Why do we enjoy mysteries so much? - PAU inglés Andalucía 2014

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

Have you ever thought about that? Detective stories and legal thrillers are among the most popular genres in literature. Murder mysteries are the only genre of literature which offers you the chance to figure out the story for yourself. Readers love to catch the killer before he or she is revealed. Detective stories are really a game, a puzzle to solve. The reader must put together the clues, and if you do this one step ahead of the detective, you feel really proud.

In no other genre does a team of people spend so much energy to understand the identity of one person. We usually focus on the murderer, but it is really the dead who is the star. To solve the murder, the team of detectives must know the victim’s history. They have to find out who would want to kill them and why. In looking for the killer, they use their brain power to deduce the truth behind the appearances the killer has created. In a mystery, death is explained through reasoning. You can see the dark side of people, but you know that justice prevails. Good will defeat evil.

People who like detective stories usually love forensics shows like CSI or Bones. They are a new variation on an old formula: instead of solving crimes with guns and car chases, the ‘good guys’ use microscopes and DNA, and the investigators, like any detective of the past—Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple, for example—are intelligent guardians of justice, caught in a battle against an equally intelligent criminal.

  RESPUESTAS

I. READING COMPREHENSION

ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

1. What makes detective stories different from other genres?

• People find in them challenging, exciting puzzles to solve.

2. Why is the victim so important in this kind of story?

• Because the victim is very often the key to a murder mystery. Many novelists like to let the reader get to know who the victim is and what he or she is like.

3. What’s the difference between the detectives of the past and the new investigators in forensics shows?

• Detectives of the past used to solve crimes with guns and car chases and the new investigators in forensics shows work in labs. 

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

4. You feel good when you discover the murderer before the detective does.

• TRUE: (lines 4-5) “The reader must put together the clues, and if you do this one step ahead of the detective, you feel really proud.”

5. In detective stories, the criminal isn’t brought to justice.

• FALSE: (lines 10-11) “You can see the dark side of people, but you know that justice prevails. Good will defeat evil.”

II. USE OF ENGLISH

6. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR “opportunity” (noun).

•  chance (line 2)

6. WICH WORD IS NOT A NOUN

• “killing, making, satisfying, reasoning”
  

7. GIVE A NOUN WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “proud” (adjective).

• pride

8. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION: (up/ after/ out/ into)

• “The police looked into the accident”

9. FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION: 

“Something which serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem or mystery.” 

• Clue

10. JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY: 

“Agatha Christie was the best-selling mystery writer of all time. Her husband was an archaeologist.”

• Agatha Christie, whose husband was an archaeologist, was the best-selling mystery writer of all time.

11. REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: 

“If your friend doesn’t come before ten, he will miss the train.” Unless......... 

• Unless your friend comes before ten, he will miss the train.

12. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: 

“Agatha Christie wrote ninety-three books.” 

• How many books did Agatha Christie write?

13. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: 

“People were accusing me of the robbery.” 

• I was being accused of the robbery.

 

III. PRODUCTION 

14. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS ABOUT THE PROPOSED TOPIC AND FOCUS STRICTLY ON IT:

• Write a review or a summary of a book or film which you have enjoyed.

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS