Examen de Inglés PAU Murcia 2021 · Ordinaria

Text A

Should a King be more than a Queen?

A woman in the Netherlands was unhappy that a King is more valuable than a Queen in a deck of playing cards.

Indy Mellink, 23, wondered if that situation could be changed. She said rating a male higher than a female was just another part of life that makes people think men are more important than women. Some people call this gender inequality. Instead, treating women and men in the same way, they say, is an example of gender neutrality.

Some people might say: “It’s just a card game.” But Mellink does not agree. She said: “Even subtle inequalities like this do play a big role” in influencing the way the world sees women.

So what did she do? Mellink thought for a while about how to change the pictures on the cards. After some time, she came up with an idea that most people know because of the Olympic Games. The most important card would no longer be the King, it would be Gold. The next card would be Silver and the third, Bronze. For that reason, Mellink’s cards are now called GSB, which stands for Gold, Silver, Bronze. The idea is to remove gender hierarchy and race differences from card decks. “Why should the King have a higher position than the Queen? Why should the King, Queen and Jack be white? However, rather than complicating the sex and race debate even more, we decided to remove the race and gender factor as a whole and introduce a common, universally known ranking system. All the other cards in the deck are as usual.”

Card players involved in product testing said they had never thought about gender inequality in their games before. Changes to the rules of card games that rank the King above the Queen may take some time, but some serious players are trying out Mellink’s cards. Berit van Dobbenburgh is head of the Dutch Bridge 1 Association. She gave it a try, and said she thought it was a good idea to think about gender neutrality. “It’s great that someone of this age has noticed this. It’s the new generation,” she said.

1 Bridge: A cards game.

1. Read the text and decide whether statements 1.1 to 1.4 are true or false. Then, find a text fragment which confirms your answer in either case. Write “TRUE” or “FALSE” plus the fragment (one or two lines maximum) on your answer sheet. [Score: 4 items × 0.5 marks = 2 marks]

E.g.: In a game of cards, a King is more valuable than a Queen. TRUE. EVIDENCE: “... a King is more valuable than a Queen in a deck of playing cards.”

1.1.

Gender neutrality can be defined as not treating one gender (e.g., males) better than the other gender (e.g., females).

Decision:

TRUE

FALSE

1.2.

Indy Mellink was at the Olympic Games when she came up with the idea of changing the pictures on the cards.

Decision:

TRUE

FALSE

1.3.

Substituting the King, Queen, and Jack cards by the Gold, Silver, and Bronce cards could contribute to eliminate the gender and race factors from card games.

Decision:

TRUE

FALSE

1.4.

Card players testing Mellink’s cards don’t take her product seriously.

Decision:

TRUE

FALSE

Text A

Should a King be more than a Queen?

A woman in the Netherlands was unhappy that a King is more valuable than a Queen in a deck of playing cards.

Indy Mellink, 23, wondered if that situation could be changed. She said rating a male higher than a female was just another part of life that makes people think men are more important than women. Some people call this gender inequality. Instead, treating women and men in the same way, they say, is an example of gender neutrality.

Some people might say: “It’s just a card game.” But Mellink does not agree. She said: “Even subtle inequalities like this do play a big role” in influencing the way the world sees women.

So what did she do? Mellink thought for a while about how to change the pictures on the cards. After some time, she came up with an idea that most people know because of the Olympic Games. The most important card would no longer be the King, it would be Gold. The next card would be Silver and the third, Bronze. For that reason, Mellink’s cards are now called GSB, which stands for Gold, Silver, Bronze. The idea is to remove gender hierarchy and race differences from card decks. “Why should the King have a higher position than the Queen? Why should the King, Queen and Jack be white? However, rather than complicating the sex and race debate even more, we decided to remove the race and gender factor as a whole and introduce a common, universally known ranking system. All the other cards in the deck are as usual.”

Card players involved in product testing said they had never thought about gender inequality in their games before. Changes to the rules of card games that rank the King above the Queen may take some time, but some serious players are trying out Mellink’s cards. Berit van Dobbenburgh is head of the Dutch Bridge 1 Association. She gave it a try, and said she thought it was a good idea to think about gender neutrality. “It’s great that someone of this age has noticed this. It’s the new generation,” she said.

1 Bridge: A cards game.

2. Complete each sentence with information from the text but using your own words (about 10-15 words of your own per sentence). DO NOT COPY LITERALLY from the text nor from statements 1.1 to 1.4. Write the two sentences on your answer sheet. [Score: 2 × 0.5 = 1 mark]

2.1.

Gender inequality can …

2.2.

Removing …

TEXT B

Vinted

You hate that shirt. You can't remember the last time you wore it. But, because it's in good condition, it's going to keep on hanging in your cupboard all the same.

You're not alone: this is a problem Lithuanian entrepreneur Milda Mitkute once shared. “I always had too much stuff in my closet, but felt like I had nothing to wear,” she tells Forbes. “Some tops still had tags 1 because I'd buy anything on sale, I'd spend 80% of my salary on clothing in one week because I wanted to look different every day.” Mitkute realized she couldn't keep shopping this way when she moved from her large family home into small student accommodation —there simply wasn't space to store her piles of unworn clothes.

So, in 2008, she started Vinted. It's now the largest pre-loved fashion marketplace in the world. Today 4 million women are actively buying, selling, and swapping 2 clothes on Vinted each month. “It's a platform that opens all the closets in the world,” says Mitkute. Its fans —or "Vinties," as they're affectionately known— simply upload photos of items which can be bought and collected or shipped. You can search by seller, brand, size, or color to find exactly what you want —whether that's a red cocktail dress or leopard print shoes. “Our members say using Vinted is like a treasure hunt,” notes Mitkute. If you think this sounds a little like eBay, you'd be right. Except Vinted's fashion focus gives it more of a community edge, says Mitkute, and it's this “social” vibe that keeps customers coming back.

Today Vinted operates in nine countries (including the U.S., the U.K., Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Lithuania), with its biggest markets in Germany and France. In its earlier years Vinted raised a total of €55 million, but the company changed strategy in 2016 to become profitable. The platform shifted 3 away from mandatory sales fees into a free product with the option of additional paid services (like the promotion of your closet). The fact that Vinted is now totally free to use and doesn't take a cut of any items you sell sets it even further apart from the eBays of the world.

1 Tag: A small piece of paper, cloth, or metal with information on it, tied or stuck onto something larger.

2 Swap: To give something and be given something in return.

3 Shift: Change.

1. Read the text and choose the best option (A, B, or C) for items 1.1 to 1.4. [Score: 4 x 0.5 = 2 marks]

1.

Milda Mitkute started Vinted because …

2.

Vinted …

3.

Vinties is …

4.

Vinted became more profitable …

TEXT B

Vinted

You hate that shirt. You can't remember the last time you wore it. But, because it's in good condition, it's going to keep on hanging in your cupboard all the same.

You're not alone: this is a problem Lithuanian entrepreneur Milda Mitkute once shared. “I always had too much stuff in my closet, but felt like I had nothing to wear,” she tells Forbes. “Some tops still had tags 1 because I'd buy anything on sale, I'd spend 80% of my salary on clothing in one week because I wanted to look different every day.” Mitkute realized she couldn't keep shopping this way when she moved from her large family home into small student accommodation —there simply wasn't space to store her piles of unworn clothes.

So, in 2008, she started Vinted. It's now the largest pre-loved fashion marketplace in the world. Today 4 million women are actively buying, selling, and swapping 2 clothes on Vinted each month. “It's a platform that opens all the closets in the world,” says Mitkute. Its fans —or "Vinties," as they're affectionately known— simply upload photos of items which can be bought and collected or shipped. You can search by seller, brand, size, or color to find exactly what you want —whether that's a red cocktail dress or leopard print shoes. “Our members say using Vinted is like a treasure hunt,” notes Mitkute. If you think this sounds a little like eBay, you'd be right. Except Vinted's fashion focus gives it more of a community edge, says Mitkute, and it's this “social” vibe that keeps customers coming back.

Today Vinted operates in nine countries (including the U.S., the U.K., Spain, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Lithuania), with its biggest markets in Germany and France. In its earlier years Vinted raised a total of €55 million, but the company changed strategy in 2016 to become profitable. The platform shifted 3 away from mandatory sales fees into a free product with the option of additional paid services (like the promotion of your closet). The fact that Vinted is now totally free to use and doesn't take a cut of any items you sell sets it even further apart from the eBays of the world.

1 Tag: A small piece of paper, cloth, or metal with information on it, tied or stuck onto something larger.

2 Swap: To give something and be given something in return.

3 Shift: Change.

2. Complete each sentence with information from the text but using your own words (about 10-15 words of your own per sentence). DO NOT COPY LITERALLY from the text nor from items 1.1 to 1.4. Write the two sentences on your answer sheet. [Score: 2 items x 0.5 marks = 1 mark]

2.1.

2.2.

SECTION II: OVERALL LANGUAGE ABILITY (USE OF ENGLISH)

3. Complete the text choosing the best option (A, B, or C) for each gap (1-15). On your answer sheet, draw a table like the one below and, for each gap (1-15), copy the letter that corresponds to your answer (A, B, or C). Use CAPITAL LETTERS. [Score: 15 x 0.1 = 1.5 marks]

Boston Dynamics is an American technology company that has developed robots that move in ways similar (1) humans and animals. The company has spent years building robots with useful abilities (2) walking, moving through rough terrain, and picking things up with (3) hands.

Videos of some of the robots —especially those that look like animals when they move— have been popular (4) the Internet in the past. But the company's latest video to (5) viral shows a group of robots dancing to the 1962 hit song "Do You Love Me?" by The Contours. The video received more than 23 million (6) during its first week. The performance shows two humanoid robots, called Atlas, (7) several dance moves —such as the twist, the mashed potato, and (8). The two are joined by Spot, a dog-like robot, and Handle, a wheeled robot designed for lifting and moving boxes.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Boston Dynamics founder and chairperson Marc Raibert admits the video is fun (9). But he said the real success (10) the experiment was the valuable lessons the project taught (11) team. "It turned (12) that we needed to upgrade the robot in the middle of development," Raibert said. He said that step was necessary (13) the robot to be strong enough and have (14) energy to do the whole performance without (15). "So that was a real benefit to the design," he added.

.

4. Complete THREE of the following sentences so that each sentence keeps the meaning of the sentence printed before it and includes a clear change of linguistic structure. COPY THE COMPLETE SENTENCES (including the beginnings and endings already given to you) onto your answer sheet. [Score: 3 items × 0.5 marks = 1.5 marks]

4.1.

Learning to fly a drone is harder than I had expected.

Learning to fly a drone isn't

I had expected.

4.2.

On weekdays, I am allowed to play videogames only after I finish my homework.

On weekdays, once

to play videogames.

4.3.

I asked my cousin: “What did you study at university?”

I wanted to know

at university.

4.4.

They will ask a plumber to repair their shower.

A plumber

their shower.

4.5.

If you don't get to the theater on time, you'll miss the beginning of the play.

Unless

see the beginning of the play.

SECTION III: WRITING (4 marks)

a) Argumentative writing. Online teaching is not as effective as face-to-face teaching. Discuss.

WRITE AN ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT including arguments in favor of and against online teaching. Make sure you provide a balanced discussion of the topic (150-175 words).

SECTION III: WRITING (4 marks)

b) Descriptive writing. Your favorite smartphone app.

WRITE A PARAGRAPH describing your favorite smartphone app. (You must include name, function, target audience, price, operating system, ease of use and popularity. You can also add any other feature you think would convince somebody else to install this app on their phone) (150-175 words).

SECTION III: WRITING (4 marks)

c) Opinion writing. International tourists must present a COVID-19 vaccine passport to enter Spain. Do you agree?

WRITE AN OPINION PARAGRAPH/TEXT. Make sure you adopt a position and then provide the necessary arguments to convince your reader of it (150-175 words).

SECTION III: WRITING (4 marks)

5. Choose ONE of the four options below (a, b, c, or d) and write the corresponding text (150-175 words). Write your PARAGRAPH or TEXT on your answer sheet. [Score: 1 x 4 = 4 marks]

d) Email writing. “Vote for me, please!”

WRITE AN EMAIL to your classmates asking them to vote for you in the next class representative voting. You must tell your classmates, at least, (a) why you deserve to be their class rep; (b) why you think you will do your job better than the other candidates; and (c) the different things you will do for them if you finally get elected.