Why thin doesn’t sell? - PAU inglés C.Valenciana 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Comunidad Valenciana resueltos

They have been banned from the catwalk, blamed for devastating women’s self-esteem and suspected of suffering eating disorders. Now ultra-thin models face another accusation: that they’re not good at their job. New research has found that instead of being admired by women, excessively thin models are regarded as less truthful and appealing than “ordinary” women. ‘The advertising and fashion industries are reluctant to use larger models because they say that thinness sells’, said Dr Helga Dittmar, of the University of Sussex. ‘But our research has shown that thin models are less effective in selling products than average-size models’. Dittmar asked 800 women to rank the effectiveness of adverts featuring slim models. She expected women to find thin models more convincing and persuasive. ‘Instead, there was a strong message that models were evaluated more positively when they had a normal size’, she said.

These findings come after the controversy which erupted when Madrid said models at Pasarela Cibeles must have a weight in line with United Nations health guidelines. Dittmar said: ‘Only a small percentage of women can ever hope to have the bodies shown in most advertising. There are fears that images of ultra-thin models can have a number of significant consequences, including negative self-perception, depression and disordered eating. The conclusion is that thin models have a negative effect on the self-esteem of women, and this affects the effectiveness of the advertising message. ‘Compared with ultra-thin models, those who appear in ads with an average, healthy body size were viewed as more credible’.

Don't forget the classics - PAU 2006 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all. This seems good advice nowadays since most students read just a few classics in high school. Their teachers, tired of pushing teenagers through 19th-century novels, long ago replaced traditional works with more reader-friendly texts. Consequently, we have a generation of students who never heard of Odysseus or turned on the switch in Victor Frankenstein's laboratory.

Students who are used to the pace of MTV and video games have less and less patience for slow-moving plot and detailed, descriptive passages. In an attempt to reach this new audience, teachers brought contemporary and multicultural literature into their classrooms. But there is the danger of forgetting literary criteria. Instead of choosing books with literary merit—universal themes, rich language, complex characters—teachers select simpler stories with 10 characters to whom they think their students can relate.

Voters split over nuclear power

Almost half of Britons say no new nuclear power stations should be built in the UK, according to a The Guardian poll which comes as ministers consider whether to restart Britain's controversial atomic power programme to meet growing energy demand. The poll finds that neither the pro- nor anti-nuclear lobby can rely on a clear majority of public support.
A review of Britain's energy policies was announced by Tony Blair last month and a report is expected in the summer. Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, told the Commons environmental committee last month: "I do not think that any government could proceed with nuclear new build if there was a sense in which this was unacceptable to the public. Taking the public along is absolutely essential."
The government's decision to look at nuclear energy marks a shift in position from that outlined in a white paper two years ago, which said: "Current economics make it an unattractive option for new, carbon-free generating capacity and there are also important issues of nuclear waste to be resolved."
The Guardian interviewed 1,004 adults aged 18-plus by telephone between 15 and 18 December 2005.

South American wild cats find hope in a test tube- PAU Madrid 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos C. Madrid

Since time immemorial felines have been venerated in America, North and South. Their shapes appear engraved on ancient artifacts and in the form of modem statues. But in the last century, jaguars, pumas and other American felines have declined alarmingly in number. So much so, that they may become extinct. As a result, researchers in Spain and Argentina have embarked on a project for the preservation of ten feline species in Latin America. For the next three years, they will be working on the creation of two genetic banks one in Madrid and the other in Buenos Aires, to keep away the threat that looms over these animals.
This threat comes from human activity. Since 1920, the population of Latin America has tripled to 480 million people. A quarter of the forest area has disappeared, and activities such as hunting, fishing, mining and farming intensify human impact on the environment, so that the natural habitat of these species has been hugely reduced. The reduction of the habitat reduces the population.
So far, the problem has been addressed by introducing new animals into each region, with problems of transport and adaptation leading to poor chances of success. Now, the plan is to apply assisted reproduction techniques, fertilizing females with semen from males from other regions, including various zoos in Argentina and Spain. Scientists hope that, a few decades into the future, the words jaguar or puma may be more than mere names and memories.

Teachers, society and moral standards - PAU inglés Galicia 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

Like it or not, teachers are still expected to be suitable role models for their students. This presents something of a problem, because although some teachers try hard to disguise the fact, they are obviously no less wicked than the rest of humanity.
Teachers already do society a great service in stressful jobs that have less status and pay than many other graduate professions. Asking them to be also more morally pure than the rest of us would be going too far.
However, there are practical reasons why teachers should not display their imperfections. Kids have a supernatural ability to spot the weaknesses in their teachers and exploit them ruthlessly. Rumours spread and mutate in the playground at great speed. If, during the first lesson, Miss Davis seems to have had a bit of a heavy night, by the final bell she is a certified alcoholic. Authority is easily undermined if you are exposed as a wrongdoer.
Also, we want schools to encourage children to aspire to high standards of conduct. We know that humans constantly fail to be as good as they should. But it is better to set the bar high and fail from time to time, than it is to set it low and sanction everyday wrongdoing.
For these reasons, it is important that teachers appear to be upholders of the values we aspire to, standing for high standards of ethics and not allowing their message to be undermined by revealing how they themselves fail to meet them.
Toleration of hypocrisy? Pure and simple, the old “Do as I say, not as I do”. People who don’t want to be hypocrites should try to live by the standards they teach. But the concern of employers, students and parents should be only with how teachers behave in public.

My life in the world of fashion - PAU Galicia 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

My name is Claire. Last summer I was walking through Covent Garden and a woman from a modelling agency came up to me. She asked if I’d ever thought of modelling, and I said: “No, never.” But I was signed up and started modelling in the school holidays. I decided to go into it full time this year.

My parents supported the decision, though they would rather I’d stayed on at school and gone to University. But they are fairly keen on show business themselves. It’s a very competitive profession. You have to be very self-disciplined: eating the right things, exercising, looking your best when you get up in the morning. It sounds easy but it’s hard work.

When you go on castings all the models look you up and down; but a lot of them are very friendly. I would say male models are more vain: all the ones I’ve met seem terribly in love with themselves. They are not the people I see at weekends. I spend most of my time with my boyfriend, who’s a computer programmer, or with old friends.

Modelling is a lot of fun but it’s not something I want to do as my career. It’s always been my ambition to be rich and famous, but what I really want to do is be a singer. I know people say models always go on to acting and singing and can’t do it, but if I’m making money I don’t really care what they say.

L'inegalité sexuelle mondiale ne disminue pas, selon l'ONU . PAU 2006

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

L’inégalité sexuelle reste une caractéristique majeure de la société mondiale, et ne semble pas en voie de  disparaître, selon le rapport annuel du Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population (Fnuap) publié le 12 octobre. Cette inégalité apparaît par exemple dans l’accès à l’école: 600 millions de femmes analphabètes, contre 320 millions d’hommes.

La non-reconnaissance du travail des femmes est d’ailleurs très importante dans les pays pauvres, où le ramassage du bois ou la corvée de l’eau, essentiels à la survivance, sont réservés aux femmes.

L’inégalité est flagrante sur le plan politique: «les femmes occupent seulement 16% des sièges aux Parlements nationaux au niveau mondial», note le rapport. Cette caractéristique n’est pas propre aux pays pauvres. La France, le Japon ou les États-Unis n’attribuent pas beaucoup de place aux femmes dans la vie politique. La violence sexuelle semble aussi une calamité largement partagée. Elle «est peut-être la violation des droits humains la plus étendue et la plus tolérée par la société. Au niveau mondial, «une femme sur cinq sera, au cours de sa vie, victime d’un viol ou d’une tentative de viol», et la violence sexuelle tue ou rend infirmes autant de femmes âgés de 14 - 44 ans que le cancer.

Hervé Kempf, Le Monde, 14 octobre 2005 (texte adapté)

The fear of computers - PAU 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

This is not the world we once knew. The world is controlled by computers. Men and women can be seen, but they are following the orders given to them by machines.

Does this scenario sound familiar? You have probably read something like it in magazines or science – fiction books, or seen it in films. Why is the theme so popular? One of the reasons is undoubtedly that it reflects the fears of many people: fear of the unknown, fear of what is not understood, or, at least, fear of something that is partially comprehended. This fear is perhaps not very different from the way witches and black cats were feared in the Middle Ages.

The fact is that every day it seems that computers take control of another area of our lives. Some factory jobs are now done by robots and the robots in turn are controlled by computers. Our bank accounts are managed by computers. At the airport, our tickets are issued and our seats are assigned by a computer. Certainly, many of these operations are made more efficient by computers, but our admiration is sometimes combined with feelings of insecurity. And this insecurity is caused by the fact that we don’t know how computers do these things, and we really don’t know what they might do next.

But we can find out how computers work, and once we understand them we can use computers instead of worrying about being used by them.

The life and death of Jack Cade

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

The crowd cheered as the notorious highwayman, Jack Cade, climbed onto the waiting farm cart in 1779. After two weeks alone in a cold, damp prison cell, living on bread and water, he was going to pay for all the coaches he had robbed. With a smile, he slowly peeled off his silk jacket and threw it to them. He placed the rope carefully round his own neck.

“It’s not the kind of necktie I really like,” he said, “but still, my friends, I’ve no real regrets, for I’ve always enjoyed living life sweetly to the full. I do not have anything to fear, because although my business was robbing coaches, I have never hurt anyone. I have enjoyed more than my share of wine, women and song, so let’s part smiling.”

A man fired a shot and the horse ran away with the cart, watched by a tearful girl who was 3 months pregnant by him. After struggling for twenty minutes, Jack Cade died, hanged from the Hanging Tree, which grows next to the smallest prison in the world. It was built in 1521 by Henry VIII and is only 2 metres wide. The villagers named it “The Cage”.

The story of Cade did not end there. Villagers reported sightings of his ghost, and the Archbishop sent a priest to exorcise it, but in November 1912 over a dozen people reported seeing the ghost. A well-known medium, Mrs Ada Garvey, held a séance inside The Cage the following year to make contact with his spirit. The ghost made contact and said he was waiting for his lady love to return to him. He’s still waiting.

Addicted to her mobile - PAU 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Comunidad Valenciana resueltos

A teenager is to undergo psychiatric treatment after becoming addicted to her mobile phone. Like the worst type of addicts, Caroline regularly blows all her spending money. “I know it sounds like a silly addiction but it is real to me”, she said. “When I hear my phone beeping with a text message I am all smiles and it makes me happy. When I don’t have any credit left I become depressed. I haven’t got enough money for proper food and I have to borrow it”. Her parents have become so worried that next week she is due to begin a course of treatment from a specialist. She first revealed her craving to her doctor, who advised her to switch the phone on the silent mode, put it in a cupboard and forget about it. But he has now referred her for more psychiatric care after the scale of the problem became apparent.

Caroline said: “I have become protective of the phone. I can’t let anyone take it from me and I check where it is every two minutes”. A leading psychologist has classified Caroline’s plight as “technology addition”, in which sufferers experience a “high” when they receive a message bleep from their mobile. “It is like the first flush of love when you receive an e-mail or text, you feel good”. Caroline became hooked at 12 after her parents gave her a mobile for Christmas. Since then she has spent all her pocket money on phone cards.

Quand les ados nous parlent autos... - PAU francés 2006

>Exámenes selectividad francés Cataluña resueltos

Les acteurs du futur, ce sont eux: les jeunes de 15 ans, qui sont au coeur de la modernité et qui forgent aujourd’hui leur identité et celle de la société de demain. Des êtres qui sont ouverts à tous les changements car ils n’ont pas encore une vision établie de la société. Leur point de vue est donc un indicateur précieux dans tous les domaines. Les constructeurs automobiles, qui conçoivent des véhicules plusieurs années avant leur commercialisation, s’intéressent de près aux adolescents, futurs

acheteurs. Mais les ados* sont-ils attirés par l’automobile? Et par quel genre d’autos? Nous avons posé la question à des lycéens d’un petit village du Hainaut*.

Autant de filles que de garçons ont répondu à nos questions.

Première constatation: l’automobile n’est pas leur sujet de discussion favori! Mais l’automobile ne les laisse pas indifférents pour autant, et ils ont tous un point de vue spécifique sur ce thème.

L’auto est-elle un simple outil de déplacement ou une machine à rêves? Un peu des deux! En effet, une courte majorité des élèves interrogés (mais la grande majorité des filles…) voit l’auto comme un simple outil de déplacement, «mais cet outil de déplacement doit avoir un look super», ajoutent-ils. Là-dessus, filles et garçons sont d’accord: personne ne voudrait se promener dans une voiture au look banal…

Parmi les tendances générales, on note encore que les voitures sportives font toujours rêver les jeunes garçons. Quant aux filles, elles préfèrent les cabriolets, mais elles se disent également attirées par les voitures sportives, les monospaces et les 4 x 4.

Quelles sont les qualités que doit posséder une voiture? Le look arrive en tête chez les filles comme chez les garçons. Le confort est également un point très important pour tout le monde. Mais les garçons soulignent pratiquement tous l’importance des performances et de la sportivité, alors que les filles pensent plutôt à l’espace.

Elles sont aussi les seules à mentionner la qualité et la fiabilité parmi les points forts que doit posséder l’automobile qui leur paraît idéale!

Quels sont les plus grands progrès réalisés ces dernières années dans le domaine automobile? Pratiquement tous les ados* citent le GPS comme exemple de progrès le plus marquant.

Quant à la politique routière, les garçons désirent plus de tolérance au niveau des excès de vitesse, alors que les filles trouvent que la solution à ce problème serait de limiter la vitesse des véhicules dès la sortie de l’usine : «comme ça, il n’y aurait plus de problème!» Sur la question de l’alcool et des drogues au volant, une grande majorité des ados* se disent en faveur d’une politique de «tolérance zéro»! «On ne doit pas rouler quand on a bu ou pris de la drogue», lancent-ils.

D’après Le Soir, 29 avril 2005

Jeunes perdus sans collier . PAU 2006

>Exámenes selectividad francés Cataluña resueltos

Packs de bière et chiens à leur côté, ils zonent* dans les centres-villes, s’adressent aux passants pour leur demander quelques euros. La plupart ont une vingtaine d’années et vivent dans la rue. Aujourd’hui, en France, plusieurs dizaines de milliers de jeunes SDF* s’organisent en petits groupes pour affronter une vie de misère.

Les groupes sont de plus en plus nombreux, de plus en plus jeunes, et composés d’une proportion croissante de filles et d’étrangers, souvent sans papiers. Selon le ministère délégué à la Cohésion sociale, ils seraient entre 30000 et 50000 en France. Certains sociologues parlent d’au moins 100000 jeunes gens vagabonds.

D’où viennent-ils ? Qui sont-ils ? Des enfants de la crise, du chômage, de la cherté du logement (un tiers des jeunes SDF* ont un emploi) ou des familles en grande précarité ?

Dans la rue, le meilleur ami du jeune zonard, c’est le chien. «Eux, ils ne nous trahiront jamais. La nuit, ils nous protègent», explique Philippe, 26 ans. Comme sa compagne, Séverine, 24 ans, il traîne un hallucinant parcours de malheurs derrière lui. Ils se sont rencontrés à Toulouse, il y a cinq ans. Tout ce qu’il leur reste, c’est leurs deux chiens qui ne se séparent jamais d’eux. Compagnon d’infortune, source d’affection, signal d’alarme en cas de danger, le chien est l’objet de toutes les attentions.

L’animal sert aussi à entrer en contact avec les passants. «Certains s’intéressent plus à eux qu’à nous», constate Antoine, la trentaine, qui vit dans la rue depuis douze ans.

Pour Olivier Douville, psychanalyste et anthropologue, «Grâce aux chiens, les jeunes SDF* démontrent qu’ils sont capables de prendre soin d’un être vivant. Le chien est la preuve qu’ils résistent». Le vol, la perte ou la confiscation de l’animal par la police canine sont vécus comme un drame. Un de plus.

Pour le sociologue Jacques Guillou, la très grande majorité des jeunes que l’on retrouve dans la rue ont eu des expériences très dures: mauvais traitements, ruptures familiales, mort des parents – quand ils en ont eu –, échec scolaire, problèmes avec la justice, impossibilité d’entrer sur le marché du travail… Selon une enquête réalisée en 2000, 52% n’ont aucun diplôme, 17 % ont perdu au moins un de leurs parents, 9 % ne savent même pas si ces derniers sont encore en vie.

«La bande, c’est un clan, on fait peur aux gens, reconnaît Julie, 24 ans, qui s’est retrouvée à la rue à l’âge de 15 ans. Mais c’est le seul endroit où on me donne du courage, où on me donne le droit à la parole. Je n’ai jamais reçu d’amour ailleurs qu’ici». Dans les rues de La Rochelle, la bande de Julie vient de repérer un nouveau venu.

Un jeune homme qui regarde fixement la porte d’entrée de la vieille ville. On le retrouvera peut-être dans six mois à Bordeaux, dans un an à Paris. Ou à la même place.

D’après L’Express, 25 juillet 2005

Faire vivre la mer Morte . PAU 2006

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

«Si on ne trouve pas rapidement de l’eau, la mer Morte va mourir». C’est le constat de la Banque mondiale, organisme international qui mobilise les pays pour sauver cette étendue d’eau très salée.

La mer Morte c’est une mer intérieure du Prochain Orient alimentée par le fleuve Jourdain. En cinquante ans, son niveau a baissé de 30%. Si on ne fait rien, elle pourrait bien porter son nom, et mourir dans cinquante ans.

Les chercheurs proposent une solution: creuser un canal long de 200 kilomètres, qui apporterait l’eau de la mer Rouge.

En faisant voyager l’eau sur la frontière entre ces pays, on pourrait aussi irriguer des terres désertiques avec l’eau dont on aurait retiré le sel. Des cultures d’arbres, de céréales,  de plantes pourraient voir le jour.

Mais il y a des difficultés: le niveau de la mer Morte se situe 400 mètres plus bas que celui de la mer Rouge. Israël, l’Autorité palestinienne et la Jordanie sont d’accord pour ce projet. Ces pays ont lancé l’idée de sa réalisation en juillet à Paris. C’est un beau symbole international au Prochain Orient: trois pays souvent en conflit s’entendent pour donner de l’eau à leurs habitants.

JDE, le 6 octobre 2005.

Kill a snail and go to jail? PAU 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cataluña resueltos

A new law has been announced in the UK that updates the Protection of Animal Act 1911. Under this law people who mistreat animals will face fines up to 20,000 pounds and year-long prison. RSPCA* inspectors will be given powers to enter places where animals are kept without the need of an official warrant*, even by using force, to rescue animals believed to be suffering or at risk of harm.

The legislation will also offer protection to creatures such as insects, slugs, worms, caterpillars and butterflies if scientific evidence proves that they suffer pain and distress. The penalties double the present maximum six-month sentence and substantially increase the 5,000 maximum fine. The hard line will be set out in a draft Bill* to be published by the minister in charge of animal welfare. It will be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee and then go before both Houses of Parliament.
Anyone owning a pet or an exotic animal will have a «duty of care» towards it and could face having it taken away and being banned* from looking after another. Unborn animals will receive the same protection. RSPCA inspectors will also have the right to enter without a warrant any lorry, ferry, plane or hovercraft carrying animals. This has been included after concern about livestock* on long journeys. But the right will not apply to private homes, where inspectors will need a magistrate’s warrant or to be accompanied by the police. Local authorities will be given discretion to insist on registration of people who make money from animals, such as dog-walkers or pet-sitters, who care for animals when owners are away.
Animal welfare campaigners, however, will be angered that the draft Bill contains no reference to circus animals and fails to ban* the docking* of dogs’ tails. The RSPCA said that it would continue to campaign for a ban on tail docking except when a vet orders it for therapeutic reasons. The charity is also unhappy about circus animals and hopes that this will be looked at again.
Other measures in the Bill include a ban on anyone under 16 owning a pet and on goldfish or other animals being given as prizes at fairgrounds* or in competitions. This new legal initiative follows years of pressure from the RSPCA and organisations such as the Kennel Club.
But the Countryside Alliance, a non-profit organization involved in the protection of the rural way of life, is worried about how the principle of «a duty of care» will be interpreted for animals used in sport and recreation. Even though the proposed changes are not intended to affect hunting, shooting or fishing, there is concern that people may attempt to use them to challenge the treatment of dogs in hunt kennels, racehorses in stables and pheasants reared for game shoots.

(From the press. Adapted)

Do violent video games damage your brain?

Recent medical studies indicate that violent video games damage the brain permanently. Video games may be more dangerous to your health than cigarettes or alcohol. The studies show that repeated playing of violent video games minimizes the activities of the brain involved in reasoning and planning. At the same time, these games activate those functions that respond to violence. The studies include scientific data indicating that these games may actually cause destructive behaviour.

Violent amusement, such as video games, has been a crucial factor in shootings and killings at schools around the world, such as those at Columbine High School in Colorado, where 27 students and teachers were massacred by two youths addicted to violent video games and movies.

The results of studies showed that people had less brain activity when regularly playing a violent video game. “Brain changes were most apparent in those teens who were ‘heavy users’: those who played several hours a day”, said Dr. Mathews. “I think this information confirms the relationship between brain damage and violent video games.”

A story in the October 2002 issue of Computer Game magazine reported that in Japan, children are at risk of developing ‘Video-Game Brain’, a permanent suppression of certain brain functions. Scientists examined 240 people between the ages of 6 and 29 over a six-month period. These subjects, who spent 2-7 hours a day playing violent video games, showed a decline in brain activity associated with reasoning, planning and selfcontrol.

Those players hardly use the frontal regions of their brains. If the level of what is called beta-brainwaves is too low, they get angry easily and have difficulty in concentrating.

A word-learning dog - PAU inglés Cataluña 2006 resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cataluña resueltos

A word-learning pet dog has given scientists clues* that some animals may have the comprehension necessary for language, even though they cannot actually talk.

Rico, a smart border collie, was spotted on television by Julia Fischer and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. With a «vocabulary» of 200 words, Rico showed exceptional ability in retrieving* specific toys when asked to look for them.
The researchers decided to test whether Rico’s ability was based on understanding and if he could learn and remember new words. They placed a new toy among his favourites and asked Rico to go and pick it up, using the unfamiliar name. The dog almost always chose the correct object. This suggests that Rico is using a system called «fast-mapping», which young children use to learn new words by matching new words to new objects. The study is the first to show fastmapping in animals. In a commentary accompanying the study in the journal Science, Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University, US, writes that dog owners often say that their pets have communicative and social abilities and this study seems to prove they are right.
Fischer adds that the results of the experiment suggest there may be reasons other than comprehension which have stopped language evolving* in dogs and chimpanzees. She says that making the jump from comprehension to talking may require a change in neural organisation in order to give voluntary control and precise articulation of sounds. Another hypothesis suggests that gesturing is a pre-requisite to language developing. «Monkeys have fabulous control of their hands, but they don’t gesture,» Fischer explains. «So this shows there must be more things going on, perhaps in terms of social relationships.»
To be sure that Rico’s language skills were not based on visual prompts, the researchers carried out a second experiment. They placed ten known objects in a room, while Rico and his owner waited in another room. The owner asked Rico to go in and pick two randomly* chosen items. Rico did this 20 times and he correctly fetched 37 out of 40 toys. When a new toy was placed in the adjacent room with seven other familiar objects, Rico correctly chose the unfamiliar item in seven out of ten sessions.
He was then tested four weeks later to see if he remembered the link between the new word and the new object. The learned toy was placed among four completely new toys, and four familiar ones. In three out of six sessions, Rico picked the right one. «His performance is comparable to the performance of threeyear-old children,» write the researchers.
Rico may be an exceptionally bright and studious dog, admits Fischer: «If he were human, we would call him a workaholic. He’s highly motivated.» She also points out that dogs may be a special case in responding to human language because they have co-evolved with humans for centuries. But the fact that other animals like apes* have also shown comprehension may suggest that people are not the only beings who can talk and that perhaps, in the future, we will discover other smart animals who may be taught to «talk» like Rico.

(From the press. Adapted)

A wandering voice: The language of the Gypsy - PAU Cataluña 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cataluña resueltos

The Rom, commonly known as Gypsies, provide a particularly good example of the notion that language is a key to a people’s identity.
Some experts say the Gypsies come from central India. Others maintain that they originated in north-west India. Because of their constant  mobility and the fact that at least ten centuries have gone by since their exodus from their homeland, it is difficult to say with certainty whether or not they originated in the Punjab.
Scattered* all over the world in a Diaspora which has lasted many centuries, we know that the Rom are united by a common origin. Many grammatical forms and a basic vocabulary in their language –called Romani Chib– are in many ways similar to some languages spoken in India today, which confirms that India is the Rom’s original homeland.
When, a thousand years or more ago, the nomadic ancestors of today’s Rom began their long journey westwards, they lived in proximity to sedentary peoples of different languages and customs from whom they borrowed certain linguistic and cultural characteristics. After the thirteenth century the process accelerated and the language of the Rom was transformed, sometimes profoundly. This phenomenon had positive effects on the Romani vocabulary, which was enriched with words from many European languages. But it also had negative effects because it increased the difficulties for speakers of the different dialects to understand each other.
Nowadays, in spite of the common origin of the language, speakers of the Danubian, the western Balkan, the Finnish, the Italian, the Sinto or the British Romani dialects –and this list is by no means exhaustive– find it hard to understand one another. Even worse: certain Rom groups are in the process of abandoning their language. For example, an elderly Spanish Rom recently moaned*: «my grandchildren are no longer able to speak Caló with me!» [Caló is the Hispano-Romani dialect of the Iberian Gypsies].
The good news is that the Rom have not become totally assimilated or so far integrated in the western cultures so as to lose their identity or their originality.
Moreover, in recent years a strong desire for cultural union based on their common origins, language and values has appeared among the Rom of different countries.
Furthermore, there is an increasingly widespread tendency to write in Romani, an oral language up to now. Old Gypsy songs and fables are being transcribed, but also documents and literary works. Newspapers, magazines and web-sites are also available. A Romani grammar in Romani was published in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and in 2001, in Sweden, there were TV programmes in
Romani with Swedish subtitles. Also, there are those who believe that the language of the Rom should have a «special position» in public radio and television in the near future.
The publication of literary works in Romani and the promotion of the language in the media may be a first step towards its unification and may lead to a deeper self-awareness* among the Rom. Today this movement is contributing to a transformation of the not always positive image of the Gypsy. The strengthening of their culture and their regained capacity to communicate in their own language seem to be helping the Rom to become full members of modern society.

(From the Internet. Adapted)

Town vs. country - PAU C.Valenciana inglés 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Comunidad Valenciana resueltos

To those outside Britain —and many inside it— the fury that exploded last week over foxhunting, the House of Commons voted to ban, doesn't make much sense. The new law, which starting July 2006 will make it a crime to hunt wild mammals with dogs, is supported by 70% of Britons —including more than half of those living in the countryside. But some 10,000 passionate pro-hunting demonstrators came to London to denounce what they declare is an arrogant government violating their human rights as part of a cynical stratagem by Prime Minister Tony Blair to pacify left-wing MPs who are angry at him over the Iraq war. Most of the protesters were peaceful, but a few flying bottles and smoke bombs triggered bloody clashes with police protecting the House of Commons. Five men, including a polo-playing friend of Princes’ William and Harry, managed to evade security by pretending they were building contractors and rushed into the chamber during the debate —the first such invasion since 1947.

Britons love animals, but the protesters are right when they point out the illogic of the ban. Foxes will still have to be killed as agricultural pests, just by snares and shooting instead of by baying hounds pursued by red-coated riders. Other forms of hunting and fishing will remain legal. A government report estimates that 6,000 to 8,000 full- and part-time jobs depend on hunts, which involve about 1.2 million people, 50,000 horses and 70,000 dogs each year. In the rest of Europe, hunting foxes remains resolutely uncontroversial.

J.F.O. McAllister

Time, September 27, 2004

Sims 2

If Sims was the PC’s best-selling game of all time Sims 2, the sequel, will keep the millions of fans glued to their PC screens.

Sims 2 sees you take control of little people (Sims), controlling every aspect of their lives. You must feed them, wash them, boost their morale via activities and generally help them to become successful. The challenge comes in the form of balancing out their basic needs. Too much television may have a detrimental* effect. Similarly, they must learn new skills if they hope to get that promotion at work. Better jobs will lead to more money which in turn can be spent on luxuries (new beds, appliances, electronics and of course… a Jacuzzi!). These in turn will help to improve your Sim’s quality of life.

Graphically, Sims 2 is very attractive. Character appearances are presented handsomely and their movements are recreated smoothly. The facial expressions of your Sims are easily recognisable when interacting in conversations.

Sims 2 is unlikely to disappoint. It offers everything that made its predecessor so special with a huge variety of things to do. For those new to the Sims or the millions of fans who never got enough of it, Sims 2 will serve to ruin your social life for many more months to come.

Adapted from: Robert Wyse Jackson’s review of “Sims 2” Faze

Skin art - PAU inglés Madrid 2006

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos C. Madrid

Prehistoric man was thought to have practised tattooing, that is, puncturing the skin with tools dipped in pigment that left a permanent mark. And mummies with decorative tattoos have been discovered in many parts of the world. Yet for nearly as long as there has been tattooing, there has been condemnation. The Romans considered decorative tattooing barbaric, which is still evident in the Latin word for tattoo, stigma, and used tattoos to mark slaves and criminals.
Despite its deep roots in ancient cultures, tattooing had fallen out of practice in Europe by the time Britain's Captain Cook set sail for the Polynesian Islands in 1768.
Though Cook and his men were not the first Europeans to encounter Oceanic tattooing, they were the first to record the practice systematically. Cook also introduced to the English language the word tattoo, taken from the Tahitian.
Cook's men did not fully understand the significance of tattooing among the Oceanic people, for whom the designs were symbolic protection against earthly enemies. Yet the sailors were fascinated and eager to be marked themselves.
They adopted the practice with gusto, designing mariner motifs of their own. A turtle meant a sailor had crossed the equator, and an anchor that he had sailed the Atlantic. Crucifixion scenes were also popular motifs --a vain attempt to avoid being beaten, as it was hoped no one would dare hit the image of Christ.
Today, all types of people get tattooed. Though the art was adopted from distant cultures and adapted to suit Western tastes, the attraction of tattooing has changed very little.