Examen Inglés PAU Canarias 2024 Junio (Ciencias) resuelto

GRUPO A

Britney Spears’ book is an angry warning

American singer Britney Spears has recently published her autobiography, The Woman in Me, a moving story about a woman subjected to close observation and ridicule throughout her life. As an example, when she was a teenager, journalists repeatedly asked her questions about her breasts and her sex life. As an adult, she was “imprisoned” under a conservatorship* supervised by her father, which took away her most basic human rights for 13 years. During that time, she was not allowed to see her two sons without permission, she could not choose her food or drink and her driving licence was confiscated.

In her book, Spears tells us how, as soon as she exploded onto the pop charts in 1998, the press refused to believe she had any real value as an artist. Since her songs were written for her, she was perceived as a product and puppet of the music industry, not as an autonomous person. Spears’ publicists infantilised her. “No one could seem to think of me as both sexy and talented,” she explained.

Spears’ memoir also recounts her relationship with Justin Timberlake and how, after a devastating abortion, Justin Timberlake left her. A break-up that only increased the appetite for gossip about Spears’ personal life: the media obsessively chased her. Eventually, the pressure became too much, and in 2007, Spears decided to cut off her hair. However, instead of seeing this as an act of strength or rebellion, Spears’ action was used as evidence of instability. Within a year, she had been placed under the conservatorship. Nevertheless, Spears’ writing turns particularly angry when discussing her father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and a failed businessman, as well as an “irresponsible” and “cold” figure who pushed his children too hard and was abusive to their mother.

In her biography, the superstar emphasises that she continued with her career despite her difficulties. The singer carefully documents the millions everyone else made thanks to her work while she was given a strict budget of $2,000 per week.

The revealing book tells how the turning point came when a kindly nurse showed her images of fans discussing the Free Britney movement. Then, with renewed courage, she hired a new lawyer and was finally liberated from the conservatorship system two years ago. But The Woman in Me reveals that there was no happy ending. Although she is free now, it will take her years to recover from the after-effects. What remains, not for the first time, is a cautionary tale about fame and the corrupting influence of money, and bad news for fans hoping to hear Spears’ new music. “My music was my life, and the conservatorship was deadly for that; it crushed my soul,” she admitted.

* Conservatorship: A legal order that the court dictates when a person is considered incapable of managing his or her life and consequently appoints another person to do it.

Fragment adapted from the BBC, October 2023

1. Say whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE according to the text. COPY the evidence from the text. No marks will be given without the evidence. (1.5 points)

a)

Britney’s father is described as caring in her biography.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

Thanks to her followers’ support, Spears’ life began to change.

TRUE

FALSE

c)

The pop icon is ready to continue with her successful career.

TRUE

FALSE

GRUPO A

Britney Spears’ book is an angry warning

American singer Britney Spears has recently published her autobiography, The Woman in Me, a moving story about a woman subjected to close observation and ridicule throughout her life. As an example, when she was a teenager, journalists repeatedly asked her questions about her breasts and her sex life. As an adult, she was “imprisoned” under a conservatorship* supervised by her father, which took away her most basic human rights for 13 years. During that time, she was not allowed to see her two sons without permission, she could not choose her food or drink and her driving licence was confiscated.

In her book, Spears tells us how, as soon as she exploded onto the pop charts in 1998, the press refused to believe she had any real value as an artist. Since her songs were written for her, she was perceived as a product and puppet of the music industry, not as an autonomous person. Spears’ publicists infantilised her. “No one could seem to think of me as both sexy and talented,” she explained.

Spears’ memoir also recounts her relationship with Justin Timberlake and how, after a devastating abortion, Justin Timberlake left her. A break-up that only increased the appetite for gossip about Spears’ personal life: the media obsessively chased her. Eventually, the pressure became too much, and in 2007, Spears decided to cut off her hair. However, instead of seeing this as an act of strength or rebellion, Spears’ action was used as evidence of instability. Within a year, she had been placed under the conservatorship. Nevertheless, Spears’ writing turns particularly angry when discussing her father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and a failed businessman, as well as an “irresponsible” and “cold” figure who pushed his children too hard and was abusive to their mother.

In her biography, the superstar emphasises that she continued with her career despite her difficulties. The singer carefully documents the millions everyone else made thanks to her work while she was given a strict budget of $2,000 per week.

The revealing book tells how the turning point came when a kindly nurse showed her images of fans discussing the Free Britney movement. Then, with renewed courage, she hired a new lawyer and was finally liberated from the conservatorship system two years ago. But The Woman in Me reveals that there was no happy ending. Although she is free now, it will take her years to recover from the after-effects. What remains, not for the first time, is a cautionary tale about fame and the corrupting influence of money, and bad news for fans hoping to hear Spears’ new music. “My music was my life, and the conservatorship was deadly for that; it crushed my soul,” she admitted.

* Conservatorship: A legal order that the court dictates when a person is considered incapable of managing his or her life and consequently appoints another person to do it.

Fragment adapted from the BBC, October 2023

2. ANSWER the questions below. COPY no more than 10 words and/or a number from the text to answer each question. [1.5 points]

a)

How long did the legal order that controlled the life of the famous pop superstar last?

b)

How was Spears’ radical transformation in appearance interpreted by the press?

c)

Who helped Britney Spears to put an end to her conservatorship?

GRUPO A

Britney Spears’ book is an angry warning

American singer Britney Spears has recently published her autobiography, The Woman in Me, a moving story about a woman subjected to close observation and ridicule throughout her life. As an example, when she was a teenager, journalists repeatedly asked her questions about her breasts and her sex life. As an adult, she was “imprisoned” under a conservatorship* supervised by her father, which took away her most basic human rights for 13 years. During that time, she was not allowed to see her two sons without permission, she could not choose her food or drink and her driving licence was confiscated.

In her book, Spears tells us how, as soon as she exploded onto the pop charts in 1998, the press refused to believe she had any real value as an artist. Since her songs were written for her, she was perceived as a product and puppet of the music industry, not as an autonomous person. Spears’ publicists infantilised her. “No one could seem to think of me as both sexy and talented,” she explained.

Spears’ memoir also recounts her relationship with Justin Timberlake and how, after a devastating abortion, Justin Timberlake left her. A break-up that only increased the appetite for gossip about Spears’ personal life: the media obsessively chased her. Eventually, the pressure became too much, and in 2007, Spears decided to cut off her hair. However, instead of seeing this as an act of strength or rebellion, Spears’ action was used as evidence of instability. Within a year, she had been placed under the conservatorship. Nevertheless, Spears’ writing turns particularly angry when discussing her father, whom she describes as an alcoholic and a failed businessman, as well as an “irresponsible” and “cold” figure who pushed his children too hard and was abusive to their mother.

In her biography, the superstar emphasises that she continued with her career despite her difficulties. The singer carefully documents the millions everyone else made thanks to her work while she was given a strict budget of $2,000 per week.

The revealing book tells how the turning point came when a kindly nurse showed her images of fans discussing the Free Britney movement. Then, with renewed courage, she hired a new lawyer and was finally liberated from the conservatorship system two years ago. But The Woman in Me reveals that there was no happy ending. Although she is free now, it will take her years to recover from the after-effects. What remains, not for the first time, is a cautionary tale about fame and the corrupting influence of money, and bad news for fans hoping to hear Spears’ new music. “My music was my life, and the conservatorship was deadly for that; it crushed my soul,” she admitted.

* Conservatorship: A legal order that the court dictates when a person is considered incapable of managing his or her life and consequently appoints another person to do it.

Fragment adapted from the BBC, October 2023

3. FIND a word or expression in the text that means… [1 point]

a)

b)

c)

d)

4. READ this conversation and COMPLETE your part. Write the numbers (1-6) and complete each sentence on your exam paper. [1.5 points]

A different holiday

Your parent: Hey, have you got a second? There’s something we want to tell you.

Your parent: It’s just that we want to know what you’d like to do this summer.

Your parent: Sorry, that won’t be possible. Last year, we spent a lot of money and we can’t afford that again.

Your parent: We’d also like something like that, of course, but it’s too expensive.

Your parent: Oh, camping sites! We hadn’t thought about that!

Your parent: That sounds great, it would be like an adventure.

5. Read the following situations and WRITE what you would say in each one to show that you understand the context of the situation. Write between 10 and 25 words. [1.5 points]

a)

You had plans to go to the cinema with your cousin today but you totally forgot about it. Explain what happened.

b)

You had asked your friends to bring some food and drinks to your party but they got nothing. Complain about it.

c)

You are calling the emergency unit of the local hospital. Describe clearly what has happened.

6. WRITE a composition of about 120-150 words on the following topic: [3 points]

Pros and cons of being famous.

GRUPO B

How will throwing soup at the Mona Lisa save the planet?

Now the environmentalists go against the Mona Lisa: they have gone and thrown soup at the most famous

artwork in the world because they think their ideas about climate change are more important than ordinary

people getting to admire da Vinci’s masterpiece.

Two activists from Riposte Alimentaire, a French environmental activist group similar to British

5 JustStopOil (JSO), recently took the opportunity to protest at the Louvre. After emptying a bottle of an

orange liquid onto the Mona Lisa, one of the women protesters was captured on video shouting: “What is

more important: art or the right to a healthy and sustainable diet?” This provocative act was part of a

broader campaign by Riposte Alimentaire and JSO to stop approving new fossil fuel projects.

Thankfully, the painting was not damaged. The Mona Lisa has been behind safety glass since the 1950s,

10 after a vandal threw acid at it. Over the years, there have been other attacks on the painting, and in 2022

another climate activist, a young man camouflaged as an elderly woman so he could get close enough to

the painting, spread cake over the glass while shouting, “Think of the planet!”.

This latest assault on the Mona Lisa indicates the profound and increasingly violent attitude of the climate

movement. They think that their extreme ideas about climate change are more important than ordinary

15 people enjoying the world’s masterpieces. JSO already did something very similar to Van Gogh’s

Sunflowers in 2022, and the similarity is no coincidence: Riposte Alimentaire and JSO are part of the A22

Network, a very powerful and rich environmental organisation.

The climate activists are so sure that the world is about to end that they think almost any action, even if

destructive, is justified. For instance, Extinction Rebellion, another similar organisation, has gone as far

20 as to state that “its activism isn’t about the climate.” Climate change is, they say, just one “symptom of a

toxic system” supposedly defined by white man supremacy, patriarchy, and European colonialism, among

others.

When these greens throw things at great works of art, their aim, apparently, is to expose our decadence.

Surprisingly, some still argue that criticising these actions is not worth it. Of course, this perspective is

25 naive. Some eco-activists have already damaged precious artworks.

Significantly, these kids protesting for environmental causes come from privileged families enjoying a

comfortable life in industrial societies. However, they claim we must put an end to those industrial societies

where they live luxurious lives. It also seems contradictory that those Louvre activists are protesting

against eco-unfriendly farming practices while French farmers are taking to the streets of Paris to oppose

30 the green regulations, which they think make their lives intolerable.

Fragment adapted from The Spectator, January 2024

1. Say whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE according to the text. COPY the evidence from the text. No marks will be given without the evidence. (1.5 points)

a)

Environmentalists do not use aggressive tactics in their activism.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

There is no relationship between the various attacks carried out against famous artworks.

TRUE

FALSE

c)

French rural workers are demonstrating in the capital to support the new environmental laws.