Ejercicio Texto A - Preguntas 1-4 · Inglés PAU Asturias Extraordinaria 2022

TEXTO A: How COVID-19 affects household spending

One of the many changes COVID-19 has caused in me is that I have grown to dislike spending money. Previously, I used to happily spend nearly £3 on takeaway coffees, or lunches for £10, or £9 glasses of wine at wildly overpriced bars. Throw in train and tube fares and the occasional taxi, and a day at the office could easily cost £50 or more. However, COVID-19 changed all that: lockdown has turned me into saving nearly all of my money. I don't travel any more. Even when the shops briefly reopened, I didn't buy any clothes. I now quite often make do with toast for lunch – I am trying to lose weight, so the twin aims of physical and financial health neatly stick together. Does this happen only to me? The first thing to say is that for some people this is not a lifestyle choice. Those who lost their jobs have had to write down all their expenses and plan, and shop in cheaper supermarkets and make things last. Some have even been forced to take their cars off the road to avoid taxes, and their kids have been unable to do their usual sports club activities. These are economies born of necessity. But even those fortunate enough to hang on to their jobs have been cutting back. In part, I think it reflects fear for the future. There also seems to be a new mood that this is no time for excess. The unemployed are suffering, and if people still in work go round wasting their money, that is seen as insulting. Some of my friends enjoy having to shop locally and be less consumer-driven. It feels like a cleaner lifestyle somehow, and it's helped them get out of the habit of unplanned spending and they are shopping more carefully, cutting down on travel costs and socializing after work or during their lunch hour; therefore, their savings, just like mine, have increased significantly since lockdown times. I believe we are all very careful now with our spending plans, which will have serious implications for the economy.

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

1.

Why would a day in the office cost the author of the text at least £50?

2.

Give three saving measures taken by the author of the text in COVID-19 times.

3.

What cuts have those who have lost their jobs been forced to make?

4.

How have the consumption and spending habits of the author's friends changed?