Examen Resuelto Selectividad EVAU UCLM Inglés 2022/2023

TEXT 1: The Importance of Sport for Children’s Health

1. READING COMPREHENSION. (2 POINTS)

1. FALSE: "The habits we acquire as children are often to stay."

   • Reasoning: The text explicitly states that habits formed in childhood often persist into adulthood, contradicting the statement that these habits change. The phrase "are often to stay" emphasizes the enduring nature of these early habits.

2. TRUE: "One of the most relevant issues is the importance of physical exercise, not only in children but also in young and old people, because moderate daily physical exercise helps prevent excess weight and obesity."

   • Reasoning: The sentence directly supports the statement by highlighting the importance of physical exercise for individuals of all age groups, from children to older adults, in preventing health issues like obesity.

3. TRUE: "Taking into account the growth of the percentage of overweight children and young people with obesity in the Western world, the inclusion of sport in the family routine becomes almost mandatory."

   • Reasoning: This sentence asserts that due to the rising rates of obesity among children and young people in the Western world, incorporating sports into family life is "almost mandatory," which aligns with the statement's claim.

4. FALSE: "Sport can also have the power to help us rest."

   • Reasoning: The text contradicts the statement by indicating that sports can contribute to better rest. The subsequent sentences further elaborate on how engaging in physical activities can lead to improved sleep, especially for active children.

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS):

A. LEXICON. (1 POINT)

• Numerous, many: multiple
  • Reasoning: "Multiple" is used in the text to describe the numerous health benefits associated with sports, serving as a synonym for "many" or "numerous."
• Focus: concentrate
  • Reasoning: The text discusses how individual sports like tennis can help develop a child's ability to "concentrate," which is the same as to "focus" on a task or activity.
• Incorporation: inclusion
  • Reasoning: The text mentions the "inclusion" of sport in the family routine, meaning the act of incorporating or integrating sports into daily life.
• Habit, custom: routine
  • Reasoning: The text refers to incorporating sport into the family "routine," which represents a regular sequence of actions, similar to a "habit" or "custom."

B. PHONETICS. (1 POINT)

1. How is the “th” pronounced in “healthy”? /ð/ or /θ/?

   • /θ/
   • Reasoning: The "th" in "healthy" is pronounced as the voiceless dental fricative, represented by the symbol /θ/, as in "thin" or "bath."

2. How is the final “s” pronounced in “peers”? /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/?

   • /z/
   • Reasoning: The final "s" in "peers" is pronounced as the voiced alveolar fricative, represented by the symbol /z/, as in "dogs" or "pens". It follows a voiced sound.

3. How is the “o” pronounced in “world”? /ə/, /ɔː/ or /ɜː/?

   • /ɜː/
   • Reasoning: The "o" in "world" is pronounced as the mid-central vowel, represented by the symbol /ɜː/, as in "bird" or "hurt."

4. How is the “o” pronounced in “becomes”? /ʌ/, /eɪ/ or /ɑː/?

   • /ʌ/
   • Reasoning: The "o" in "becomes" is pronounced as the open-mid back unrounded vowel, represented by the symbol /ʌ/, as in "cup" or "love".

TEXT 2: Little pieces of literature in vending machines

1. READING COMPREHENSION. (2 POINTS)

1. FALSE: "But the city has recently installed a handful of vending machines that, rather than snacks, dispense short stories in an effort to change the way people kill time."

   • Reasoning: The sentence indicates that the installation of vending machines dispensing short stories is a recent development, implying that these machines were not always present in Grenoble.

2. TRUE: "Simply decide how long of a story you’d like (one, three, or five minutes), press the corresponding button, grab the printout and start reading."

   • Reasoning: This sentence directly states that users can choose the desired length of the story (one, three, or five minutes), confirming the statement's claim.

3. FALSE: "Quentin Plepé, co-founder of Short Édition, and his team came up with the idea a couple of years ago as they were standing around a snack machine in their office."

   • Reasoning: The text clarifies that Quentin Plepé and his team, not the city council, conceived the idea for the story-dispensing vending machines, making the statement false.

4. TRUE: "What they really liked was the fact that the dispensers distribute culture through the city in an original way."

   • Reasoning: This sentence, quoting Plepé, reveals that the city council appreciated the innovative nature of the project, which aligns with the statement's assertion.

PART II. LEXICON / PHONETICS (2 POINTS):

A. LEXICON. (1 POINT)

• Seem: appear
  • Reasoning: The text describes the public plazas in Grenoble as appearing to be a "prototypical European panorama," using "appear" to convey the meaning of "seem."
• Distribute: dispense
  • Reasoning: The vending machines are described as dispensing short stories, which is synonymous with distributing them to the public.
• Inhabitants: residents
  • Reasoning: The text mentions the city's "residents" discovering new stories, referring to the people who live in Grenoble, or its inhabitants.
• Group, association: community
  • Reasoning: The text refers to the "community" of subscribers and authors associated with Short Édition, which represents a group or association of people with shared interests.

B. PHONETICS. (1 POINT)

1. How is the “th” pronounced in “rather”? /ð/ or /θ/?

   • /ð/
   • Reasoning: The "th" in "rather" is pronounced as the voiced dental fricative, represented by the symbol /ð/, as in "this" or "that."

2. How is the “a” pronounced in “came”? /æ/, /eɪ/ or /ʌ/?

   • /eɪ/
   • Reasoning: The "a" in "came" is pronounced as the diphthong /eɪ/, as in "day" or "say."

3. How is the “ed” pronounced in “involved”? /t/, /d/, or /ɪd/?

   • /d/
   • Reasoning: The "ed" in "involved" is pronounced as the voiced alveolar stop, represented by the symbol /d/, as in "played" or "closed."

4. Write a word from the text that includes the diphthong /aɪ/.

   • Time, life
   • Reasoning: The words "time" and "life" contains the diphthong /aɪ/, as in "I" or "my".

PART III. USE OF ENGLISH. (3 POINTS)

1. It´s a pity I can´t go to the concert tonight.

   • I wish I could go to the concert tonight.
   • Reasoning: The original sentence expresses regret using "It's a pity." To convey the same meaning using "I wish," we need to use the past tense "could" to indicate an unreal or hypothetical situation in the present.

2. Someone will iron Liza´s dress.

   • Liza will have her dress ironed.
   • Reasoning: We need to use the causative "have" structure, "have something done", to show that Liza is arranging for someone else to iron her dress. The structure is "have + object + past participle."

3. Although it was raining heavily, they decided to go camping.

   • In spite of the heavy rain, they decided to go camping.
   • Reasoning: "In spite of" is used to express contrast, similar to "although." It is followed by a noun or a gerund. Alternatively, we can use "in spite of the fact that + clause."

4. You must do this activity within five minutes.

   • This activity must be done within five minutes.
   • Reasoning: To change the sentence to passive voice, we make "this activity" the subject, use the passive form of the modal verb "must be done," and retain the time phrase "within five minutes."

5. “When will you travel to London?”, Jane asked me.

   • Jane asked me when I would travel to London.
   • Reasoning: In reported speech, we change the direct question to an indirect question. The tense shifts from "will" to "would," and the word order changes from question form to statement form.

6. I missed my dental appointment because you didn´t remind me.

   • If you had reminded me, I wouldn't have missed my dental appointment.
   • Reasoning: We need to use a third conditional to express an unreal situation in the past. The structure is "If + past perfect, would + have + past participle."

7. The police officers are investigating the murder.

   • The murder is being investigated by the police officers.
   • Reasoning: The original sentence is in the present continuous tense. To make it passive, we use the present continuous passive structure: "is/are being + past participle."

8. If your friend doesn´t come before ten, he will miss the train.

   • Unless your friend comes before ten, he will miss the train.
   • Reasoning: "Unless" means "if not." We replace "if...doesn't" with "unless" and keep the rest of the sentence the same.

9. We haven´t tasted this kind of food before.

   • This is the first time we have tasted this kind of food.
   • Reasoning: To emphasize that this is a new experience, we use the structure "This is the first time + present perfect tense."

10. We have such intelligent teachers that everyone is happy.

    • Our teachers are so intelligent that everyone is happy.
    • Reasoning: We replace "such...that" with "so...that" to express the same meaning. "Such" is followed by a noun phrase, while "so" is followed by an adjective.

11. “Let´s buy some sweets”, Mary said.

    • Mary suggested buying some sweets.
    • Reasoning: We use the verb "suggest" followed by a gerund (-ing form) to report a suggestion. Alternatively, we could use "suggested that we should buy."

12. Make a question for which the underlined words may be the answer:

    Your friend Helen goes to school every day.

    • How often does your friend Helen go to school?
    • Reasoning: The underlined words "every day" indicate frequency. Therefore, we need to use the question word "How often" to ask about the frequency of Helen's going to school.
    • Reasoning: The question should be about how often the action is done, so we start with "How often". We then use the auxiliary verb "does" since it is a present simple question, and the subject is "your friend Helen." The main verb is "go."