January sales - PAU Madrid 2013

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos C. Madrid

People who are addicted to shopping are nowadays called shopaholics. For these shopaholics, the post-Christmas period means only one thing - sales!
Across the country, prices are reduced on clothing, electronics, home furnishings and more, but London is the place for serious shopping, and you can certainly pick up some amazing bargains.
The sales start on Boxing Day, 26th December, and continue for the month of January, but the keenest bargain hunters get there early to be first through the doors. In Oxford Street queues form outside shops before pre-dawn openings for the start of their sales. At Brent Cross, in north London, hundreds of people queue at 3:30 am for the “Next” clothing store’s sale which begins at 4 am. Some hardy individuals even camp outside the shops to be first in the line.
Consumers who go to the shops are rewarded with discounts of up to 80%, as department stores join the sales frenzy. The shops are packed with people moving around as the sales get into full swing, with more than half a million people converging on London’s West End.
Some people are taking their partners shopping with them and buying their Christmas presents in the sale - a practical but unromantic way of making sure you get the gift you really want. For a less exciting but less stressful shopping experience, online retailers also participate in the January sales of
their own. The most organised of all are those who are already doing their present shopping for next Christmas, in the January sales!

RESPUESTAS

I. READING COMPREHENSION

1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

a) During January sales shops can sell products for less than half their price.

• True. Consumers who go to the shops are rewarded with discounts of up to 80%, as department stores join the sales frenzy.

b) After-Christmas sales also offer good opportunities to buy products via internet.

• True. For a less exciting but less stressful shopping experience, online retailers also participate in the January sales of their own.

2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text.

a) What do some people in London do to get good bargains?

• Key ideas: They queue in the early hours of the morning and some go as far as to sleep in tents in the street to be among the first in the queue.

b) Why do some couples go shopping together during Christmas sales?

• Key ideas: To buy a present for his or her partner and make sure it is the right choice. 

II. USE OF ENGLISH

3.- Find the words in the text that mean:

a) obtain (paragraph 1): pick up

b) go on (paragraph 2): continue
c) most enthusiastic (paragraph 2): keenest
d) compensated (paragraph 3): rewarded

4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given.

a) There’s no better (good) time to buy a new computer than after the Christmas  season, when prices are reduced / have been reduced / will be reduced / would be reduced / could be reduced (reduce) by more than 30%.

b) If you were (be) a shop owner, how / why / when / - would you encourage people to come to your shop during January sales?

c) After going (go) shopping with my grandmother, I realised that I hadn’t spent so much money on clothes since / as / - last Christmas.

      Complete the following sentence to report what was said.

d) “What did you buy for Peter?” → I asked Mary what she had bought for Peter.

III. WRITING

5. Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.
Who do you think benefits more from discount shopping, customers or shops? Discuss.

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS