Question 1.1 · Inglés PAU Galicia Ordinaria 2021

TEXT A

Imagine it is 1955 and you live in the USA. If you are black, you cannot mix with white people in public places. You cannot go to the same schools, use the same public toilets or sit together on public transport! This is called “racial segregation” and you could be imprisoned or even killed for not respecting the laws.

In 1955, one black woman refused to give her seat to a white man on a bus. The woman was immediately put in prison. Her name was Rosa Parks. Rosa Lived in Montgomery. She was a respected member of the black community. She worked as a seamstress in a department store and took the bus to work every day. Because she was black, she had to sit in a separate section, at the back of the bus.

December 1 st, 1955 was an ordinary day for Rosa. She was travelling home from work when four white passengers got on the bus. The driver told four black passengers to give up their seats. Three of them did, but Rosa refused. She said “No”. Immediately Rosa was arrested and spent the night in prison. Community leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. decided to protest. They asked black people not to take the bus. Since 75% of bus passengers were black, without them, buses would lose money! For 381 days, Montgomery’s black citizens walked everywhere. Finally, segregation on buses was abolished. This was a small victory, but it changed the USA forever. It sparked the civil rights movement and gave black leaders the confidence to fight for racial equality.

Rosa Parks died in 2005. She never saw Americans elect their first African-American president, Barack Obama in 2008. But Obama said that without Rosa he would not be president. “Were it not for that quiet moment of courage by Mrs. Parks, I would not be standing here today being president” he said.

QUESTION 1. READ TEXT A AND ANSWER THE THREE QUESTIONS BELOW:

1.1. Write a summary of the text in English, including the most important points, using your own words. (approximately 50 words; 0.75 points).