PAU 2015 Cantabria. Train to take you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in three hours

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cantabria resueltos

Everyone’s talking about California's high-speed rail project – a $68 billion network that could zip passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours. Construction of the first phase of the line will begin next year in the Central Valley, a 28-mile stretch from Madera to Fresno. In future years, the rail line will stretch north to San Jose and south to Palmdale and the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles. The whole network might not be completed until 2028.

The project has been surrounded by controversy. Some have said even though the nation’s first bullet train will take a quarter of the time it currently takes, it will still not be fast enough to attract sufficient customers.

Others have said the price tag is too high. Yet officials at California’s High-Speed Rail Authority say it is still cheaper than building dozens of new airport runways and highways to accommodate a state population that is estimated to reach 46 million by 2035.

At a special ceremony in Fresno on Tuesday, California Governor Jerry Brown compared the rail line to the construction of the great cathedrals of Europe, which took generations. “The high-speed rail links us from the past to the future, from the south to the north,” he said. “It's not that expensive. We cannot really afford not to build it.

All these projects are a little controversial. You’ll always have some critics say why spend all this money?”

Last year, two government transport officials from the state, Brian Kelly and Mary Nichols, wrote in a newspaper article that the only genuine alternative to the high-speed train was to invest up to $150 billion to build 4,300 new lanes of highway, more freeways and hundreds of new airport gates and runways. They added: “This would cover large parts of the state with concrete and asphalt.”

By car, the journey takes at least six-and-a-half hours in optimum traffic conditions, and can cost about as much depending on the type of car, fuel and highway tolls. The high-speed train tickets will be similar to the cost of air travel, promoters say, and deliver people to central stations, saving more time and money.

The Independent, 7 January 2015 (Adapted)

PAU 2015 inglés. E-Cigarettes increase the risk of flu and pneumonia

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cantabria resueltos

Using electronic cigarettes may harm the body’s defences against pneumonia and flu, according to a recent study. The research, which reopens the debate on the dangers and benefits of e-cigarettes, suggests the vapour produced by the devices can compromise the immune system in the lungs, leaving them more vulnerable to infection by harmful bacteria and viruses.

Scientists from John Hopkins University exposed mice to e-cigarette vapour twice a day for two weeks.

They then administered some of the mice with an influenza virus and others with the bacteria which is responsible for pneumonia. The mice that had been exposed to the vapour were less able to fight off illness, and some died. Professor Shyam Biswal, senior author of the study, said the findings suggested that e-cigarettes are not neutral in terms of the effects on the lungs and that studies should now be carried out on people, particularly those with common lung problems which often affect smokers and ex-smokers – the main users of e-cigarettes.

It is true that e-cigarettes have been shown to be highly effective in helping smokers to quit, and there is a broad consensus that despite some uncertainty over their health impact, they are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes but Professor Biswal remains concerned e-cigarettes could pose risks to future generations, particularly given evidence from some countries that they are becoming more popular among young people who have never smoked.

He has recommended to the World Health Organisation that they be banned in indoor public spaces – a measure the Department of Health in England has ruled out, but which is being considered by the Welsh government.

However, Professor John Britton from the UK said the most important point was that harm to the lungs was less from e-cigarettes than from tobacco. “The lung is an exquisitely delicate organ and therefore nobody with any common sense would believe that inhaling heated vapour many times a day would be harmless,” he said. “What matters here is not a comparison of the effects of e-cigarette vapour compared with nothing, but the effects compared with those of tobacco smoke. Harm to the lungs will be less with electronic cigarettes than tobacco cigarettes, and any smoker who cannot quit using nicotine, and doesn’t find medicinal products effective, would be well advised to try an electronic cigarette.”

The Guardian, 4 February 2015 (Adapted).

Ces cerveaux européens qui émigrent en France . PAU francés 2015

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

À l´heure où la fuite des cerveaux français inquiète, Ana, Inge et José, tous trois diplômés de l´enseignement supérieur, ont posé leur valise à Paris. Ils mettent aujourd´hui leur intelligence et leur créativité au service de leur pays d´adoption. Grâce aux accords de Schengen, tous trois ont pu s´installer en toute liberté. Si les Européens représentent la moitié des immigrés arrivés en France en 2012, l´ Europe du Sud est la plus grosse contributrice. Mais ce ne sont plus les mêmes qui font leurs valises. Aujourd´hui, des jeunes bien formés la quittent, quand les vagues précédentes d´immigrés du sud touchaient des travailleurs manuels. Ainsi, plus de la moitié des Italiens et des Espagnols qui s´installent en France ont un diplôme du supérieur. Nombre sont ceux qui commencent par des petits boulots et saisissent le tremplin de la restauration ou de l´hôtellerie. C´est le cas de José Antonio Bautista, diplômé en Économie qui a quitté l´Espagne en 2008 : il a commencé comme réceptionniste de nuit dans un hôtel. Parti à cause de la crise, il n´a pas connu que des jours faciles en France : « Mais c´est quand même nettement moins dur ici qu´en Espagne. Le contrat de travail français est plus protecteur et si on n´est pas trop gourmand, on peut s´en sortir avec un salaire minimum. Ce qui n´est pas le cas en Espagne ».

lemonde.fr 26.12. 2014 (texte adapté)

Bénévolat: Tendre la main ne coûte rien . PAU francés 2015

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

Du 12 au 14 septembre, ce sont les 3J du bénévolat. L'occasion de se poser cette question : et si, moi aussi, j'aidais les autres ? Être bénévole, c'est aider, le plus souvent une association, sans être payé. En France, le nombre de bénévoles serait compris entre 12 et 14 millions, soit un Français sur quatre.

Ce sont surtout les étudiants et les retraités qui s'engagent le plus. Quand on choisit de devenir bénévole, c'est souvent pour défendre une cause qui nous touche. Par exemple aider des personnes handicapées, accueillir des enfants pour les vacances, protéger les animaux... Pour être bénévole, il suffit d'avoir du temps, et de l'énergie. Il faut normalement avoir 16 ans, mais on peut toujours aller donner un coup de main avec ses parents. D'ailleurs, la loi autorise même les enfants de 16 ans à créer une association.

S'engager comme bénévole, c'est un excellent moyen de découvrir la vie en société, de prendre des responsabilités. C'est une chose qui est très appréciée par les patrons quand on mentionne une telle expérience sur son CV.

Mais bien sûr, c'est une aide indispensable pour les associations, qui ont toujours besoin d'aide. Alors si devenir bénévole vous intéresse, pourquoi ne pas en parler à vos parents et chercher ensemble quel type de cause vous aimeriez aider ?

Journal des enfants 12.09.2012.

Nous collaborons à la disparition du français . PAU francés 2015

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

Les Anglo-saxons ont un projet explicitement hégémonique. On l'a vu lors des Jeux olympiques de Londres. À l'exception du prologue, le français en était totalement absent. Même constat dans les aéroports (control passport), ou dans les colloques internationaux, etc. : ils font perdre à la langue française sa visibilité. Le drame, c'est que nous collaborons à cette disparition -dans tous les domaines, « l’anglobal » est une forme de parasite. À la Renaissance, des milliers de mots italiens sont entrés dans la langue française, mais ils ont été rapidement absorbés, transformés, francisés. Aujourd'hui, et c'est nouveau, les mots anglais qui s'implantent chaque jour dans notre vocabulaire ne sont plus de l'ordre de l'échange, mais de la substitution ("checker" à la place de "vérifier"). En France colonisée, c'est Halloween tous les jours. Mais, plus que de colonisation, nous devons parler d'auto-colonisation. Tous les domaines sont victimes : la mode avec la "fashion week", la cuisine et ses "fast-foods", les conseils d'administration, la diplomatie, la défense, la chanson, l'aviation, la médecine, le sport... Tout le monde désormais fait des fautes massivement, et des fautes sur le logiciel, comme la confusion des sons et des temps, le futur et le conditionnel, etc. La langue et la culture françaises sont désirées partout dans le monde comme une alternative au modèle anglo-saxon. Mais nous les Français, nous y avons renoncé. Que nous propose-t-on à la télévision ? Des séries américaines. La France a renoncé à la francophonie pour prendre part à l'Europe anglophone.

L’Express 21.10. 2014 (texte adapté)

Apprendre une langue étrangère c'est bon pour le cerveau . PAU 2015

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

Qui aurait cru qu'apprendre les langues était bon pour la santé ? Pourtant, le phénomène est étudié depuis plusieurs années au Canada. En étudiant un groupe de 184 patients atteints de la maladie d'Alzheimer dans une clinique de Toronto entre 2002 et 2005, le docteur Ellen Bialystok avait mis en évidence que ceux qui avaient parlé deux langues durant toute leur vie pouvaient retarder l'apparition de la maladie de quatre années par rapport à ceux qui ne parlaient qu'une seule langue. Un effet constaté même après avoir pris en considération la possible influence des différences culturelles, de l'immigration, de l'éducation, de la profession et même du genre... Les effets ainsi constatés du bilinguisme sont les plus forts en matière d'intelligence générale et de capacités à la lecture. De plus, l'étude suggère un effet positif de ce bilinguisme en fin de vie, y compris chez ceux qui ont acquis leur seconde langue à l'âge adulte : dans le groupe test, en effet, 195 ont appris une seconde langue avant l'âge de 18 ans, mais 65 l'ont apprise plus tard car des millions de personnes dans le monde acquièrent leur seconde langue tard dans la vie. Selon le Dr. Thomas Bak, l’étude montre que le bilinguisme, même acquis à l'âge adulte, peut bénéficier le cerveau prenant de l'âge. Reste à savoir si apprendre plus d'une langue supplémentaire aurait des effets encore plus bénéfiques, et si la pratique active de la seconde langue est également un facteur à prendre en compte... Mais dans tous les cas, apprendre une autre langue, c'est bon pour le cerveau ! 

L’Obs 04.06.2014 (texte adapté)

How Facebook affects us - PAU 2015

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cantabria resueltos

Two recent studies have revealed amazing facts about how Facebook affects its users. The first study, carried out by researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia, has shown that being envious of Facebook friends can cause depression and that looking through the site to compare achievements with those of friends can have a very detrimental effect on a person`s mental health. Margaret Duffy explains, "Facebook can be a fun and healthy activity if users take advantage of the site to stay connected with family and old friends and to share interesting and important aspects of their lives. However, using it to see how well an acquaintance is doing financially or how happy an old friend is in his relationship can lead to feelings of depression."

Duffy and a colleague based in Singapore surveyed 700 students for the paper, published in the journal ‘Computers in Human Behaviour’. She went on to say, "Facebook can be a very positive resource for many people, but if it is used as a way to compare your own accomplishments against others, it can have a negative effect. It is important for Facebook users to be aware of these risks so they can avoid this kind of behaviour when using Facebook."

A second study, completely independent from the first, has shown that a computer can be better at assessing someone’s basic personality than close friends or family. A study of more than 86,000 users of Facebook has demonstrated the power of intelligent machines to predict an individual’s character based on what they have listed as their “Likes.”

Researchers said that the day when computers are able to judge a person’s personality accurately has almost arrived and even suggested that science fiction films like “Her”, based on a man’s emotional attachment to an intelligent computer, are closer than we think. In the future, computers could be able to infer our psychological characteristics and react accordingly in an emotionally-intelligent way. “People may choose to change their own intuitions and judgements with this kind of data analysis when making important life decisions such as choosing activities, career paths or even romantic partners,” said Wu Youyou of Cambridge University.

The Independent, 12 January and 4 February 2015 (Adapted)

Do young people care about learning foreign languages? - PAU 2015 inglés Cantabria

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Cantabria resueltos

Do young people in the UK care about learning languages? Fewer students than ever are choosing to study a language degree at university, and since 2004, taking a language at GCSE* has not been compulsory, so the simple answer would seem to be no. This is disconcerting news for a country which is not exactly famous for its multilingualism.

However, research conducted by the organisation ICM paints a far more complex picture of youth attitudes in the UK. Those choosing to study languages may have dropped, but of the 1001 young people between the ages of 14-24 interviewed in the survey, almost 20% already speak another language at home with their family, and 70% would be interested in learning another language in the future.

When asked to pick the three main benefits of learning a language, students said that job prospects at home and abroad were both key incentives. Learning about another culture and the experience of communicating also scored highly in this section. So if languages offer you the ability to make new friends and work abroad, why are young people put off? Asked to pick the three main downsides of learning a language, the difficulty of the learning process was an important reason but the idea that they were less interesting than other subjects came top for our young interviewees. Interestingly, low confidence levels in speaking another language also played a role in this decision.

Asking interviewees to comment on their ability in the language they had studied at school provided perhaps the most revealing piece of data from the survey. For most of the languages, students don’t perceive themselves to be progressing past basic language levels. The survey suggested that the opportunity to use a language outside the classroom and communicate with native speakers would make language learning more attractive. As for teaching inside the classroom, young people want more interaction, and more technology.

November 2014, The Guardian (Adapted).

• *GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education (in the UK)

Qu'est-ce que le droit à la liberté d'expression? . PAU francés 2015

Exámenes selectividad francés resueltos Andalucía

La Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme et le Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques protègent le droit à la liberté d’expression dans leurs Articles 19 respectifs. La liberté d’expression est non seulement importante en soi mais aussi essentielle à l’exercice d’autres droits humains.

Au niveau individuel, la liberté d’expression est essentielle au développement, à la dignité et à l’épanouissement de chaque individu. Les individus parviennent à comprendre leur environnement et le monde en échangeant librement des idées et des informations entre eux. La liberté d’expression renforce leur capacité à planifier leur vie et à exercer une activité professionnelle. Les individus se sentent plus en sécurité et respectés par l’État s’ils sont capables d’exprimer ce qu’ils pensent.

Au niveau national, la liberté d’expression est essentielle à la bonne gouvernance et, de ce fait, au progrès économique et social. La liberté d’expression et la liberté d’information contribuent à améliorer la qualité de la gouvernance de diverses manières : en garantissant que des personnes honnêtes et compétentes administrent l’État […], en favorisant la bonne gouvernance en permettant aux citoyens d’exposer leurs préoccupations devant les autorités […], en favorisant la mise en oeuvre d’autres droits humains […].

Pour toutes ces raisons, la liberté d’expression et la liberté d’information sont reconnues par la communauté internationale comme des droits humains primordiaux. 

Articles 19 DUDH et PIDCP

PAU Galicia 2015 inglés - The Polite Society

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

When  was  the  last  time  you  stopped  to  have  a  friendly  chat  with  your  neighbour,  or  paused  to open  the door for someone, or gave up your seat on the bus to an elderly person? If you have to stop to think, then it was too long ago.

Ian Gregory, the founder of the Polite Society, is the sort of person who does it every day and thinks that the world would be a better place if we all did the same. What we need, he says, is a touch more courtesy. Our society is full of rude, inconsiderate and selfish people who wouldn’t give you the time of day even if your life depended on it. He’s absolutely right, of course, but isn’t that “a sign of the times”? Well,  he  thinks there is  something  that  is  going  wrong  with  the  way  we  live  our  lives  and  interact  with one another, especially  on  the  roads,  where  an  estimated  47  per  cent  of  accidents  can  be  traced  back  to some act of discourtesy.
There is nothing that legislation can do about this; there’s nothing that money can do about it either. You can’t impose a personality on a nation and say: “Well, let’s all be nicer to one another”. But the only way you  are going  to  get  anything  effective  done  about  it  is  if  you  persuade  enough  people  that  they  can  be happier, more successful individuals if they are more considerate to one another in their business, in their love lives, in their family lives, in everything.
You  see,  we  are  brilliant  at  discovering  things,  learning  how  to  use  computers,  etc.,  but  in  terms  of behaviour towards one another we are no better than cavemen.

PAU inglés Galicia 2015 - Attitudes towards Britain and the British

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

The  British  Council  recently  conducted  a  31-nation  survey  (including  Spain)  of  attitudes towards Britain and the British, as part of the British Government’s efforts to improve the UK’s image  overseas.  In  general  the  attitudes  of  people  in  Africa,  the  Middle  East  and  South  Asia were  quite  positive,  but  those  in  Western  Europe  and  East  Asia  gave  more  critical  responses. However,  all  areas  agreed  on  Britain’s  most  famous  representatives:  David  Beckham,  Hugh Grant and Mr Bean.

In  Spain people  were  more  critical  than  in  other  countries  when  asked  about  Britain.  As  far  as British  people  are  concerned,  Spanish  attitudes  were  positive  in  some  aspects  and  negative  in others.  On  one  hand  they  seemed  to  think  that  the  British  are  honest,  fair, hardworking  and loyal,  but,  on  the  other  hand  they  regarded  them  as  being  rather  conservative,  a  little  bit  dull, and not terribly friendly, particularly to people from other countries and cultures. The country’s main  strengths  were  felt  to  be  the  English language, the nation’s stable economy and its legal, government and education systems. The country’s higher education system, its universities and colleges,  were  well thought of and most Spanish people believe  that if they  go to the UK, they will  get  a  good academic experience in the universities and colleges there. Britain’s art world was widely praised, especially because of its tremendous capacity for innovation.
Contrary  to  people  from other  countries,  the  Spanish  are  more  or  less  aware  of  the  differences between the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. Scotland (whose key images were mountains,  kilts  and  whisky)  was  the  most  recognised,  ahead  of  England  (best  known  for London,  the  Royal  Family  and  the  Tower  of London),  Wales  (the  Prince  of Wales,  castles  and rugby) and Northern Ireland (violence and the IRA).

PAU Galicia 2015 - Kirkland, the most desirable place to live in the USA

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

Kirkland,  in  Western  Seattle,  has  been  voted  the  most  desirable  place  to  live  in  the  United  States. Seattle’s  eastside  suburbs  are  a  pleasant  mass  of good  schools,  great  jobs  and  family-friendly neighborhoods. Kirkland has  all  that, while also offering  a unique, lively downtown on  the shores of Lake Washington.

From Kirkland’s beaches on the lake you can see the Seattle skyline, but there’s no need to go to the big city to have fun. Even on a weeknight, the downtown restaurants and sidewalks are full. “Kirkland is definitely a hotspot right now,” says Kristi Caggiano, 42, who moved to town 14 years ago. She lives near downtown with her husband, daughter and 10-year-old son, and says the family can walk to the market, local shops, pool and library. “The school system is fantastic,” Kristi says, “and we are going to send our daughter to a high school which is going to open right next to our house.” This is just one of several schools that will open in the near future. Her son’s elementary school has a well-attended  choir  program,  and  every  child  has  a  chance  to  take  swimming  lessons.  Also,  25%  of Kirkland’s total area is made up of parks. Some of these have sandy beaches and attractions for kids. 

“There’s always something to do,” says Caggiano. Residents report that Kirkland’s proximity to Google and Microsoft offices is attracting a lot more young  people  and  families.  Google  now  employs  about  800  people,  and  has  announced  plans  to double the size of its Kirkland offices by 2016. The town is seeing many other new business start-ups.

The  good  job  market  means  reasonably-priced housing is in short supply. “It’s a problem we are hoping to solve soon, but we’re not there yet,” says real estate agent Brenda Nunes. A three-bedroom home averages $440,000. 

PAU inglés Galicia 2015 - Once upon a time, fashion was only for the rich

>Exámenes selectividad inglés Galicia resueltos

Once upon a time, fashion was only for the rich. Paris was the centre of the fashion world, and everyone else  tried  to  copy  the  top  French  designers.  But  now,  fashion  is  a  much  more  international  matter. London,  like  other  big  European  cities,  has  a  large  number  of  its  own  talented  and  hard-working designers.

Anyway,  many  people,  especially  the  young, take  no  notice  of the  clothes  the  designers produce.  They wear  things  which  express  their  ideas  and  feelings  about  life.  They  use  fashion  like  a  kind  of  uniform. Take hairstyles, for example. If a boy has very short, almost shaven hair, people expect him to have right-wing politics whereas they expect boys with very long hair to have left-wing politics. A boy who wears a leather jacket covered in bits of metal will probably ride a motorbike, and a girl who wears Laura Ashley dresses will probably have middle-class ideas.

Some young people, of course, have fun with all the latest “street styles”. They cut their hair into strange shapes, wear lots of cheap jewellery, cut holes in their trousers to make them look old, or paint their lips blue. These “street styles” come and go, and are not the creation of the big fashion designers, who, in fact, often use ideas from street fashions when they make their own designs. Many young people simply try to look  as  clean  and  tidy  as  possible,  particularly  when  looking  for  a  job,  in  order  to  produce  a  good impression  on  possible  employers.  Clothes  with  a  sporty  look  are  popular,  as  they  make  people  look healthy and energetic.

Most British people are possibly not very fashion-conscious. Even the richest and most important people frequently wear old and untidy clothes, and, of course, only a very few can afford designer clothes.

Videogames - PAU inglés 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

A teenager died at an Internet cafe in Taiwan after reportedly playing a videogame for 40 hours straight. The 18-year-old, who has only been identified by his first name, Chuang, had booked a private room in an Internet cafe in southern Taiwan. Chuang then proceeded to play the videogame for 40 hours straight without eating. The next day, an attendant went into the room where Chuang had been playing and found the teen resting on the table. The attendant was able to wake Chuang, who stood up, took a few steps and then collapsed onto the ground. He was pronounced dead soon after arriving at the hospital. Authorities believe the teenager may have suffered a heart attack due to sitting for such a long period of time. 

The video game he had been playing was of the role play variety and very popular due to its repeated scheme of killing the monsters, finding the treasure and then escaping from the beast’s den. What made it so addictive, particularly when it got to the end of the game, was the fact that repetitive actions are necessary to develop our character’s strength till you are able to overcome the boss level. 

Regarding the teen's death, the developer of the game said: “We're saddened to hear this news. Though we recognize that it's eventually up to each individual or their parent or guardian to determine playing habits, we feel that moderation is clearly important, and that a person's day-to-day life should be more important than any form of entertainment.” Chuang is not the first individual to die following a long gaming session. Last February, 23-year-old Chen Rong-yu was found dead after having played a videogame for 23 hours.

What is cyberbullying? - PAU 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

It is currently reported that up to 69% of young people experience cyberbullying before the age of 18… but what is it and who does it affect? Cyberbullying is defined as “the use of digital technologies with an intent to offend, humiliate, threaten or abuse somebody.” It can include anything offensive that is directed at you on an electronic form of communication. This includes via text, email, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and online games.

Anybody can become a receiver of cyberbullying, no matter how old they are or the kind of job they occupy. In fact, it is well documented that a lot of celebrities also experience cyberbullying. The most important thing is knowing how to deal with it by considering how serious the cyberbullying is. If it is light name-calling (that is, receiving insults) from somebody that is unknown, it may be easier to just block that user. However, if the experience comes from somebody you go to school or college with, you should report it to a teacher, an adult or contact the police as soon as you can. It is also advisable to keep social media privacy settings high and not get together with anybody unknown offline. People may not always be who they say they are and you could be putting yourself and those that you care about most in real danger. Additionally, taking a screenshot of anything that could be considered cyberbullying and keeping a record on the computer might be helpful.

However, you should never respond to anything that has been said or get revenge by doing the same thing back. Posting something humiliating in revenge may make matters worse or even get you into trouble.

Mass tourism can kill a city - PAU 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

We have all been a tourist at some point, but citizens of great cities like Venice or Barcelona are trying to defend their traditional neighbourhoods from the massive invasion of tourists. The last local underwear shop in Venice closed a decade ago. This means that residents of this city of islands have to go to the mainland for such essential purchases. This is a warning sign. Any city that concentrates too much on mass tourism will be abandoned by its people when they can no longer pay the cost of housing, food and basic everyday necessities. 

We’re starting to see Venice without Venetians. It’s also happening in Barcelona, a city of 2 million inhabitants that received 7.5 million tourists last year. The local authorities say that they want to increase this to 10 million visitors per year. These figures have led to open conflict this summer. There have been neighbourhood assemblies and protests against the situation, because in popular places of the city the scale of visitor numbers is affecting not only residents’ quality of life, but their very ability to live in the area.

Neighbourhood communities are essential to the culture of southern Europe. Yet, people who live in popular tourist areas are at risk of being forced out by speculators who raise the rents of apartments and shops. The people who have always lived in these areas are forced to leave or, if they don’t, they suffer consequences such as noise and pollution levels that are difficult to combine with daily life. It’s paradoxical, but uncontrolled mass tourism ends up destroying the things that made a city attractive to visitors in the first place: the unique atmosphere of the local culture.  

Forever young?- PAU inglés 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

The notion that growing old is a natural, inevitable part of life is so fixed in our culture that we rarely question it. But scientists like Richard Walker have been questioning it for a long time. When Walker saw on TV a girl who seemed to be “frozen in time”, he thought she could help him test his theory. She was 12 years old, but weighed just 6 kg and was 69 cm long. He had heard of other genetic diseases, such as progeria and Werner syndrome, which cause premature ageing in children and adults respectively. But her disease stopped development and apparently, Walker suspected, the ageing process.

Ageing happens because in human biology change never stops. From birth until puberty, change is crucial: we need to grow and mature. After we’ve matured, however, our adult bodies don’t need change. If you’ve built the perfect house, you would want to stop adding bricks at a certain point. However, there is no “stop switch” for development, so, unfortunately or not, we continue changing until we die.

If Walker’s team discover the cause of ageing, there will still be a long way to go. The researchers would need to obtain results in laboratory mice, which typically have a life expectancy of two or three years. Then they would have to find some therapy to achieve the same effects on people, and finally they’d have to begin long and expensive clinical trials to make sure that the treatment was safe and effective. Walker, now 74, is aware that it would come too late for him: “I feel like Moses – after wandering in the desert I can see but not enter the Promised Land.” 

Women warriors - PAU inglés 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

It is estimated that some six hundred women served during the American Civil War. They had signed up disguised as men. Hollywood has missed a significant chapter of cultural history here – or is this history ideologically too difficult to deal with? Historians have often found it hard to deal with women who do not respect gender distinctions, and nowhere is gender distinction more strongly affected than in the question of armed female fighters. 

But from antiquity to modern times, there are many stories of female warriors. The best known find their way into the history books as warrior queens, rulers and leaders. They have been forced to act as any Churchill or Roosevelt: Semiramis, queen of Assyria, and Boadicea, to mention just two. Semiramis is said to have conquered Ethiopia, Egypt and much of Asia. Among her many great achievements, some also mention the building of Babylon and of its legendary Hanging Gardens, although other authors claim that the gardens had not been built in her time but long after her reign. 

Boadicea was a Celtic queen who revolted against the Roman invaders of her territory after they had robbed, beaten and sold into slavery many of her people. Her story, narrated by Roman historiographer Tacitus, was nearly forgotten for many centuries and became popular during the reign of another English queen who headed an army against foreign invasion, Queen Elizabeth I. Boadicea is honoured with a statue on the Thames at Westminster Bridge, right opposite Big Ben. 

Although history is quite reticent about women having significant roles in battle either as warriors or leaders, hardly a war has been fought without women soldiers in the ranks. 

Second life - PAU 2015 Andalucía resuelto

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

I am a cardiac surgeon in a big hospital. Several years ago, I performed a high-risk heart operation on an elderly gentleman who was in his mid-seventies. The surgery appeared to be a success, but three days later the patient’s heart stopped beating. We performed a cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him for three hours and, amazingly, he was able to come back to life. In the process, however, the man suffered a brain injury. The symptoms were very unusual: he now thought he was fifty years old. During the resuscitation process, he had lost more than twenty years of his life.

I followed the patient for two months, and during that time, he seemed to regain about ten of those years. When I lost track of him, he was convinced that he was sixty years old. He had the strength and energy of a man twenty years younger than his chronological age.

About a year and a half later, I was playing golf with a good friend of mine. He had brought along a friend of 10 his, and, to my surprise, he was the patient’s son-in-law. He told me that his father-in-law had died earlier that month, and he proceeded to tell me a story that I will never forget. 

Before his heart surgery, my patient had been an alcoholic, a wife-abuser, and impotent for about twenty years. After his cardiac arrest and resuscitation —and the loss of twenty years of memory— he had forgotten all these things about himself. He stopped drinking. He began sleeping with his wife again and became a loving husband. This lasted for more than a year. And then, one night, he died in sleep.

Lady in black - PAU 2015 Andalucía

>Exámenes selectividad inglés resueltos Andalucía

Mystery surrounded a woman in long black clothes who was seen walking alone across America for months. She barely spoke and she didn´t say why she was walking. “Nobody knows her story. She won't talk to anybody”, some investigators said. There have been all kinds of speculation about her: Was she on a religious mission? Was she from an Islamic nation? Was she a ghost, a prophet, or was she mentally ill? According to those who followed her on her journey, she refused any offers of water, food or accommodation. 

She was a lonely figure who voiced her desire that people would mind their own business and respect her solitude. However, the remarkable curiosity she excited brought the opposite effect: she rose to fame with a Facebook page created by fans and followers, where her travels were documented and photos of her along her journey were posted daily. The page, which has accumulated nearly 60,000 fans, was full of messages of support, inspiration and admiration. 

Eventually, the woman in black told the police she had reached her final destination when she arrived at Winchester, Virginia. It was there and then that the woman in black's true story emerged: Elizabeth Poles, a widow and veteran of the US military, had been walking home for the past two months, back to where her father raised her in Winchester. “The Winchester Police Department wants local residents to know that she will be part of the community now and to respect her privacy if you see her in the area,” a police spokesman said. To the surprise of those who expected that the story had to do with spirituality… the mystery is over.