Opción B - 2 · Inglés PAU Castilla y León Ordinaria (Fase Mejora de Nota) 2023

OPTION B

SOCCER STAR SAYS HIS FAMILY STOPPED FROM LEAVING IRAN FOR SUPPORTING PROTESTS

Ali Daei, a prominent former soccer player in Iran who has expressed support for anti-government

protests said his wife and daughter had departed from the capital, Tehran, legally before the flight made an

unannounced stop on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, where they were questioned by Iranian authorities.

He said his daughter had been released but the doors to the flight were closed by then. He said his family

5 had planned to travel to Dubai and return next week.

The flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed Mahan Air Flight W563 being diverted to Kish

Island, part of Iran, before traveling to Dubai a couple hours later. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency,

believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guards, said a travel ban had been imposed on Mr. Daei’s wife

earlier this month because of her support for the protests. It said she had tried to illegally evade the ban,

10 and that her final destination was the United States.

Mr. Daei is one of several Iranian celebrities who have come out in support of the protests, which

were provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September. The Kurdish woman died after

being arrested by Iran’s morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for

women. The protests rapidly spread across the country and escalated into calls for the overthrow of the

15 theocracy established after the 1979 revolution, making it one of the biggest challenges to clerical rule in

over four decades.

At least 507 protesters have been killed and more than 18,500 people have been arrested, according

to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have

not released figures for those killed or arrested. Iran has also executed some protesters, including a 23-year-

20 old man who was publicly hanged earlier this month. Before his passport was confiscated, Mr. Daei had

urged the government on social media to “solve the problems of the Iranian people rather than using

repression, violence and arrests.” (Fragment adapted from The New York Times.)

2) ARE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? INDICATE THE LINES THAT SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER (1 POINT).

1.

Ali Daei said that his family had never planned to travel to Dubai.

TRUE

FALSE

2.

Mr. Daei urged the government to “solve the problems of the Iranian people.”

TRUE

FALSE