Examen de Inglés PAU Madrid 2021 · Ordinaria Martes

TEXTO A

The Special Olympics

Over 50 years ago, Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw how unjustly people with intellectual disabilities were treated and that many children didn’t even have a place to play. She decided to take action and held a summer day camp for young people with intellectual disabilities in her own backyard. In this camp, these young people could participate in sports and physical activities, focusing on what they could do, and not on what they couldn’t do. This was a revolutionary idea at the time.

In 1968, 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from the USA and Canada competed in the first Special Olympics International Summer Games in Chicago. There, over 200 events were offered – from 100-yard swim to high jump, water polo and floor hockey. The event was so successful that Eunice assured that more games would be held as a “Biennial International Special Olympics”.

The event has grown to become an international competition. In 2003, for the first time, it went to another country, Ireland. Initially, the organisers didn’t expect it, but nearly every country wanted to host the competing nations and their athletes. Ireland took the Olympic Games to its heart. There were around ten thousand volunteers and people came out in the hundreds of thousands to enjoy the spectacle and cheer on the athletes. Any barriers that had existed before between those with and without intellectual disabilities broke down then.

Sport brings people together. Nevertheless, it seldom brings out the levels of shared empathy and joy as the Special Olympics does, being a force for good, change, and unity. It has been celebrated every two years in seven different countries so far and is usually the largest sports and humanitarian event in the world that year.

Adapted from “Special Olympics History,” Special Olympics, November 28, 2020. <https://www.specialolympics.org/about/history>

QUESTIONS

A.1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

Athletes from all over the world took part in competitions in the Olympic event held in the late 60s.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

When the US organisers decided to celebrate the event abroad for the first time, they were surprised to find that most countries wanted to host the Games.

TRUE

FALSE

A.2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text.

(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

Why did Eunice decide to hold a summer day camp in her backyard?

b)

What was the reaction of Irish people to the Special Olympic Games they held?

TEXTO A

The Special Olympics

Over 50 years ago, Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw how unjustly people with intellectual disabilities were treated and that many children didn’t even have a place to play. She decided to take action and held a summer day camp for young people with intellectual disabilities in her own backyard. In this camp, these young people could participate in sports and physical activities, focusing on what they could do, and not on what they couldn’t do. This was a revolutionary idea at the time.

In 1968, 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from the USA and Canada competed in the first Special Olympics International Summer Games in Chicago. There, over 200 events were offered – from 100-yard swim to high jump, water polo and floor hockey. The event was so successful that Eunice assured that more games would be held as a “Biennial International Special Olympics”.

The event has grown to become an international competition. In 2003, for the first time, it went to another country, Ireland. Initially, the organisers didn’t expect it, but nearly every country wanted to host the competing nations and their athletes. Ireland took the Olympic Games to its heart. There were around ten thousand volunteers and people came out in the hundreds of thousands to enjoy the spectacle and cheer on the athletes. Any barriers that had existed before between those with and without intellectual disabilities broke down then.

Sport brings people together. Nevertheless, it seldom brings out the levels of shared empathy and joy as the Special Olympics does, being a force for good, change, and unity. It has been celebrated every two years in seven different countries so far and is usually the largest sports and humanitarian event in the world that year.

Adapted from “Special Olympics History,” Special Olympics, November 28, 2020. <https://www.specialolympics.org/about/history>

A.3.- Find the words in the text that mean: (Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

a)

b)

c)

d)

A.4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given.

a)

After being held in the US

several years, Ireland had the chance

(celebrate) the event.

b)

If I

(have) enough time to train properly last season, I

(win) a medal.

c)

Celebrating the Olympic Games has a huge impact

social unity, besides

(imply) economic profit for the hosting country.

d)

Complete the following sentence to report what was said.

“We don’t expect many people in the country will volunteer.”

Organisers said

A.5.- Write about 150 to 200 words on the following topic. (Puntuación máxima: 3 puntos)

If you could volunteer at an important event, what type of event would you prefer and why?

TEXTO B

Students Vote and Work the Polls, Despite the Pandemic

Historically, most young Americans don’t vote. In the 2016 presidential election, fewer than half of eligible voters between 18 and 29 cast a ballot. Last year, that changed. Young voters were showing rare levels of enthusiasm, even as college students faced new obstacles. “The pandemic upturned both how people vote and how students learn,” said our colleague Dan Levin, who wrote about the struggles students face right now. “Just like there have been Zoom classes, students were going virtual with their organizing.”

In a regular election year, campus activists would have tables on the quad and knock on doors in dormitories. Last year, instead of crowding into common rooms, students were hosting debate watch parties on Zoom, recruiting poll workers over Instagram and encouraging students to post their voting plans on Snapchat. “We had to exhaust every possible option to continue energizing voters,” said Roderick Hart, 20, a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “Social media was really our only way of connecting everybody at once, considering we weren’t on campus.”

Last year, more than seven million voters under 30 had already cast ballots, including nearly four million in 14 key battleground states, according to data compiled by researchers at Tufts University. “We just came in and got as many students as we could engage on their floor,” said Jess Scott, who asked resident advisers at the University of Pittsburgh to host voter information sessions on Zoom. Students were disproportionately vulnerable. The coronavirus exacerbated concerns about student IDs and proof of residency, as documents moved online, and many students were learning in other places.

Adapted from “Students Vote and Work the Polls, Despite the Pandemic,” New York Times, November 2 nd, 2020. <https://bit.ly/2N4CR29>

QUESTIONS

B.1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

Few young Americans have traditionally voted.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

Students were too exposed in presidential elections.

TRUE

FALSE

B.2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

Why were young Americans interested in US 2020 presidential elections?

b)

How was social media used in US 2020 Elections?

TEXTO B

Students Vote and Work the Polls, Despite the Pandemic

Historically, most young Americans don’t vote. In the 2016 presidential election, fewer than half of eligible voters between 18 and 29 cast a ballot. Last year, that changed. Young voters were showing rare levels of enthusiasm, even as college students faced new obstacles. “The pandemic upturned both how people vote and how students learn,” said our colleague Dan Levin, who wrote about the struggles students face right now. “Just like there have been Zoom classes, students were going virtual with their organizing.”

In a regular election year, campus activists would have tables on the quad and knock on doors in dormitories. Last year, instead of crowding into common rooms, students were hosting debate watch parties on Zoom, recruiting poll workers over Instagram and encouraging students to post their voting plans on Snapchat. “We had to exhaust every possible option to continue energizing voters,” said Roderick Hart, 20, a junior at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “Social media was really our only way of connecting everybody at once, considering we weren’t on campus.”

Last year, more than seven million voters under 30 had already cast ballots, including nearly four million in 14 key battleground states, according to data compiled by researchers at Tufts University. “We just came in and got as many students as we could engage on their floor,” said Jess Scott, who asked resident advisers at the University of Pittsburgh to host voter information sessions on Zoom. Students were disproportionately vulnerable. The coronavirus exacerbated concerns about student IDs and proof of residency, as documents moved online, and many students were learning in other places.

Adapted from “Students Vote and Work the Polls, Despite the Pandemic,” New York Times, November 2 nd, 2020. <https://bit.ly/2N4CR29>

B.3.- Find the words in the text that mean: (Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

a)

b)

c)

d)

B.4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

The return to school in the coronavirus pandemic is creating additional stress a time already filled anxiety.

b)

can reporters prepare the public the possibility that results will not be available on election night?

c)

Studies indicate that people don't vote when they're eligible are more likely to (rare) vote in the future.

d)

Millennials and Generation Z represent a (large) voting bloc Baby Boomers.

B.5.- Write about 150 to 200 words on the following topic. (Puntuación máxima: 3 puntos)

Should voting be compulsory? Justify your answer.