Opción A - 1 y 2 · Inglés PAU Madrid Modelo 2018

Selfie Accidents

Tourists and camera lovers should remember a new danger that has recently appeared. This new life-threatening hazard started in the last few years and is now everywhere. It is almost twice as deadly as being killed by a shark. What is this new danger? Well, it is the selfie. The desire to take a photo of yourself in front of a world-famous site or to pose with a friend resulted in more deaths in 2015 than those due to lightning strikes. More and more people are putting themselves into dangerous situations in a bid to take the most outrageous pictures in order to get more likes and shares on social media. In particular, pictures with animals, or taken at great heights, or posing with weapons are widespread.

Selfie accidents happen in many ways. They include two Russian men who were killed while taking a selfie with a hand grenade, three Indian students who were killed by a train while taking selfies on train tracks, and a 32-year-old woman who was attacked by a bear in a national park after turning her back on the animal to take a picture with herself in the frame. The latest death came when a Japanese tourist died falling down the stairs at the Taj Mahal in India while trying to snap a selfie.

There is, however, some evidence that there may be other selfie-related deaths that we don’t know about because they didn’t make international headlines. In July, Russian authorities issued a selfie safety campaign after “hundreds” more injuries were reported. The interior ministry’s initiative included a leaflet, a video and a website.

QUESTIONS

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)

Deaths linked to selfies more than double those due to dangerous sea animals.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

It seems that not all deadly accidents caused by selfies have been reported in newspapers.

TRUE

FALSE

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 do certain people want to take some shocking selfies?

b)

Has anything been done to prevent selfie accidents? Explain.