The Ig Nobel awards, honouring improbable research - PAU inglés 2013 Andalucía resuelto

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The Ig Nobel awards, organised by the humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, are a parody of the Nobel Prizes. They honour achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think". However, despite the strangeness factor, these awards are handed out by genuine Nobel laureates, and one scientist, Andre Geim, has been awarded a Nobel Prize after having been given an Ig Nobel Prize.
The 2012 laureates for the Ig Nobel Prize in physics are a team of scientists who studied the shape and movement of ponytails. Raymond Goldstein, a physicist at the University of Cambridge, was set the challenge of considering the movement of ponytails by the company Unilever. “This might be interesting,” said Goldstein, “for people who want more energy-efficient homes which minimise heat loss through walls and roofs.”
He was honoured alongside Rouslan Krechetnikov’s team, who carried out research into why you usually drop coffee when walking around with a cup. Krechetnikov was inspired at a scientific conference while watching delegates walking carefully with mugs full of hot drinks. He noted that “the sizes of common coffee cups, together with the natural irregularity of the biomechanics of walking, are responsible for coffee spilling."
He had no idea, of course, of the attention his work would get. "Personally, this goes along with my view of science – there should be a fun side to it. The project was certainly fun," he said. "There are many people who are curious not only about black holes, but also about everyday ordinary phenomena."

RESPUESTAS

I. READING COMPREHENSION

ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
1. Are there any connections between the Ig Nobel and the real Nobel awards, apart from the parody element? Explain. PAR.1
2. What can the study of the ponytail be used for? PAR.2
3. How did Krechetnikov get the idea for his unusual research project? PAR.3

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
4. Goldstein’s ponytail project wasn’t actually his own idea.

• TRUE: "It was the company Unilever that asked Goldstein to study the project."

5. The wide impact of Krechetnikov’s research took him by surprise.

• TRUE: "He had no idea, of course, of the attention his work would get."

II. USE OF ENGLISH

6. FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION: “something that is difficult and that tests someone's ability or determination”.

• Challenge 

7. GIVE AN ADJECTIVE WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “loss” (noun).

• Lost

8. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION: see / view / look / watch

• How rude! He didn’t even look at me when he answered.

9. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR “real” (adjective)

• Genuine 

10. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS:

• If I were (be) you, I wouldn’t put up with* that.

11. JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY:
This is the place. Shakespeare was born here.

• This is the place where Shakespeare was born.

12. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS:
She criticized Nabokov’s novel.

• Whose novel did she criticize?

13. USE THE WORDS IN THE BOXES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL SENTENCE. USE ALL AND ONLY THE WORDS IN THE BOXES WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR FORM:
him    not      to     I    promised     offend

• I promised not to offend him. 

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