Examen de Inglés PAU Castilla-La Mancha 2024 · Ordinaria

TEXT 1: The First Sign of Civilization

Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist who demonstrated through her studies of primitive cultures that differences in human behaviour are not due to innate differences among individuals, but rather the result of cultural influence on individual development. She was also an advocate for gender equality, human rights and the importance of education in society.

During one of her lectures, she was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But that wasn’t her answer.

Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell and has bound up the wound. Moreover, they must have carried the person to safety in order to be assisted until full recovery. “Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts”, Mead said. We are at our best when we serve others.

Adapted from “The Best Care Possible” by Ira Byock

TEXT 1. QUESTIONS

1. READING COMPREHENSION. (2 POINTS) (0.5 points for each correct answer).

Add TRUE or FALSE and copy the evidence from the text to support your answer. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. No marks are given for T or F.

1.

According to Mead, human behaviour is birth-determined.

2.

The student mentioned thought the first signs of civilization were nothing but material objects ancient people used.

3.

In the animal kingdom, animals die before their broken bone can heal.

4.

A healed femur showed that primitive people were unable to treat injuries.

TEXT 1: The First Sign of Civilization

Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist who demonstrated through her studies of primitive cultures that differences in human behaviour are not due to innate differences among individuals, but rather the result of cultural influence on individual development. She was also an advocate for gender equality, human rights and the importance of education in society.

During one of her lectures, she was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But that wasn’t her answer.

Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell and has bound up the wound. Moreover, they must have carried the person to safety in order to be assisted until full recovery. “Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts”, Mead said. We are at our best when we serve others.

Adapted from “The Best Care Possible” by Ira Byock

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS)

A. LEXICON. (1 POINT) (0.25 points for each correct answer)

Find words or phrases in the text that mean the same as these given.

1.

2.

3.

4.

TEXT 1: The First Sign of Civilization

Margaret Mead was an American anthropologist who demonstrated through her studies of primitive cultures that differences in human behaviour are not due to innate differences among individuals, but rather the result of cultural influence on individual development. She was also an advocate for gender equality, human rights and the importance of education in society.

During one of her lectures, she was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But that wasn’t her answer.

Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell and has bound up the wound. Moreover, they must have carried the person to safety in order to be assisted until full recovery. “Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts”, Mead said. We are at our best when we serve others.

Adapted from “The Best Care Possible” by Ira Byock

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS)

B. PHONETICS. (1 POINT) (0.25 points for each correct answer)

Answer these four questions. Write the number of the line in which the word is found when requested.

1.

2.

How is the ED pronounced in EXPLAINED: / t /, / d / or / ɪd /?

3.

4.

How is the G pronounced in GENDER: / g /, / tʃ / or / dʒ /?

TEXT 2: A Peculiar Skyscraper.

In Vancouver, there's a skyscraper that's taller on the inside than on the outside.

In 2015, Vancouver firefighters conducted a drill in the Quay West residential skyscraper. The interior team climbed the building's stairs to meet the exterior team, which used an extendable platform. The meeting of the firefighters was supposed to happen on the 32nd floor. But when the interior firefighters reached the floor marked as 32, they found that the exterior team was actually 4 floors higher. However, both were technically on the 32nd floor. Where were those four missing floors?

Part of the blame for the disappearance of those floors lies with triskaidekaphobia: the fear of the number 13. This fear leads to some buildings worldwide omitting the 13th floor. In many cases, it's not that the 13th floor doesn't exist, of course; it's just renamed. Sometimes, it's replaced with 12A or the letter M (the 13th letter of the alphabet).

But this superstition would only explain the lack of one floor in the Vancouver skyscraper, not four. This is where we get to a linguistic anomaly. In Chinese, the number 4 is pronounced as /sì/, which sounds quite similar to /sǐ/, the sound of the word "death." Although the ideograms are different (四 for four and 死 for death), the phonetic similarity is striking. And since "four" sounds like "death," it's common for buildings in the Far East to omit any reference to the fourth floor, as well as the 14th, 24th, 34th, and any number ending in four.

But if this fear of the number 4 is an East Asian thing, why does it happen in Vancouver? Vancouver is one of the Western cities with a sizable Oriental community. Furthermore, the architect of Quay West is a man of Chinese descent named James Cheng. This is a clear example of how language can shape reality.

Adapted from Instagram - @pedrotorrijos

TEXT 2. QUESTIONS

1. READING COMPREHENSION. (2 POINTS) (0.5 points for each correct answer). Add TRUE or FALSE and copy the evidence from the text to support your answer. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. No marks are given for T or F.

1.

The firefighters who performed the drill planned to meet on the same floor.

2.

The 13 th floor is never built in any worldwide building.

3.

Number “four” and the word for “death” are pronounced very similarly in Chinese.

4.

Few citizens in Vancouver come from China.

TEXT 2: A Peculiar Skyscraper.

In Vancouver, there's a skyscraper that's taller on the inside than on the outside.

In 2015, Vancouver firefighters conducted a drill in the Quay West residential skyscraper. The interior team climbed the building's stairs to meet the exterior team, which used an extendable platform. The meeting of the firefighters was supposed to happen on the 32nd floor. But when the interior firefighters reached the floor marked as 32, they found that the exterior team was actually 4 floors higher. However, both were technically on the 32nd floor. Where were those four missing floors?

Part of the blame for the disappearance of those floors lies with triskaidekaphobia: the fear of the number 13. This fear leads to some buildings worldwide omitting the 13th floor. In many cases, it's not that the 13th floor doesn't exist, of course; it's just renamed. Sometimes, it's replaced with 12A or the letter M (the 13th letter of the alphabet).

But this superstition would only explain the lack of one floor in the Vancouver skyscraper, not four. This is where we get to a linguistic anomaly. In Chinese, the number 4 is pronounced as /sì/, which sounds quite similar to /sǐ/, the sound of the word "death." Although the ideograms are different (四 for four and 死 for death), the phonetic similarity is striking. And since "four" sounds like "death," it's common for buildings in the Far East to omit any reference to the fourth floor, as well as the 14th, 24th, 34th, and any number ending in four.

But if this fear of the number 4 is an East Asian thing, why does it happen in Vancouver? Vancouver is one of the Western cities with a sizable Oriental community. Furthermore, the architect of Quay West is a man of Chinese descent named James Cheng. This is a clear example of how language can shape reality.

Adapted from Instagram - @pedrotorrijos

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS)

A. LEXICON. (1 POINT) (0.25 points for each correct answer)

Find words or phrases in the text that mean the same as these given.

1.

2.

3.

4.

TEXT 2: A Peculiar Skyscraper.

In Vancouver, there's a skyscraper that's taller on the inside than on the outside.

In 2015, Vancouver firefighters conducted a drill in the Quay West residential skyscraper. The interior team climbed the building's stairs to meet the exterior team, which used an extendable platform. The meeting of the firefighters was supposed to happen on the 32nd floor. But when the interior firefighters reached the floor marked as 32, they found that the exterior team was actually 4 floors higher. However, both were technically on the 32nd floor. Where were those four missing floors?

Part of the blame for the disappearance of those floors lies with triskaidekaphobia: the fear of the number 13. This fear leads to some buildings worldwide omitting the 13th floor. In many cases, it's not that the 13th floor doesn't exist, of course; it's just renamed. Sometimes, it's replaced with 12A or the letter M (the 13th letter of the alphabet).

But this superstition would only explain the lack of one floor in the Vancouver skyscraper, not four. This is where we get to a linguistic anomaly. In Chinese, the number 4 is pronounced as /sì/, which sounds quite similar to /sǐ/, the sound of the word "death." Although the ideograms are different (四 for four and 死 for death), the phonetic similarity is striking. And since "four" sounds like "death," it's common for buildings in the Far East to omit any reference to the fourth floor, as well as the 14th, 24th, 34th, and any number ending in four.

But if this fear of the number 4 is an East Asian thing, why does it happen in Vancouver? Vancouver is one of the Western cities with a sizable Oriental community. Furthermore, the architect of Quay West is a man of Chinese descent named James Cheng. This is a clear example of how language can shape reality.

Adapted from Instagram - @pedrotorrijos

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS)

B. PHONETICS. (1 POINT) (0.25 points for each correct answer)

Answer these four questions. Write the number of the line in which the word is found when requested.

1.

How is the “EA” pronounced in FEAR: / ɜː /, / ɪə / or / eə /?

2.

How is the “S” pronounced in LIE S: /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/?

3.

How is the “TH” pronounced in AL TH OUGH: / ð / or / θ /?

4.

Look for a word containing the sound / ʌ /. (LINE..........)

PART III. USE OF ENGLISH

USE OF ENGLISH. (3 POINTS) (0.5 points for each correct answer).

Choose SIX of these sentences and rewrite them starting with the words given. Only the first six will be corrected. No points will be given for the extra ones. Clearly identify the sentences you choose using the numbers here.

1.

I haven't had my eyes tested for a long time.

2.

"Where did the annual meeting of the World Bank take place?", she asked me.

3.

That blond kid climbed the tree to fetch the ball.

4.

John didn't revise his homework. Therefore, he made a lot of mistakes.

5.

Despite giving up her Japanese lessons, she was still capable of holding a conversation.

6.

I am sorry I didn't apologize to her.

7.

They don't allow parking in the hospital premises.

8.

People think this winter is warmer than ever.

9.

It is not necessary for you to wear a uniform.

10.

Pupils had never taken a tougher maths test.

11.

I was so sorry I told him the truth.

12.

Rose's babysitter always picks her children up outside the school gate.

(Make a question for the underlined part of the answer)

PART IV. WRITING

OPTION 1: Living in the present world rather than in the past has more advantages than disadvantages. Discuss.

Write a composition of at least 125 words discussing the advantages and disadvantages of living in the present world rather than in the past.

PART IV. WRITING

OPTION 2: Do you believe in luck? Can luck change people's lives? Give your opinion.

Write an opinion composition of at least 125 words addressing whether you believe in luck and if luck can change people's lives.