TEXTOS DE SELECTIVIDAD, NAVIDADES 2010
VIOLENCE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Most people think that instinct disappeared out of the human lifestyle as civilization began. This, however, is not in accordance with our natural tendency to violence. Violence could be associated with instinct, so there is no reason in a “civilized world” for violence. In order to compensate for this lack of violence, people become involved in dangerous activities. They watch action films; they read adventure books, etc. But what are the effects of violence in entertainment?
It is commonly thought that people watching violent films get excited and might want to perform violent acts in real life. The results of a test on two groups of children was that those who had played “Street Fighter” behaved more aggressively than the ones playing a peaceful video game. In this respect one could say that the influence is negative.
But there is another, less common explanation regarding the “lost” human instinct of violence: we have to find a way to express this need. In this sense, the influence of violence in films would be positive, because it would satisfy our need for violence. Watching them gives viewers satisfaction, and so they do not have to express their urge for violence in real life.
| (A) COMPREHENSION (4 points) |
a) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)
1) Has civilization suppressed instinct in the human being? Why?
2) Why did one group of children behave more aggressively than the other?
b) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per answer)
3) It is a natural thing to feel the need for violence.
4) A civilized society offers non-violent ways of satisfying violent instincts.
5) Experiments show that the influence of violent video games is not significant.
6) Violent films cannot have a positive influence.
| (B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 points) |
7) Find in the text one synonym for “GENERALLY” (adverb). (0.25 points)
8) Give a noun with the same root as THINK (verb) and a noun with the same root as BEHAVE (verb). (0.5 points)
9) Complete the series with another word of the same semantic group:
FILM, ACTOR, DIRECTOR, … (0.25 points)
10)Turn the following sentence into the active voice. (0.5 points)
Children are easily influenced by violent games.
11) Complete the following sentences: (1 point)
If films were less violent…
Drinking is dangerous for you when…
12) Join the following sentences using an appropriate linker (do not use AND or BUT). Make changes if necessary. (0.5 points)
He was reading a book. Its characters were zombies.
| (C) PRODUCTION (3 points) |
13) WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY YOUR OPTION.
a.- Do you think young people are very violent nowadays? Why?
b.- Write about an action film you have recently watched.
PIE IN THE SKY
It is not clear precisely why, with the whole galaxy at their disposal, extra-terrestrials should wish to visit Hereford. But if local reports are to be believed, the town and surrounding countryside have lately become a magnet for alien visitors. Over the past few months there have been a series of sightings of UFOs in the area, and witnesses’ reports coincide on the appearance of the flying saucers. “It was a big ball of very bright light,” said one woman; “I thought I could see figures with big ears inside it, but to be honest it was moving so fast I couldn’t be sure.”
People have been seeing strange objects in the sky around Hereford for almost two decades now, but never as many as now. “We’re getting three or four sightings a week at the moment,” said one local UFO enthusiast. “I’ve never known anything like it.”
Nobody knows why aliens should be interested in Hereford, although one local butcher has a theory. “It’s our pies,” he explained. “They have the sort of delicate crust and meat filling you just don’t get anywhere else in the universe.”
| (A) COMPREHENSION (4 points) |
a) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)
1) Is Hereford a new destination for UFOs? Why?
2) Is the butcher’s theory believable? Why?
b) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per answer)
3) People in Hereford have been seeing many UFOs in the last few months.
4) Witnesses do not agree on what they saw.
5) One witness saw figures inside the UFO.
6) According to the butcher, the aliens come to Hereford to eat meat pies.
| (B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 points) |
7) Find in the text one opposite of DISAGREE (verb) and one synonym of SOFT (adjective). (0.5 points)
8) Give one noun with the same root as BRIGHT (adjective) and one noun with the same root as REPORT (verb). (0.5 points)
9)Turn the following sentences into reported speech. (1 point)
The UFO enthusiast explained: “I’ve never known anything like it.”
The butcher exclaimed: “You can’t get these pies anywhere else in the universe!”
10) Fill in the gap with a correct preposition. (0.5 points)
The Martians climbed ___________ the UFO, closed the door, and flew away.
11) Give a question for the underlined words. (0.5 points)
People have been seeing strange objects in the sky for centuries.
| (C) PRODUCTION (3 points) |
12) WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY YOUR OPTION.
a) Is there life in outer space? Why?
b) Do you like science fiction films? Why?
THE WORLD’S OLDEST WOMAN
The world’s oldest woman according to the Guinness Book of Records, who attributed her long life to a daily whisky, died in a British nursing home on Thursday, six days before her 115th birthday. Eva Morris died at the Autumn House home in the town of Stone in the English Midlands. “Eva died peacefully in her sleep,” a spokesperson at the home said. “We are very privileged to have nursed her for the last eight years of her life. She was a grand old lady.” Eva Morris, a former domestic servant who was widowed in the 1930s, was said by friends to enjoy the occasional cigarette and to have ridden a bicycle.
The Guinness Book of Records said it could not yet confirm who would succeed Morris as the world’s oldest woman because her death might encourage several candidates. “A Dominican woman says she is 125 years old, but does not have the documents to prove it,” a Guinness spokesperson said. “We don’t doubt that she is 125 years old, but we need to be able to verify it,” the spokesperson continued. “She is gathering the evidence so we may be able to make an announcement.”
| (A) COMPREHENSION (4 points) |
a) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)
1) How long did Eva Morris live in the nursing home where she died?
2) What will the Dominican woman have to do to enter the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest woman in the world?
b) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per answer)
3) Drinking was the cause of Eva’s death.
4) Eva’s husband died in the 1930s.
5) Eva was resting when she died.
6) The people from the Guinness Book of Records do not believe that the Dominican woman is 125 years old.
| (B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 points) |
7) Find in the text one synonym for “QUIETLY” (adverb). (0.25 points)
8) Find in the text the word which has the following definition: (0.25 points)
“person who speaks in representation of a group” (noun)
9) Turn the following sentence into reported speech. (0.5 points)
The director said: “We are very privileged to have nursed her.”
10) Join the following sentences using an appropriate linker (do not use AND or BUT). Make changes if necessary. (0.5 points)
She lived for a long time. She had a whisky everyday.
11) Put the following words in the correct order to make a meaningful sentence.
people / homes / old / in / live / nursing (0.5 points)
12) Give a question for the underlined words. (0.5 points)
She is said to be 115 years old.
13) Complete the following sentence: (0.5 points)
If Eva had lived six more days…
| (C) PRODUCTION (3 points) |
14) WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY YOUR OPTION.
a) How do you imagine yourself when you are 64?
b) Old people: living at home or nursing homes.
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