Examen de Inglés PAU Asturias 2023 · Extraordinaria (2ª lengua extranjera)

Cuestiones del Texto 1. (5 puntos)

Do not copy literally from the text. (1 punto por respuesta = 4 puntos)

1.

What did the channel tunnel opening ceremony consist of?

2.

What three major problems did the channel tunnel have to face before its inauguration?

3.

What were the reasons for the initial poor reception of the channel tunnel by the general public?

4.

Why is Eurostar so successful now?

Cuestión 5 del Texto 1. (1 punto)

Fill the gaps with the correct, most appropriate word in each case. (0,25 por acierto = 1 punto)

5. (A) first, the Eurostar offered no facilities to passengers other than toilets. However, by March 2016, onboard entertainment was provided by GoMedia, (B) Wi-Fi connectivity and (C) to 300 hours of movies and television kept on the trains' servers and accessed using the passengers' (D) devices: smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.

Texto 2

Your smartphone's afterlife

Around 1.5 billion phones are sold a year, which means about as many are thrown away. We replace our mobile phones about every two years; some of them are not really dead but declared obsolete, unsellable or simply unwanted. Once trashed, they end up in landfills, filtering toxic chemicals into the soil. In fact, electronics constitute up to 70 percent of landfills' toxic waste. To avoid being guilty of this, we take our phones to recycling centres.

The components of our electronics include rare earth elements that can be recovered and used as raw materials for the manufacturing of new products. Mobile phones contain precious metals such as gold, silver and copper, as well as other valuable materials, so it makes sense to do whatever we can to ensure that they are recycled. If your electronics can be reused, they will be donated or resold on the secondary market. Devices that will not sell in the US are typically shipped to distributors in South America or Asia. If the electronics are of no use, they are sent to recycling plants. Metal components are then melted down. A few precious metals including gold and palladium are recovered from the molten liquid, but the vast majority of materials are left to burn, releasing chloride, mercury and other vapours into the atmosphere. The alternatives are worse: they are shipped in containers and sold to scrapyards in developing countries such as China, India and Pakistan. There, thousands of workers cook circuit boards to extract the metals within. In the process, they are exposed to nickel, cadmium and mercury, among other toxic fumes, which leak into the surrounding air, ground and drinking water. This can lead to a wide variety of serious health problems, including cancers and birth defects.

Achieving sustainability objectives in consumer electronics requires dedicated effort on the part of producers and buyers, and strong governance to manage them responsibly throughout their lifecycles. Now is the time to conserve the valuable resources that go into their production and to develop and consistently implement methods of reusing, recycling, recovering and replacing our electronics that are safe for humans and the environment.

Cuestiones del Texto 2. (5 puntos)

Do not copy literally from the text. (1 punto por respuesta = 4 puntos)

1.

Is it true that people get rid of their smartphones because they no longer work? Justify.

2.

What is done with the discarded smartphones once they reach a recycling centre?

3.

What are the harmful effects of handling trashed mobile phones on the environment and on people?

4.

What measures should be introduced to promote sustainability and responsible management?

Texto 2

Your smartphone's afterlife

Around 1.5 billion phones are sold a year, which means about as many are thrown away. We replace our mobile phones about every two years; some of them are not really dead but declared obsolete, unsellable or simply unwanted. Once trashed, they end up in landfills, filtering toxic chemicals into the soil. In fact, electronics constitute up to 70 percent of landfills' toxic waste. To avoid being guilty of this, we take our phones to recycling centres.

The components of our electronics include rare earth elements that can be recovered and used as raw materials for the manufacturing of new products. Mobile phones contain precious metals such as gold, silver and copper, as well as other valuable materials, so it makes sense to do whatever we can to ensure that they are recycled. If your electronics can be reused, they will be donated or resold on the secondary market. Devices that will not sell in the US are typically shipped to distributors in South America or Asia. If the electronics are of no use, they are sent to recycling plants. Metal components are then melted down. A few precious metals including gold and palladium are recovered from the molten liquid, but the vast majority of materials are left to burn, releasing chloride, mercury and other vapours into the atmosphere. The alternatives are worse: they are shipped in containers and sold to scrapyards in developing countries such as China, India and Pakistan. There, thousands of workers cook circuit boards to extract the metals within. In the process, they are exposed to nickel, cadmium and mercury, among other toxic fumes, which leak into the surrounding air, ground and drinking water. This can lead to a wide variety of serious health problems, including cancers and birth defects.

Achieving sustainability objectives in consumer electronics requires dedicated effort on the part of producers and buyers, and strong governance to manage them responsibly throughout their lifecycles. Now is the time to conserve the valuable resources that go into their production and to develop and consistently implement methods of reusing, recycling, recovering and replacing our electronics that are safe for humans and the environment.

Fill the gaps with the correct, most appropriate word in each case. (0,25 por acierto = 1 punto)

5. Buying a refurbished smartphone is an alternative (A)

purchasing a new phone. The biggest advantage is the money savings compared to buying a new phone. Refurbished phones (B)

sold at discounted (C)

because, once they have been used, they (D)

be sold as 'new'.

Pregunta 1. Rephrase the following sentences so that their meaning is as similar to the original as possible. (0,25 puntos por acierto = 1 punto)

a)

Living in a village will always seem strange to me.

I will never get used

b)

Our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is in June next year.

By July next year we

c)

It was wrong of you to lie.

You ought not

d)

'You've been giving false information to the Press!' said his colleagues.

His colleagues accused

Pregunta 2. Rephrase the following sentences so that their meaning is as similar to the original as possible. (0,25 puntos por acierto = 1 punto)

a)

Janet accidentally broke the vase. // Janet didn't mean...

Janet didn't mean

b)

In my opinion, you should not park the car so close to the gate. // If I...

If I

c)

Alex didn't drive so carefully as Mary did. // Mary drove...

Mary drove

d)

'How many iPhones were sold in Spain last year?' asked Bob. // Bob wanted to know how...

Bob wanted to know how

Pregunta 3. Write a composition about the following topic (100-120 words). (4 puntos)

Describe a memorable journey by train.

Pregunta 4. Write a composition about the following topic (100-120 words). (4 puntos)

Pros and cons of using mobile phones.