TEXTOS SELECTIVDADE

IES LAXEIRO – 2ND BAC – 2008/09
ENGLISH – XOSÉ MANUEL LÓPEZ FERNÁNDEZ
SELECTIVIDADE – TEXTOS (exames anos anteriores en Galiza e outras comunidades)

TEXT Nº1a
Evolution.

In the classification of animals there is an order called Primates. In their appearence
primates resemble the human being more than any other animals do. It is natural to
deduce that they are more closely related to human beings than any other animals are.
In fact, the human being must be included as a primate, if any sense at all is to be
made of animal classification.
Once evolution is accepted, one must come to the inevitable conclusion that the
various primates, including the human being, have developed from some single
ancestral stem and that all are to varying degrees cousins, so to speak.
The resemblance of other primates to human beings is both endearing and repulsive.
The monkey house is always the most popular exhibit in a zoo, and people will watch
anthropoid apes with fascination. Congreve wrote in 1695, however, quot;I could never look
upon a monkey, without very mortifying reflectionsquot;. It is not hard to guess that those
quot;mortifying reflectionsquot; must have been to the effect that human beings might be
described as large and somewhat more intelligent monkeys.

QUESTIONS.

1. Are the following sentences true or false? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given
for only true or false (1 POINT).
a) Human beings belong to the same class as monkeys and apes.
b) Congreve enjoys watching monkeys.

2. In your own words and based on the ideas from the text, answer the following questions (2
POINTS).
a) What is the writer's view on evolution?
b) What are people's reactions to the external appeareance of monkeys and human beings?

3. Find the words or phrases in the text which mean (2 POINTS):
a) Strongly (paragraph 1)
b) Common origin (paragraph 2)
c) Show (paragraph 3)
d) Think (paragraph 3)

4. Complete the following sentences. Supply the right word or use the appropiate form of the word
in brackets when given (2 POINTS):
a) Mice often (present) ..... human characteristics in films ..... (show) on TV and people
watch ...... films with fascination.
b) Anatomical distinctions ...... apes and (we) ..... have been ....... (seek) but so far
none ....... (find).
c) The human brain is the ....... (large) primate brain.

5. Write about 80 to 100 words on one of the following topics (3 POINTS):
a) Describe one of your visits to a zoo.
b) What do you think is the main difference between a chimpanzee and a human being?
Support your opinion with arguments.

TEXT Nº1b


The roots of language1.

Speculation about the origin of language is probably as old as language itself. In 1859
Darwin published The Origin of Species and a modern explanation of the origin of
language emerged. All creatures had evolved from earlier and mainly simpler forms of
life, even in the case of human beings. But many people wanted to preserve some
special human property from the unenviable grip of the higher apes.
In 1861 Max Muller put it as follows in a series of lectures on the science of language:
quot;There is in man a something. I am not afraid to call it for the present an occult quality,
which distinguishes him from the every animal without exception. We call this
something reason when we think of it as an internal energy, and we usually call it
language when we perceive and grasp it as an external phenomenon. No reason
without speech, no speech without reason. Language is the Rubicon which divides
man from beast, and no animal will ever cross it. I may express my conviction that
science of language will yet enable us to withstand the extreme theories of the
Darwinians, and to draw a hard and fast line between man and brute. Let the
experiment be tried and the most intelligent of apes be reared and trained among men:
he will not speak, he will remain brutish; while the rudest human waif from the most
savage tribe will promptly acquire from the human intercourse this first characteristic of
humanityquot;.

Questions:

1. Add true or false, quoting the relevant information from the text (2 points):
a) According to Charles Darwin, all species, except human beings, have evolved from the
former and simpler forms of life;
b) Language is a quality that is closely associated with the ability of reason;
c) If monkeys are reared and trained among men, they will learn how to speak.

2. Answer the following questions in your own words (2 points):
a) What are the real consecuences of accepting the theory of evolution?
b) According to Max Muller, language is the Rubicon which divides man from beast. Why did
he say that?

3. Complete the following sentences (2 points):
• An occult quality distinguishes man from animals.  What distinguises...
• The science of language will enable us to withstand the extreme theories of the
Darwinians.  We will...

4. Write a composition on the following topic: How are the languages learnt? (From 80 to 120
words) (4 points).

1
Acceso a la Universidad: LOGSE - Convocatoria: JUNIO - Año: 1998 - Opción: A - Comunidad Autónoma: ARAGON


TEXT Nº2a
HELLO DOLLY!

When the most famous lamb in history emerged into the world in 1996, she brought
with her a host of ethical and scientific dilemmas. The modest shed where she was
born near the Roslin Institute in Scotland may prove to be one of the most significant
sites of scientific history.
Today, Dolly lives inside a locked concrete building. She has never eaten grass or
been in the open air for fear that she might get ill, and questions still remain about her
true age: quot;Is she her chronological age, or the age of the sheep from which she was
cloned?quot;.
Cloning raises a huge number of pressing questions and some ethical dilemmas.
Firstly, it has raised the possibility of deliberately altering parental chromosomes to
favour selected creative talents, a resistance to disease and ageing, or even a
predisposition towards crime, that is to say, engineering another Mozart or AI Capone.
Secondly, cloning challenges our sense of ourselves in a more ambiguous way. In fact,
our belief in our unique selves is all we have, the one reassurance that our lives have
some kind of special meaning simply by being unique. Even when we shrink into virtual
anonymity, at a football match or political rally, we still sense that our own particular
bundle of quirks and reflexes give us our chief reason for being alive at all.
Finally, cloning interferes with the process of nature and in some way seems to
threaten our idea of the soul. As parents we are delighted when our children resemble
us, but do we want them to be our replicas, with our same dreams, ambitions and
fears?

QUESTIONS

1. State in your own words what the author means when he says: quot;Cloning raises a huge number of
pressing questions and some ethical dilemmasquot; (1 point).

2. Find and quote evidence in the text to support the following statements (2 points):
a) The fact that Dolly may get diseases spread by other animals makes her live in captivity.
b) Dolly was born six years ago.
c) The actual age of Dolly is not known yet.
d) Cloning defies Nature.

3. Say in each case whether the statement is true or false according to the text. Write quot;Tquot; or quot;Fquot;. If the
answer is not mentioned in the text, mark it as false (2 points).
a) Like other sheep, Dolly leads a normal life in the open air.
b) Parents would like their children to have the same dreams, ambitions and fears.
c) Cloning is a highly controversial topic.
d) The human race could be improved through cloning.
e) There is general agreement over the applications of cloning.
f) The applications of cloning could be disastrous.
g) Cloning has meant a true scientific revolution.
h) Cloning poses a threat to the concept of the soul.
i) Being unique is an essential feature of human beings.
j) Dolly was born in Wales.

4. Find and copy words or expressions in the passage which mean the same as the followings (2 points):
• A. Questions the rightness or validity of something.
• B. Critical questions.
• C. Moral.
• D. Thought.

5. State your opinion about cloning. State reasons for and against cloning. Illustrate your answer with an
example. Discuss one or more of these points in your composition. Write your plan and then your
composition. (3 points)


TEXT Nº2b
MUSIC TELEVISION (MTV)

Just after midnight on August 1st, 1987, a new television channel was born. This
channel has turned out to be one of the most significant influences on international
youth culture in the last 20 years. MTV was broadcast for the first time from the Roxy
Club in Amsterdam to 16 million households. Today, MTV reaches over 250 million
homes across five continents. MTV is a youth entertainment channel on cable networks
operating 24 hours a day. It offers young people music, videos and a wide variety of
programmes. This channel also has the latest graphics and it mirrors the varied
lifestyles of the world's youth. MTV is not only the largest TV channel in Europe, but is
actually the biggest in the world.
MTV's influence has also spread into the social and political arena. Surprising the
public with the slogan quot;Rock the Votequot;, it is said that MTV brought an estimated two
million young people to the polls in the 1992 American elections. Most of them voted
for Clinton. MTV aims at 16-to-25-years-old people across the world and has tackled
social issues like AIDS, drug abuse, drunken driving and the environment. The purpose
of their campaign is to raise awareness, not to preach sermons to young people.
MTV is not without its critics, however. In the UK, for example, where people are proud
of the quality of British television, MTV has been accused of being shallow with hardly
any investigative reporting -a light weight channel exporting American culture. Such
criticism has been vigorously rejected by representatives of MTV, who argue that the
programmes reflect the tastes and culture of local audiences across the world and
bring less well-known performers and music onto a global stage.
Whatever your opinion is, one thing is certain: youngsters today are making their own
choices. Judging by the viewing ratings, MTV is their choice.

QUESTIONS

1. Answer the following questions about the text in your own words (2 points):
a) When and where did MTV begin?
b) How has MTV grown in the last seven years?
c) Why has MTV been criticised in the UK particularly?
d) Which have been the main accusations against MTV?

2. Say whether these statements are true or false according to the text. Justify your answer with
the evidence from the text (2 points).
a) People were surprised by the influence of MTV during the American elections.
b) MTV is aimed at all ages – children and adults alike.

3. Vocabulary. Find in the text words or expressions that have the following meanings (2 points):
a) was transmitted
b) reflects
c) aim, objective
d) social matters

4. Write a composition of about 80-100 words. Choose one of the topics (4 points):
a) Music unites young people throughout the world. What is your opinion?
b) Which are the main influences of television on young people? Are they good or bad?


TEXT Nº3a
WHAT SHOULD YOU EAT?2

Eating the right foods in the right amounts is called having a balanced diet. This is very
important because your body needs daily amounts of different things and no food has all the
things that your body needs to stay healthy and work properly. Most people know that eating
the right food is important for physical health. But what a lot of people don't realise is that
food can affect your mental health too.
The things obtained from the food you eat can be grouped according to what they do. Body-
building foods are called proteins and provide the substances which make us grow. They
help repair parts of the body such as the skin and the tissues inside the body when they are
worn out. Energy foods, fats and carbohydrates, give you energy. They are the fuel your
body needs. Too much and they will be stored as fat in the body and you'll become
overweight.
In the past, people sometimes got sick even though they ate a lot of body-building and
energy foods. Scientists then discovered that the body needs other substances to protect it
against disease. These are protective foods: vitamins and mineral salts. Vitamins and mineral
salts also help our bodies to make the best use of the food we eat.
QUESTIONS

l. Expressing the main idea (1 point) Write another title in English which best summarises the text
and justify your answer.

II. Use of English (1 point) Complete the second sentence of each pair so that it has the same
meaning as the first one.

1. What a lot of people don't realise is that food can affect your mental health too  A lot of people …
2. The things obtained from the food you eat can be grouped according to what they do.  You can …

III. Answer the following questions using your words (2 points):
a) What are the effects of eating the right food?
b) What are the functions of the three food groups?

IV. Are the following statements true or false? (1 point)
a) Protective foods help us to make the best use of the food.
b) Proteins help repair the skin and the tissues inside our body.

V. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to (1 point):
a) Sort of food usually eaten by a person.
b) Too fat, too heavy.

VI. Chose a, b, c, after each statement below. (1 point) Only one choice is correct:
I. In a balanced diet... III. Skins and tissues are repaired by ...
a) you do not eat any sweets at all. a) body-building foods.
b) you eat the right food in the right amount. b) energy foods.
c) you eat the right food and the same c) protective foods.
amount of food.
II. Fats and carbohydrates give you... IV. In the past, people were sometimes ill because
a) energy. a) they ate lots of vitamins and mineral salts.
b) substances which make you grow. b) they ate lots of vitamins, but not mineral
c) vitamins and mineral salts. salts.
c) they didn't eat any vitamins and mineral
salts.

VII. Composition (100-150 words aproximately). (3 point) Choose one of the following topics:
a) Describe your daily diet.
b) Do you really think that eating the right food is important for you health? Explain why.

2
(From: Starting Out-A Life Skills Record Book, Collins:1994)


TEXT Nº3b
A FAMILY AFFAIR-BENETTON3.

In the mid-1950s, Guliana Benetton made her elder boy Luciano a multi-coloured
pullover. quot;It was the pullover which started the whole thingquot;, Luciano tells me as we sit
in his villa near Treviso in north-eastern Italy, where he was born. quot;The colours were
more exciting than the ones normally used in the men's sweaters at that time: I saw
that my friends liked it and I thought that it had marked potentialquot;. And so Benetton was
born. The bright, vibrant colours in which the original sweater was knitted became its
trade mark. Today the gigantic multinational clothing empire is one of the world's
biggest suppliers of casual clothes.
In the 1960's the two younger brothers, Carlo and Gilberto, joined Giuliana and Luciano
to build what is probably the most remarkable family venture of the late 20th century, a
corporation which has now diversified into banking, supermarkets, sporting equipment,
restaurants and Formula One racing cars. Of the four founders, Carlo, the youngest, is
the production director of Benetton Group worldwide. He also supervises the sheep
ranches in Patagonia, where ten per cent of Benetton wool is produced. Gilberto,
vicepresident, is the financial expert. Giuliana is the design director, the creative genius
behind Benetton clothes. The eldest, Luciano, is the president of Benetton Group and
responsible for the company's long-term and global strategies.
The firm's success depends on a family structure which is now rare in Italy and the rest
of Europe. Luciano is convinced that Benetton could never have taken off without the
family partnership. quot;The crucial pillars of the operation were my sister and two brothersquot;
he says. quot;Undoubtedly, the success of this relationship depended on a division of work
and on our total trust in what each of us is doingquot;.

QUESTIONS

1. Add True or False, quoting the relevant information from the text. (2 points).
a. The Benetton family became interested in the sheep in Patagonia because of their unusual
colour.
b. The design of Benetton's products depends basically on one person.
c. The success of a family business depends on the ability of one member to dominate and
divide the others.

2. Answer the following questions in your own words (2 points).
a. What other businesses has Benetton got involved in recently?
b. What is the key element to explain the success of a firm like Benetton?

3. Complete the following sentences. The meaning should be the same as that of the one above
(2 points)
a. The bright, vibrant colours which the original sweater was knitted in became its
trade mark.  The bright, vibrant colours ...
b. The pullover started the whole thing.  It was ...
4. Reading comprehension (1 point) Explain in English the meaning of the following
expressions as used in the text.
1. it had marked potential
2. diversified
3. taken off
4. crucial pillars

5. Write a composition with the following title: quot;It is not a good idea to go into businessquot;. You
should include a personal comment in your composition and it should be between 80 and 120
words long (3 points).
3
Zaragoza, junio de 2000


TEXT Nº4a
CIGARETTES HAVE 600 ADDITIVES

Tobacco firms have admitted putting 600 secret ingredients and additives in cigarettes,
the Health Secretary disclosed yesterday. Alan Milbum promised that the list would be
published in full within weeks so that consumers, for the first time, would quot;know what
they are smokingquot;.
His comments at a meeting of the Commons Health Comittee came ahead of a
European directive on tobacco, that will put new ceilings on nicotine and carbon
monoxide levels, increase the size of warnings and restrict the use of quot;mildquot; or quot;low tar”
to describe cigarette brands. Although tobacco companies had promised the previous
Government that they would provide the Department of Health with a full list of
additives, Mr. Milbum said that he had only just received the dossier.
The ingredients include sucrose, cocoa, citric acid and ammonium, which speeds up
the nicotine quot;hitquot;. Mr. Milbum said that quot;until very recently nobody knew about any of
these ingredientsquot;, adding that he was demanding further information from the tobacco
companies so that they could show which brands contained the additives. quot;It is our
intention to put that information on the Health Department's website before too longquot;,
he said.

QUESTIONS

1. Read the text and answer the questions about it. Use your own words where possible. (3
points).
a) What have tobacco firms admitted?
b) What were Alan Milbum's comments?
c) Did people know about any of these additives in cigarettes?

2. Transform the following sentences according to the instructions. (2 points).
a) Put into the passive: Tobacco firms have admitted putting 600 secret ingredients in
cigarettes.
b) Put into the past (both verbs): The ingredients include sucrose, cocoa, citric acid and
ammonium, which speeds up the nicotine quot;hitquot;.
c) Put into reported speech: quot;It is our intention to put that information on the Healt
Department's website before too longquot;. Begin: Mr. Milbum said...
d) Complete: If the list of additives in cigarettes had been published in full ...

3. Find one synonym in the text for each of the words below. (0.25 points each answer, 1 point as
a whole).
a) contents
b) announced
c) purpose
d) comprised

4. Write about one of the following topics, between 70-100 words (4 points).
a) Are you a smoker or a non smoker? Do you have any problems at home or in school?
b) Give your reasons for or against smoking.


TEXT Nº4b
PEACE AND SILENCE 4

Visitors who leave behind the city center of Charleston, South Carolina, and drive only
30 miles south, may come upon the monastery of Our Lady of Menpkin. Twenty-eight
monks live at Menpkin Abbey, following the same routine established in France 900
years ago: praying, reading the Bible and working.
Monasteries and spiritual centers throughout the United States find that demand for
temporary accommodation is increasing. More and more visitors come to this peaceful
abbey every day, men and women who are tired of the fast of life and work in the 21st
century America. These people usually stay in the abbey between one to six days:
quot;Most come for the silencequot;, explains one of the monks. They pray with the monks
(attending the first service of the day, at 3.20 in the morning, if they wish), observe the
same silence as the monks, eat the same vegetarian food.
The abbey's guest rooms, most with private baths, are full much of the time, and rooms
for the weekend are booked for the next six months. The monks hope that their visitor
will quot;find peace, joy and perspective on lifequot;.

QUESTIONS

A) COMPREHENSION (4 POINTS)

a) Answer questions 1-2 according to the information given in the text. Use your own
words. (1 point per answer).
1) Why have monasteries and spiritual centers become popular in the USA?
2) What is that visitors find most appealing in monasteries?

b) Are these statements true or false? Justify your answers with words or phrases from the
text (0.5 points per answer).
3) Mepkin Abbey was founded in France 900 years ago.
4) Visitors have to wake up at 3:20 in the morning.
5) All guests have to do some work in the Abbey to pay for their accommodation.
6) It is difficult to get a room at Mepking Abbey.

B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 POINTS)

7) Find in the text THE WORD which has the following DEFINITION: daily habits/schedule
(0.5 points).
8) Give one synoym for quot;peacefulquot; (line 5) (0.5 points).
9) TURN the following sentence into the PASSIVE VOICE. (0.5 points) Visitors find peace
and joy at the monastery.
10) Join the following sentences using and appropiate linker (do not use and or but).
Make changes if necessary: (0.5 points). Lindsay is the eldest child. She has to look after
the other children.
11) Fill in the gap with a correct PREPOSITION. (0.5 points). My friend insisted … paying the
bill.
12) Give a question for the UNDERLINED words (0.5 points). This dictionary cost fifty dollars
ten years ago.
13) Complete the following SENTENCE: (0.5 points). If the visitors wish …

C) PRODUCTION (3 POINTS)

14) Write a composition (80-100 words). Choose one of the following options. Specify your
option.
a) Would you stay in a monastery for a month? Why?
b) Spiritual life today.

4
Andalucia, junio de 2001

TEXTOS SELECTIVDADE

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