Ejercicio 1 - Option A - 2 · Inglés PAU Aragón Extraordinaria 2021

OPTION A

Svalbard: a place anyone can call home

Located 800km north of mainland Norway in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, Svalbard is the world's northernmost settlement. Citizens of any country are welcome to settle in Svalbard without a visa as long as they have a job and a place to live.

Dutch explorers were the first to pay a documented visit to the islands while trying to find the Northeast Passage to China in 1596. The islands went ungoverned until 1920, when, after World War One, a treaty that guaranteed Norway’s sovereignty over Svalbard was signed by nine countries. The treaty makes Norway responsible for preserving the islands’ natural environment.

Some facts about Svalbard make it one of the most unique places of the planet. There are only 40km of roads on the islands and no roads between different settlements – which are only accessible by boat in the summer or by snowmobile in winter. Since 2012, anyone travelling outside of a settlement (town or village) must carry a firearm due to the threat posed by polar bears. There are no hospitals for pregnant women. A few weeks before their due date women are obliged to go to mainland Norway to have their babies.

Svalbard’s year-round low temperatures – the average high is just 7Cº in summer – also proved ideal for the installation of the Global Seed Vault. This vault has stored more than 980,000 seeds from across the globe since 2008 as a backup in case of a global cataclysm that causes all crops to fail.

2. Answer the following questions according to the information given in the text. Use your own words. (2 points)

a)

Is Svalbard a good place to give birth?

b)

Why is the Global Seed Vault important for nations across the globe?