Modelo dun exame escrito (2009 / 2010) Read the text and the instructions to the questions very carefully. Answer all the questions in English. Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” takes readers through a history of societies that overtook their ecological limits, and collapsed as a result. The most famous example is that of Easter Island, famed for its sombre giant stone statues – moai. It is not certain, but the moai appear to have been built as part of status competition between the various tribes on the island, with bigger moai demonstrating greater power. The early seventeenth century was probably the pinnacle of Easter Island culture, the time the biggest moai were being built, an echo of the skyscrapers going up across the world from Canary Wharf to Kuala Lumpur. However, moai construction consumed a lot of resources, particularly wood, for transport and energy. By 1650, the last tree had been felled. By the time Europeans arrived on the island’s shores in 1722, the number of Easter Islanders had fallen dramatically, and they had been reduced to wars and cannibalism. Easter Island reminds us of the danger of only measuring human economic progress, and excluding factors affecting sustainability. In the first half of the seventeenth century, says the archaeological evidence, quality of life in Easter Island may have been at its highest ever. If Easter Islanders had measured well-being, they would have seen increasing life expectancy and life satisfaction. Despite that, or rather because of it, disaster was just around the corner. It appears that nobody on Easter Island was measuring their environmental impact. We ourselves must not forget that our planet is just an island in the universe and that the nearest other “island” is 40 million kilometers away from the Earth! 1. Write a summary of the text in English, including the most important points, using your own words whenever possible (maximum 50 words, 1 point).
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2. Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given here (1 point, 0,25 each): a) showing b) well-known c) reached d) seems 3. Complete the second sentence of each pair so that it has the same meaning as the first one . (2 points; 0.5 each) a) The moai appear to have been built as part of status competition. It appears … b) Moai construction consumed a lot of resources. A lot of … c) Their society was particularly vulnerable, being separated by over 2000km from the next inhabited island. Because their … d) The nearest other “island” is 40 million kilometers away from the Earth. The distance … 4. Answer the following questions in your own words. (2 points; 1 point each) a) Why did Easter Island society collapse? b) What lessons can the world learn from what happened to Easter Island? 5. How could you and your family save energy? (approximately 120 words; 3 points)
POSSIBLE ANSWER 1. The people on Easter Island were living very well until they caused an ecological disaster by building moai and destroying the environment. All the trees disappeared and they started to fight. Nowadays, people everywhere should defend the environment too, because the same thing could happen to the Earth. 2. a) demonstrating b) famous c) arrived (on) d) appears 3. a) It appears (that) the moai were built as part of status competition. b) A lot of resources were consumed by moai construction. c) Because their society was separated by over 2000km from the nearest inhabited island, it was particularly vulnerable. d) The distance between the Earth and the nearest other “island” is 40 million kilometers. 4. a) Easter Island society collapsed because they built a lot of moai to compete with other tribes. In order to do this they consumed a lot of trees, so there was an environmental disaster and war because they only thought about economic progress. b) The world can learn that we should think about the environment, apart from being rich, because the planet is only an island in the universe, like Easter Island in the ocean, and the same disaster could happen to us. 5. I and my family could save energy, for example, by turning off the lights before we go out or go to bed. We sometimes switch on the fires at night and don’t switch them off until the morning. It is not expensive for my father but it is bad for the resources of the earth. Also, we shouldn’t use so much water: we could take a shower instead of a bath. We should buy a “green” car that uses natural gas or electricity instead of petrol, because although it is more expensive, if everybody used one there wouldn’t be so much CO2 in the air. We could use the energy from the wind and sun to produce energy for our home.
6. Listening Test (1 point) In this interview with a girl (Mary) talking about an incident which once happened to her when she was on a camping holiday, you are going to hear some new words. Read and listen to them. Make sure you know what they mean. Folder: carpeta Camp-site: un cámping (lugar acondicionado para tendas / tiendas de campaña e/y caravanas) Petrol = gasolina Advise = aconsellar / aconsejar Here is the beginning of the interview: Tom: Mary, tell us exactly what happened to you. Mary: One summer, years ago, when you still had to use passports, before the European Union existed, we went camping; we had been to Italy and then back into France. Here is an example of a question: Where did Mary travel on holiday? To Italy To France To Italy and France The correct answer is “To Italy and France” Ready? Now read the rest of the questions and alternative answers before listening to the interview. (2-minute pause) Now listen to the rest of the interview. You will hear it three times. Write the correct answer in your exam notebook (cuadernillo). Write the complete answer, not just a letter. You must not write more than one answer for each question. (Tapescript) Now you will hear the text again. (Tapescript) Now you will hear the text for the last time. (Tapescript) That is the end of the Listening test. Write your answers in your examination notebook (cuadernillo) if you have not already done so. Then you can go on with the rest of the examination. 1. Mary and John live in … Italy France
England 2. Why did they stop in the town? to get petrol they wanted to ask the way to a camp-site to look for their folder 3. The camp-site was … next to the garage very far away a few kilometres from the garage. 4. The camping “ticket” makes it possible for a person to … enter a camp-site belong to a camping club get cheaper prices 5. Mary says that she had lost … no money one hundred pounds some hundreds of pounds 6. The police at the police station advised them … to see the British Consul. to ring the British Consul. to do nothing about it until Monday morning. 7. They couldn’t speak to the British Consul because … the Consulate was closed until Monday it was raining that Saturday afternoon the Consulate was closed permanently 8. John distracted the garage man’s attention, while Mary … talked to the policeman looked through the papers on his desk found the green folder easily 9. Even when they heard their folder had been found, Mary and John were still worried because they thought their money might have been stolen out of it they thought their passports might have gone they had to go to the address which the caller left for them 10. The brothers at the cycle-repair shop told Mary and John that they … found the folder at the garage saw the folder fall off the top of the car saw the tent fall off the top of the car Tapescript Mary: It was when we went from our home in England to Europe. At the frontier, we had a lot of problems finding our passport to cross over from Italy to France, so as we travelled on into France, I spent the rest of that day tidying up the car and I put the passports, the tickets, and all our money
into one folder. We eventually decided to stop in a town where we knew there was a camp-site. In the town we stopped at a garage, really to ask the way to the camp-site, but while we were there we got some petrol. The man put the petrol in the car, I took out the folder with the money in it and paid for the petrol and then we went on our way. The camp-site was about two or three kilometres away, and when we got there, we went into the office and one of the things one usually carries is a little card, like a camping ticket, and... TOM What's that for? MARY Well, you get cheaper prices for being a member of a camping club. Anyway, I went to get it from the folder, and I couldn’t find the folder! We looked everywhere, and we finally had to say to these people, 'We are very sorry, but we have no money, no card, no nothing.' TOM How much money was it? MARY Well, all our holiday money, you know. Hundreds of pounds. And our passports. So we decided to go to the police back in town. And they advised us to go to see the British Consul. But this was at five o’clock on Saturday afternoon and the Consulate didn’t open until Monday morning. Then we suddenly thought somebody could have taken the folder at the garage while we were talking to the man there, so we went back. And my husband distracted the man's attention and I went into the office and looked all through the papers on his table. It was a green folder which should have been easy to find but it wasn't there. We were feeling desperate by now, so we went back to the camp-site. When we got back they said: 'There's been a phone call. Someone has found your folder. Go to this address.' TOM Why did the person who'd found your folder telephone the camp-site? MARY Well, this is what we discovered. We were still worried, because someone might have found it, and we might get our passports, but the money might not be there. So we went to the address, and it was a little bicycle shop, kept by two brothers. And they told us that they had seen us driving up the road to the camp-site. We had driven round a corner and the folder had fallen off the top of the car! We had left it there, at the garage. And it had fallen at their feet. They saw the tent and camping things on top of the car so they guessed we were going to the camp-site, and they telephoned! Weren't we lucky? And they said, 'Can you check that everything is there' And everything was there.