SRIE 3

PAAU. LOGSE

ANGLS

Districte universitari de Catalunya

DREAMING OF THE MOON

Eugene Shoemakers dreams may soon come true. In the 1960s, this famous astronomer wanted to be an astronaut, but he became a researcher instead. In 1997, just before he was killed in a road accident, he said: The biggest disappointment in my life is that I havent been to the Moon. Thanks to his university colleagues, this may happen soon. This year, the spacecraft Lunar Prospector will be sent to the moon. And in the spacecraft are the ashes1 of Eugene Shoemaker, who was born in 1928 and who died in 1997. Shoemaker was a dreamer. He believed that human beings would one day live on the Moon and he devoted his life to its study. But, in the 1970s, the United States stopped sending astronauts there. However, in 1994 a satellite detected possible evidence of ice in a crater at the Moons South Pole. The news shocked the world: There could be water on the Moon! So, the United States built the Lunar Prospector, a big, expensive spacecraft that will look for signs of minerals, gases and water on the Earths satellite. If we find sufficient water, the Moon could be colonised in a few years, said Bill Feldman, of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Water will support life on the moon. It will make trips to other planets possible because hydrogen will be used as fuel for rockets2. Who will be as brave as to build a home on the moon? Who will be the first one to open a business there? Nobody knows who the first moon colonisers will be, but we now know one thing for sure: Eugene Shoemaker will be the first one to be on the Moon. The Lunar Prospector will take his ashes there soon. This is very important to us, said his wife, Carolyn, because we will always know when we look at the moon that Eugene is there, waiting for us.

Generalitat de Catalunya Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya Coordinaci del COU i de les PAAU

1 2

ashes: cendres rocket: coet

PART ONE: READING COMPREHENSION Answer the following questions according to the information in the text Dreaming of the moon. [1 point each correct answer] 1. What caused Eugene Shoemakers death? 2. Why was the world shocked in 1994? 3. If there is water on the moon, two things will be easier. Which ones? 4. Which of the following sentences (a, b or c) summarises the text best? a) A recent discovery reveals that maybe soon human beings will be able to colonise the moon and travel to other planets by using the moons resources. b) Eugene Shoemaker will be the first man to colonise the moon and to travel to other planets thanks to the possible existence of water on this satellite. c) Thanks to Eugene Shoemakers discovery, very soon people will be able to travel safely to the moon and even start businesses there.

PART TWO: WRITING Choose ONE. Write about either 1 or 2. Write a minimum of 65 words.
[Grammatical accuracy: 3 points. Writing fluency: 3 points]

1. Governments are spending many millions to build spacecrafts and artificial satellites to explore outer space. Do you think this is a good way of spending public money? Why, or why not? 2. Imagine it is the year 2020 and the Moon is ready to be colonised by humans. Governments want to convince people that the Moon is a good place to live and do business. So, the Prime Minister appears on TV and makes a speech trying to convince people of the advantages of living on the Moon. Imagine what he or she says and write down the speech.

SRIE 6

PAAU. LOGSE

ANGLS

Districte universitari de Catalunya

GOOD PEOPLE

How about some good news for a change? You turn on the TV or you open a newspaper and you hear or read about people cheating people, people robbing people and people killing people. Here is a phrase we often hear among friends and neighbours: You cant trust anybody anymore. And my father says: Doctors and politicians and businessmen; they are all trying to take advantage of you. However, is this really true? A friend of mine called Steven Smith wanted to know the truth behind this theory and tested it in New York City with taxi drivers. Steven pretended to be a foreigner who knew very little English. He got into several taxis around New York City to see how many drivers would cheat him. His friends predicted in advance that most taxi drivers would make him pay more money than necessary, just because they would think he was a foreigner. In the end, only one driver out of forty cheated him. The rest took him directly to his destination and charged him correctly. Several refused to take him when his destination was only a block or two away and they even got out of their taxis to show him how near he was. What is also funny is that several of them warned him that New York City was full of thieves and that he should be careful. On TV you hear news of corrupted policemen, corrupted politicians or corrupted businessmen. But be careful! They are news because they are the exceptions. The evidence suggests that you can trust a lot more people than you think.

to cheat: enganyar, estafar

Generalitat de Catalunya Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya Coordinaci del COU i de les PAAU

PART ONE: READING COMPREHENSION Answer the following questions according to the information in the text Good people.
[1 point each correct answer]

1. What five professions or jobs are mentioned in the text? 2. What theory did Stephen Smith want to test in New York City? 3. Why did some taxi drivers refuse to take Stephen Smith to his destination? 4. Which of the following sentences (a, b or c) summarises the text best? a) According to the results of Stephen Smiths test, few taxi drivers in New York City are good people. b) According to the results of Stephen Smiths test, most people are good even if we see a lot of crime on TV. c) According to the results of Stephen Smiths test, people who appear on TV are better than what we may think.

PART TWO: WRITING Choose ONE. Write about either 1 or 2. Write a minimum of 65 words.
[Grammatical accuracy: 3 points. Writing fluency: 3 points]

1. Two friends are making plans for next summer. One of them is optimistic and always in a good mood; the other one is pessimistic and always feels depressed. Write down a conversation between them talking about those summer plans.

2. Despite the worlds problems many good things happen everyday. Write an article for a newspaper that describes some good things that happened yesterday somewhere in the world.