Toronto, Ottawa, Chicago, and Manchester, New Hampshire. Today, it is often identified as quintessential Canadian cuisine and has been called ’’Canada’s national dish’’, though some believe this labelling represents misappropriation of Québécois culture. Many variations in the original recipe are popular, leading some to suggest that poutine has emerged as a new dish classification in its own right, just like sandwiches, dumplings, soups, and flatbreads.

D. A cultural marker, poutine has long been Quebec’s adored junk food before spreading out across the rest of Canada and the United States. It is said to be ’’the perfect thing after a night of drinking’’. Poutine served as a comfort food for the local community after the Lac-Megantic derailment. Three varieties are offered at the Le Cellier Steakhouse at Epcot Center’s Canada pavilion. In 2007, the CBC declared the outcome of an online survey on the greatest Canadian inventions of all time. Poutine arrived at No. 10, beating, among other items, the electron microscope, the BlackBerry, and the paint roller.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.

Ontario says proposed changes to endangered-species regulations will protect species and balance the needs of developers in what critics say is a blow to environmental protection. The Environment Minister Rod Phillips presented major proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act, which gives legal protections to threatened and endangered species as classified by an independent committee. Alterations to the act include additional ministerial oversight and a new pay-in-lieu option rather than damage mitigation. Developers would have the choice to pay a regulatory charge instead of completing on-the-ground activities required by the act to mitigate damage caused through development, such as planting trees of the same species elsewhere.

Mr. Phillips said the cost would be close to those required for mitigation but that there would be further consultation. The money would go into a Crown agency called the Species at Risk Conservation Trust, which will then disburse the funds to third parties to support protection and recovery. The minister would also have the ability to establish guidelines for how the funding is used. Initial response to the pay-in-lieu model was highly critical, with Green Party leader Mike Schreiner calling it a ’’pay-to-kill provision.’’

’’This payment is not … an opportunity for business to walk away,’’ Mr. Phillips said. ’’It is an opportunity for an increased efficiency and a more strategic focus on how we preserve species in their habitat.’’

’’Essentially you’re saying to developers, ’Yeah go ahead and cut the tree down … but if you pay into a fund we’ll do a bit of research,’ ’’ he said to reporters after the presentation. ’’Well you know what? It’s pretty hard to do research when the butternut trees are already cut down.’’

Mr. Phillips used the butternut tree as an example of a species primarily threatened by disease where money from the trust fund could be used to research treatment. He said the proposed changes were made in response to the findings of a 45-day public consultation launched in January. The proposal increases the time frame of listing newly classified species.

’’It is an attack on environmental protection. We’ve heard how the processes to obtain permits can be long, frustrating and unpredictable and how they can shift the focus away from finding the best solutions to protect species,’’ NDP environmental critic Ian Arthur said, adding that changes were designed to streamline processes and create more realistic timelines. Our department needs to work regularly on ecology, wildlife management and community knowledge.

The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO), which manages the list, must also take additional direction from the minister as well as consider a species’ wider geographic area, both inside and outside Ontario, meaning those creatures not at risk in other areas would be candidates for delisting.

’’So now you’re going to be able to put people on there who may not even believe that endangered species are important,’’ said Tim Gray, executive director of the Environmental Defence advocacy group, who called the changes ’’shocking and indefensible’’.