Ejercicio Option A - II · Inglés PAU País Vasco Ordinaria 2021

Choose between option A and option B. Specify the option you have chosen.

Please, don't forget to write down your code on each of your answer sheets.

OPTION A

PLASTIC SCHOOL

Every morning, students go to Akshar School (Assam, India) with a bag of plastic waste, and in exchange they get their day's lessons.

Akshar School, started by Mazin Mukhtar and his wife Sarma, has helped to stop local people burning used plastic. The village's toxic fires were causing such an environmental problem that children were coughing in their classrooms.

"When we asked the parents to send their household plastic with their children on the school bus, almost none of them did. They preferred to burn their plastic at home. So we told them we would start charging fees which they could pay in plastic waste from their homes," says Mukhtar. This alternative quickly resulted in 100% agreement from parents, who also promised to stop burning plastic.

"As we collect at least 25 units of plastic every week from each student, we are able to get more than 10,000 pieces of plastic each month. These are transformed into eco-bricks for construction. The clouds of toxic smoke from plastic burning have decreased significantly," says Sarma.

The school has also contributed to reducing child labour at the local factories. "Older children help with the younger ones at school, and in return get paid in toy money that can be used to buy snacks, toys and clothes at local shops." The school's plastic recycling centre also offers part-time paid jobs to older teenagers who need to earn money to support their families, since many of these teenagers come from poor backgrounds. In this way, Akshar School ensures that older teenagers are able to stay in school and also earn an income for their families.

"They love coming to school so much that they don't want holidays," says Sarma. "It has also transformed the lives of our pupils. These kids are marginalised by society. When they first come, they are full of anger and aggression. But as they study and learn new skills, they become more confident."

From the original 20 students, Akshar now has seven teachers managing 110 children aged from 4 to 15, and there are over 100 kids on a waiting list. Mukhtar and Sarma have now signed up with the regional authorities to apply the Akshar model to five government schools.

OPTION A

II.- Are these statements True or False? Justify your answers based on information from the text, rewriting the original sentences in your own words or quoting properly. (Choose 2 out of the 3 statements) (2 marks)

1.

Akshar School was established by the Indian authorities.

TRUE

FALSE

2.

Parents can only pay Akshar School's fees in cash.

TRUE

FALSE

3.

Smoke pollution has decreased thanks to the school's actions.

TRUE

FALSE