MAGISTER

OPOSICIONES AL PROFESORADO Inglés Secundaria

PRACTICE EXERCISES (PART B - LITERA TURE)

MARCH2016
ANSWERKEY

l. TRANSLATIONS.
A.-TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE INTO ENGLISH

Aquel domingo, las nubes habían resbalado del cielo y las calles yacían sumergidas bajo una laguna
de neblina ardiente que hacía sudar los termómetros en las paredes. A media tarde, rondando ya los
treinta grados, partí rumbo a la calle Canuda para mi cita con Barceló en el Ateneo con mi libro
bajo el brazo y un lienzo de sudor en la frente. El Ateneo era-y aún es- uno de los muchos rincones
de Barcelona donde el siglo XIX todavía no ha recibido noticias de su jubilación. La escalinata de
piedra ascendía desde un patio palaciego hasta una retícula fantasmal de galerías y salones de
lectura donde invenciones como el teléfono , la prisa o el reloj de muñeca resultaban anacronismos
futuristas. El portero, o quizá tan sólo fuera una estatua de uniforme, apenas pestañeó a mi llegada.
Me deslicé hasta el primer piso, bendiciendo las aspas de un ventilador que susurraba entre lectores
adormecidos derritiéndose como cubitos de hielo sobre sus libros y diarios.

La silueta de Don Gustavo Barceló se recortaba junto a las cristaleras de una galería que daba al
jardín interior del edificio. Pese a la atmósfera casi tropical, el librero vestía sus habituales galas de
figurín y su monóculo brillaba en la penumbra como una moneda en el fondo de un pozo. Junto a él
distinguí una figura enfundada en un vestido de alpaca blanca que se me antojó un ángel esculpido
en brumas. Al eco de mis pasos, Barceló entornó la mirada y me hizo un ademán para que me
aproximase.

-Daniel, ¿verdad? - Preguntó el librero-.¿has traído el libro?

Asentí por duplicado y acepté la silla que Barceló me brindaba junto a él y a su misteriosa
acompañante. Durante varios minutos, el librero se limitó a sonreír plácidamente, ajeno a mi
presencia. Al poco abandoné toda esperanza de que me presentase a quien fuera que fuese la dama
de blanco. Barccló se comportaba como si ella no estuviese allí y ninguno de los dos pudiese verla.
La observé de reojo, temeroso de encontrar su mirada, que seguía perdida en ninguna parte. Su
rostro y sus brazos vestían una piel cálida, casi translúcida. Tenía los rasgos afilados, dibujados a
trazo firme bajo una cabellera negra que brillaba como piedra humedecida. Le calculé unos veinte
años a lo sumo, pero algo en su porte y en el modo en que el alma parecía caerle a los pies, como
las ramas de un sauce, me hizo pensar que no tenía edad. Parecía atrapada en ese estado de perpetua
juventud reservado a los maniquís en los escaparates de postín. Estaba intentando leerle el pulso
bajo aquella garganta de cisne cuando advertí que Barceló me observaba fijamente.

-Entonces, ¿vas a decirme dónde encontraste ese libro?-preguntó.

-Lo haría, pero prometí a mi padre guardar el secreto-aduje.

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-Ya veo. Sempere y sus misterios-dijo Barceló-.Ya me figuro yo dónde. Menuda potra has tenido,
chaval. A eso le llamo yo encontrar una aguja en un campo de azucenas. A ver, ¿me lo dejas ver?

Le tendí el libro, y Barceló lo tomó en sus manos con infinita delicadeza.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón. La Sombra Del viento.

Tbat Sunday, clouds spilled down from the sky and swamped the streets with a hot mist that made
the thermometers on thc walls pcrspirc. Halfway through thc aftemoon, the temperaturc was already
grazing the nineties as I set off towards Calle Canuda for my appointment with Barccló, carrying
the book under my arm and with beads of sweat on my forehead. The Ateneo was- and remains-
one of thc many places in Barcelona where the nineteenth century has not yet been served its
eviction notice. A grand stone staircase led up from a palatial courtyard to a ghostly network of
passageways and reading rooms.

There, inventions such as the telephone, the wristwatch, and baste, seemed futuristic anachronisms.
The porter, or perhaps it was a statue in uniform, barely noticed my arrival. I glided up to the first
floor, blessing the blades of a fan that swirled above the sleepy readers, melting like ice cubes over
their books.

Don Gustavo's profile was outlined against the windows of a gallery that overlooked the building's
interior garden. Despite the almost tropical atmosphere, he sported bis customary foppish attire, bis
monocle shining in the dark likc a coin at the bottom of a well. Next to him was a figure swathed in
a white alpaca dress who looked to me like an angel.

When Barceló heard my footsteps, he half closed bis eyes and signalled for me to come nearer.
"Daniel, isn 't it?", asked the bookseller. "Did you bring the book?"

I nodded on both counts and accepted the chair Barceló offered me next to him and his mysterious
companion. For a while the bookseller only smiled placidly, taking no notice of my presence. I soon
abandoned all hope of being introduced to the lady in white, whoever she might be. Barceló
behaved as if she wasn't there and neither of us could see her. I cast a sidelong glance at her, afraid
of meeting her eyes, which stared vacantly into the distance. The skin on her face and arms was
pale, almost translucent. Her features were sharp, sketched with firm strokes and framed by a black
head of hair that shone like damp stone. I figured she must be, at most, twcnty, but there was
somcthing about her manner that made me think she could be ageless. She seemed trapped in that
state of perpetual youth reserved for mannequins in shop windows. I was trying to catch any sign of
a pulse under her swan's neck when I realized Barceló was staring at me.

"So are you going to tell me where you found the book?" he asked .

" I would, but I promised my father I would keep the secret," I explained.

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"l see. Sempere and his mysteries," said Barceló. "I think 1 can guess where. Y ou 've hit the jackpot,
son. That's what I call finding a needle in a ficld of lilies. May I have a look?"

I handed him the book, and Barceló took it with infinite care.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The Shadow of the Wind

B. TRASNLATE THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE INTO SPANISH

Ira Ringlod's older brother, Murray, was my first high school English teacher, and it was through
him that 1 hooked up with Ira. In 1946 Murray was just back from the arrny, where he'd served with
the 17th Airbornc Division at the Battle of the Bulge; In March 1945, he'd made the famous jump
across thc Rhinc that signaled the beginning of the cnd of the European war. He was, in those days,
a crusty, brash, baldheaded guy, not as tall as Ira but rangy and athletic, who hovered over our
heads in a perpetua! state of awareness. He was altogether natural in bis manner and posture while
in his speech verbally copious and intellectually almost menacing. His passion was to explain, to
clarify, to make us understand, with the result that every last subject we talked about he broke down
into its principal clcments no lcss mcticulously than he diagrammed sentences on the blackboard.
His special talent was for dramatizing inquiry, for casting a strong narrative spell even when he was
bcing strictly analytic and scrutinjzing aloud, in his clear-cut way, what we read and wrote.

Along with the brawn and the conspicuous braininess, Mr. Ringold brought with him into the
classroom a charge of visceral spontaneity that was a revelation to tamed, respectabilized kids who
wcrc yct to comprehend that obcying a teacher's rules of decorum had nothing to do with mental
development. There was more importance than perhaps even he imagined in bis winmng
predilection for heaving a blackboard eraser in your direction when the answer you gave didn't hit
the mark. Or maybe there wasn' t. Maybe Mr. Ringold knew very well that what boys like me
needed to leam was not only how to express themselves with precision and acquire a more
discerning response to words, but how to be rambunctious without being stupid, how not to be too
well concealed or too well behaved, how to begin to release the masculine intensities from the
institutional rectitude that intimidated the bright kids the most.

You fclt, in the sexual sense, the power of a male high school teacher like Murray Ringold-
masculine authority uncorrected by piety- and you felt, in the priestly sense, the vocation of amale
high school tcachcr likc Murray Ringold, who wasn't lost in the amorphous American aspiration to
make it big, who- unlike the school 's womcn teachers - could have chosen to be almost anything
else and chose instead, for his life's work, to be ours.

1 Married a Communist, Philip Roth.

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Murray, el hermano mayor de Ira Ringold, fue mi primer profesor de Lengua y Literatura Inglesa en
la escuela media, y gracias a él me relacioné con Ira. En 1946 Murray acababa de licenciarse, tras
haber servido en la XVII División Aerotransportada e intervenido en el contraataque que frustró el
avance de los alemanes en las Ardenas. Fue uno de los soldados que, en marzo de 1945, efectuaron
el salto al otro lado del Rin que señaló el principio del fin de la guerra en Europa. En aquel entonces
era un joven calvo, rudo e insolente, no tan alto como Ira pero esbelto y atlético, que sobresalía por
encima de nuestras cabezas, siempre atento a su entorno. Sus ademanes y posturas eran del todo
naturales, tendía a la verbosidad y era casi amenazante al expresar sus ideas. Le apasionaba dar
explicaciones, clarificar, hacemos comprender, y por ello descomponía en sus principales elementos
cualquier cosa de la que habláramos, con la misma meticulosidad con que efectuaba el análisis
gramatical de una frase en la pizarra. Tenía un talento especial para dramatizar los interrogantes que
suscitaban los temas, para darnos la intensa sensación de que estábamos escuchando un relato
incluso cuando realizaba una tarea estrictamente analítica, y para examinar con toda claridad, a
fondo y en voz alta, lo que leíamos y escribíamos.

Junto con la fuerza muscular y la evidente inteligencia, el señor Ringold aportaba a la clase una
espontaneidad visceral que era reveladora para los chicos amansados y adecentados incapaces de
comprender todavía que obedecer las reglas del decoro impuestas por un profesor no tenía nada que
ver con el desarrollo mental. Su simpática predilección por arrojarte un borrador de pizarra cuando
le dabas una respuesta errónea tenía más importancia de la que quizás él mismo imaginaba. O tal
vez no, tal vez el señor Ringold sabía muy bien que aquello que los chicos como yo necesitábamos
aprender no era sólo la manera de expresamos con precisión y reaccionar con más discernimiento a
lo que nos decían, sino a ser revoltosos sin ser estúpidos, a no disimular demasiado ni comportamos
demasiado bien, a iniciar la liberación del ardimiento masculino, encerrado en la corrección
institucional que tanto intimidaba a los muchachos más brillantes.

Uno percibía, en el sentido sexual, la autoridad de un profesor de escuela de enseñanza media como
Murray Ringold, una autoridad masculina en absoluto corregida por la piedad, mientras que, en el
sentido religioso, percibía la vocación de un profesor como Murray Ringold, que no se diluía en la
amorfa aspiración norteamericana a tener un gran éxito, un hombre que, al contrario que las
profesoras, podría haber elegido cualquier otra profesión, pero prefirió dedicamos su vida.

Philip Roth. Me Casé con un Comunista

2. TEXT ANALYSIS. Read the following text and answer the questions below:

"Happy Endings"

Margaret Atwood

John and Mary meet. Wbat happens next? If you want a happy ending, try A.

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A.

John and Mary fall in love and get married. They both have worthwhile and remunerative jobs
which they find stimulating and challenging. They huy a charming house. Real estate values go up.
Eventually, when they can afford livc-in help, they have two children, to whom they are devoted.
The children turn out well. John and Mary have a stimulating and challenging sex life and
worthwhile friends. They go on
fun vacations together. They retire. They both have hobbies which they find stimulating and
challenging. Eventually they die. This is the end of the story.

B.

Mary falls in love with John but John doesn't fall in love with Mary. He merely uses her body for
selfish pleasure and ego gratification of a tepid kind. He comes to her apartment twice a week and
she cooks him dinner, you'll notice that he doesn't even consider her worth the price of a dinner out,
and after he's eaten dinner he fucks her and after that he falls asleep, while she does the disbes so be
won't think she's untidy, having all those dirty disbes lying around, and puts on fresh lipstick so
shc'll look good when he wakes up, but whcn he wakes up he doesn't even notice, he puts on his
socks and bis shorts and bis pants and bis shirt and bis tie and his sboes, the reverse order from the
one in which he took them off. He doesn't takc off Mary's clothes, she takes thern off herself, she
acts as if she's dying for it every time, not because she likes sex exactly, she doesn't, but she wants
John to think sbe does because if they do it often enough surely he'll get used to her, he'll come to
depend on her and they will get married, but John goes out the door witb bardly so much as a good-
night and three days later he turas up at six o'clock and they do the whole thing over again.

Mary gets run-down. Crying is bad for your face, everyonc knows that and so does Mary but she
can't stop. Peoplc at work noticc. Her friends tell her John is a rat, a pig, a dog, he isn't good enough
for her, but she can't believe it. lnside Jobn, she thinks, is another John, who is much nicer. This
other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon, a Jack from a box, a pit from a prune, if the
first John is only squeezed enough. One evening John complains about the food. He has never
complained about her food before. Mary is hurt. Her friends tell her they've seen him in a restaurant
with another woman, whose name is Madge. It's not even Madge that finally gets to Mary: it's the
restaurant. John has ncver taken Mary to a restaurant. Mary collects ali the sleeping pills and
aspirins she can find, and takes them and a half a bottle of sherry. You can see wbat kind of a
woman she is by the fact that it's not even whiskey. Sbe leaves a note for John. She hopes he'll
discover her and get her to the hospital in time and repent and then they can get married, but this
fails to happen and she dies. John marries Madge and everything continues as in A.

c.
John, who is an older man, falls in love witb Mary, and Mary, who is only twenty-two, feels sorry
for him because he's worried about bis hair falling out. She sleeps with him even though she's not in
!ove with him. Shc met hirn at work. She's in !ove with someone called James, who is twenty-two
also and not yet ready to settle down. John on the contrary settled down long ago: this is what is
bothering him. John has a steady, respectable job and is getting ahead in bis field, but Mary isn't

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impressed by him, she's impressed by James, who has a motorcycle and a fabulous record
collection. But James is often away on his motorcycle, being free. Freedom isn't the same for girls,
so in the meantime Mary spends Thursday evenings witb John. Thursdays are tbe only days John
can get away. John is married to a woman called Madge and they have two children, a charming
house which tbey bought just before the real estate values went up, and bobbies which they find
stimulating and challenging, when thcy have the time. John tells Mary bow important she is to him,
but of course he can't leave his wife because a commitment is a commitment. He goes on about this
more than is necessary and Mary finds it boring, but older men can keep it up longcr so on the
whole she has a fairly good time. One day James breezes in on bis motorcycle with sorne top-grade
California hybrid and James and Mary get higher than you'd believe possible and they climb into
bed. Everything becomes very underwater, but along comes John, who has a key to Mary's
apartment. He finds them stoned and entwined. He's hardly in any position to be jealous,
considering Madge, but nevertheless he's overcome with despair. Finally be's middle-aged, in two
years he'll be as bald as an egg and be can't stand it. He purcbases a bandgun, saying be needs it for
target practice--this is the thin part of the plot, but it can be dealt with later--and shoots tbe two of
them and himself. Madge, after a suitable period of mourning, marries an understanding man called
Fred and everything continues as in A, but under different names.

D.

Fred and Madge havc no problems. They get along exceptionally well and are good at working out
any little difficulties that may arise. But tbeir charming house is by the seasbore and one day a giant
tidal wave approaches. Real estate values go down. The rest of the story is about what caused the
tidal wave and how they escape from it. Tbey do, thougb thousands drown, but Fred and Madge are
virtuous and grateful, and continue as in A.

E.

Yes, but Fred has a bad beart. The rest of tbe story is about how kind and understanding tbcy botb
are until Fred dies. Then Madge devotes herself to charity work until the end of A. lf you like, it can
be "Madge," "cancer," "guilty and confused," and "bird watching."

F.

lf you think this is all too bourgeois, make John a revolutionary and Mary a counterespionage agent
and sce how far that gets you. Remember, this is Canada. You'll still end up with A, though in
between you may get a lustful brawling saga of passionate involvement, a chronicle of our times,
sort of. You'll have to face it, the endings are the same however you slice it. Don't be deluded by
any other endings, they're ali fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just
motivated by excessive optimism if not by downright sentimentality.

The only authentic ending is the one provided here:

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John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.

So much for endings. Beginnings are always more fun . True connoisseurs, however, are known to
favor the stretch in between, since it's the hardest to do anything with. That's about ali that can be
said for plots, which anyway are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what.

Now try How and Wby.

a. Discuss both the textual genre and the textual type to which this text belongs.
This is a prosc tcxt and it seems to be a fictional recreation of a 'choose your own adventure' story,
where the reader is given the possibility of choosing thc plot and ending of thc story. The text seems
to have an introduction and an ending, which gives us the idea of wholeness tbat so much
characterizes short fiction. Besides, the storyline follows a possible entire development of a
romance, where the characters meet and tbere is a final outcome.

As regards textual typology, and citing Jean-Michel Adam's classification, (La linguistique
textuelle. Jntroduction a l'analyse textuelle des discours) this is chiefly a narrative text, since all
the stories feature the typical devices found in narrative texts, such as the abundance of dynamic
vcrbs (fall in /ove, buy, goes out, turns up, etc ... ), or time indicators (after, eventual/y, while, later,
three days later, etc .. ). We could also say that this passage is a descriptive text, as we are given
the description of different possible relationship patterns and it features characteristic elements in
dcscriptive texts, such a pervasive use of present tenses (puts on, does, gets, etc ... ), stative verbs
(has, is, thinks, etc ... ).

b. Comment on the communicative functions of the text.

lf we take as a frame of reference Michael Halliday' s ( 1973. Explorations in the Functions of

Language, London: Edward Arnold) classification of communicative functions, we will ascertain
that the dominant function is the ideational function, as the text organizes the writer's experience of
the textual and the imaginary world. On top of this, wc can highlight thc interpersonal function,
since language helps to establish or maintain - albeit short-lived-social interaction. Finally, language
performs a textual function in which the writer creates a written text which coheres within itself
and fits thc particular situation in which it is used.

lf, on the othcr hand, we accept Roman Jakobsen ' s (1960. Linguistics and Poetics. Cambridge)
classification of language functions, we will state that the prevailing function is the referential one,
the one which is associated with an element whose truth value (true or false status) is being
affirmed; in other words, the one which relates to the thing 'spoken of(Jakobson, 1960, p. 355).
The expressive or emotive function, that which reveals the condition of its sender, is also present in
thc text, as the different characters present different cmotional states. Tbe conative function, the
one which engages the addressee of the message in the message itself, is also present through the
use of second person references (you) all over the text, as well as the use of imperative tenses (Now
try How and Why, try A).

c. Describe the style of the text.

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If we discuss the narrative point of view, we will confirm that the text is written in third-person,
being this an omniscient narrator, which enables us readers to become privy to the inner thoughts
and feelings of thc characters. One of the most outstanding features of the text is the way in which
this narrator describes what is happening by the use of present tenses, which gives the reader a
fceling of being presented with the facts from an objective point of view, almost as if it were a
joumalist wbo is privy to the inner feelings and tboughts of the characters.

As regards the style, the text is written in a casual style, where we find numerous contractions
(she 'll, it 's ... etc..) or colloquial expressions (she's dying for it); many words have an anglo-saxon
origin and phrasal verbs abound (go up, take off, keep it up, etc ... ).

The text features both syntactic and semantic repetition. As regards syntactic repetition, we can
highlight the repetition of simple sentences (They go on fun vacations together. They retire. They
both have hobbies which they find .. .) ; another examplc of syntactical repetition could be the
numerous adversativc sentences in the text, specially illustrated by the repetition of the conjunction
but. As regards semantic repctition, many words pertaining to the lexical field of human
relationships can be found in the text (fall in lave, get married, children, sex life, commitment,
etc .. .). Also, since the text talks about types of stories, we will find abundant references to literary
texts (story, endings, beginnings, plots,) or references to the di:fferent texts themsclves (tryy A).

Another stylistic devicc that might be mentioned is the pervasive use of present tenses in the text.
We get the feeling that we are being tolda story in an unbiased fashion. The narrator is privy to the
innermost feelings and thoughts of the different characters and yet he describes what happens with a
detachment granted by this use of present tenses.

d. Find words in the text that mean:

Moderate: tepid
\Veary:run-down
Enchanting: charming
Hopelessness: despair
Thankful: grateful
Empathetic: Understanding
Materialistic: Bourgeois

e. \Vhat is the author trying to express with this text?

The author is trying to imply that, in literature, or in other arts where a story is told, the ending
secms to be the most important part of the story when it actually is not. The author, by means of this
text, tries to prove that very different story developments might end up with a similar ending and, as
a result, it is the core of the action that matters, rather than the endings.

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3. LISTENING. Listen to the following extract and answer the following questions and
answer the following questions.

a. fill in tbe blanks with words from the recording:

They certainly know how to put on a show, and it's sort of surreal for me to be listening to it
becausc just down the hall from me as well as this is taking place ... and after it was announced
thcre werc sorne Brazilians running past us jumping for joy, literally and sort of jumping up and
down and dancing and trying to tell everybody tbey could talk to on their phones and blackberries ,
whatever ... er.. .tbe bottomline , 1 think, also is to think about the pitch that we saw earlier today
for Rio .. er. .. they've a very charismatic leader

b. Say whether the following statements are TRUE OR FALSE

1.-The US were not expecting to be eliminated the first- TRUE

2.-Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Da Silva have a good relationship- TRUE

3.-People felt that at the end of the day safety would be the decisive factor- FALSE

4.-People near the reporter are in a festive mood- TRUE

e) What special effort did Mr. Obama make to support the US cause ?

He flew in, swooped in at the last minute essentially sleeping on Air Force One so he could be on
the ground just for a few hours there.

d)What exact words did Mrs. Da Silva say to Mrs. Obama?

" I really adore you, l'm gonna hug you now. But then l'm coming after you"

e) Put the following sentences in order of appearance:

Chicago doesn 't get out of the first round and at the end of it all-4

South America has never hosted the 0/ympic Games-3

She was at the White house at a round table with the reporters-6

it 's sort ofsurreal forme to be listening to it- 1

you 're right-5

this will bring a lot of economic development-2

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f) What questions did IOC members ask regarding Río?

The negative side about safety in Río about whether they even have enough hotel rooms in Río,
sorne of the logistics

g)Summarize the recording

In this recording we are told about how Río was electcd to host the 2016 Olympic Games at the
expense of other candidacies such as the city of Chicago, which was unexpectedly knocked out in
the fist round. Many people thought that the personal charisma of both international leaders, Mr.
Lula Da Silva and Mr.Obama would tip the scales as a decisive factor. These Olympic Games will
bring on economic prosperity to Brazil, the first country ever to host the Olympic Games. However,
sorne obstacles must be navigated, such as safety or accommodation problems in the city of Río.

TRANSCRIPT

REPORTER: They certainly know how to put on a show, and it's sort of surreal for me to be
listening to it bccause just down tbe hall from me as well as this is taking place ... and after it was
announced tbere were sorne Brazilians running past us jumping for joy, literally and sort of jurnping
up and down and dancing and trying to tell everybody they could talk to on their phones and
blackberries , whatever ... cr. .. the bottomline, I think, also is to think about the pitch that we saw
earlier today for Rio .. er. .. they've a very charismatic leader in the leader

HOST 1: Oh Yeah!!

REPORTER: In Mr. Lula da Silva, and when you put him stacked up against President Obama on
the world stage, two very charismatic leaders and I think there are a lot of people around the world
thinking that president Obama making this last stage effort, huh, flying in, swooping in at the last
minute essentially sleeping on Air Force One so he could be on the ground just for a few hours here
... er. .. many people around the world thought that there would be such a big buzz for Chicago and
seeing the contrast between the joy that Brazilians

HOST 1: Y eah ..

REPORTER: down the hall from me ali shouting and cheering compared to the sort of shrieks
of. .. of. .. this sort of..oh .. this shock

HOSTl: Right, sure!!!

REPORTER: Just maybe an hour or so ago when Chicago was the first one to be knocked out and I
think it's important to point out the case that Rio was making, huh, President Lula Da Silva was
saying ... number one, that he believes that bis would help pull even more people out of poverty in
Brazil and this will bring a lot of economic development, a sharply developing economy there in
Brazil, obviously, number one, but number two, also the fact that South America has never hosted
the Olympic Games er..that was a big part of the pitch ... to make it fair, make it equitable and

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perhaps that resonated with these IOC mernbers er..but finally there have been a lot of questions, as
you know, on the negative side about safety in Rio about whether they even have enough hotel
rooms in Rio, sorne of the logistics, all that is gonna have to be dealt with , but let' s face it, they've
got seven years to work that out right now , they are celebrating not just in Rio, but down the hall
from right here ...

HOST2: And you make .. huh .. you make an interesting point huh ... the president of Brazil is a really
charismatic man huh ... he and President Obama, by all accounts, have a really good relationship and
at sorne point it began to feel like because all of the announcement was that it was Rio and Chicago,
Rio and Chicago and that it was going to come down to the personal personalities of these tow high
voltage leaders and at the end of the day Chicago doesn 't get out of the fust round and at the end of
it all, there is Rio standing tall

REPORTER: And you're right , and I rernember justa few days ago back in Washington I sat right
next to the First Lady in the state dining room, er ... back in Washington , and she was at the White
house at a round table with the reporters and she recounted that just a week ago, in Pittsburgh,
president Obama was sitting down with President Lula Da Silva at the G-20 Summit, Mrs. Obama
said that she sat down next to ... at dinner , in Pittsburgh, last Thursday night just overa week ago,
next to Mrs. Lula Da Silva ...

HOSTl: wow ...

REPORTER: And Mrs.Obama told us that she said to her "I really adore you, I'rn gonna hug you
now. But then l'm corning after you" she said that with a srnile of course, but she was, you know,
doing a little fun trash talking and say "look, we're corning after you" , and this was definitely a
battle between the US and Brazil , and let's also not forget that ata previous summit, I remember
that after the Brazilian soccer team beat the US, a soccer or football team ...

HOSTl: yes ...

REPORTER: whatever you call it,

HOST 1: yes, yes ...

REPORTER : ... Prcsident Lula Da Silva brought a Brazilian soccer Jersey and handed it to
President Obarna , er..a little bit of 'in your face' ... "Here, enjoy this Brazilian soccer jersey , Mr.
Prcsident" our soccer team just beat yours ... er. .. and now you think about what transpired last week
in Pittsburgh and what transpired today ... er..one of the reasons why a lot of Brazilians today are
pretty happy.

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Inglés Secundaria ©MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER) Solución Práctico Parte B MARCO 2016

4. USE OF ENGLISH.

A- FIND THE ERROR, IF ANY, IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

l. A number of trainees who take this course every year find that their knowledge of
mathematics is inadequate.
2. Either of the solutions you haveA proposed are acceptable to the union, whose mernbers are
willing to compromise.
3. The last man on earth will abandon his ruined house for a cave, and his woven clothes for
an animal's skin.
4. The station was a hive of bustling activity, the arrival of the train was the rnost
important cvent of thc day in that remote place.
5. My grandmother's legacy is substantial, especially if the value of the rare
stamps are takcn into consideration.
6. Neither Bradley, nor more recent critics wbo have written on Shakespeare's
tragedies, has been able to give a convincing explanation for thc timing of events
in Othello.
7. The bridal gown was most unique: the bridegroom designed it and his mother provided the
lace fabric.
8. For a successful career as a beautician, one must be prepared to dissemble: you must not tell
your client the unvarnisbed truth about his or her appearance.
9. When Russell Wallace and Darwin independently proposed similar theories,
Darwin had already accumulated extensive evidence with which to support his ideas.
10. Everyone who visits Singapore is impressed by its cleanliness, which is mainly a result of
rigorous irnplementation of their strict laws.
11. The company bowed to pressure, now it has removed the offensive advertisement from the
hoarding.
12. I will not object to his delivering the lecture as long as he 1s told not to make personal
attacks on bis critics.
13. While he thinks the phenomenon is the result of enzyme action, I believe it is caused by a
shortage of a neurotransmitter.
14. Cynthia argued vehemently with her mother over her refusal to attend the school concert.
15. Thc reason I will not be going to Mexico this ycar is because I will use up all my travel
money attending an important meeting in Singapore.
16. The new library is undoubtedly well stocked and functional, but no one can say
that its atmosphere is anything likc the old one
17. My uncle, who was on vacation, along with my two cousins and I, went fishing down by
the river.
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Inglés Secundaria ©MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER) Solución Práctico Parte B MARCR 201 6

18. Hopefully, wc will be able to complete the building bcfore the rainy season sets in.
19. Because they played by the rules, the members of the team were given a standing ovation
even though it did not win the match.
20. He was not mcrely expected to contribute funds to the project, but to work as
hard as the other patrons.
21. The teacher sat down besides the frightened child and tried to reassure him that the monster
was merely imaginary.

KEY:

1.-Explanation:
No error. (With a number we need a plural verb.)

2.-Explanation:
Either requires a singular verb: change are to is.

3.- Explanation:
No error.

4.- Explanation:

Change the comma to a semicolon. (There are two complete sentences.)

5.- Explanation:
The verb are should be changed to is to agree with the subject, value.

6.- Explanation:
With the "neither. .. nor" construction, the verb agrees with the noun after the "nor". Therefore we
should change has to have.

7.- Explanation:
Never put most before unique. (Unique is already a superlative.)

8-Explanation:
For pronoun continuity, change one to you.

9.- Explanation:
Ambiguous pronoun. Does the evidence support Darwin or Wallace, or both?

10.- Explanation:
You cannot use they or their when talking of a country or city.

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Inglés Secundaria ©MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER) Solución Práctico Parte B MARCH 2016

11.- Explanation:
Comma splice error. Change the comma after the word pressure to a scmicolon.

12.- Explanation:
No error.

13.- Explanation:
While should be used for simultaneous actions. Change to though.

14.- Explanation:
Ambiguous pronoun. Is it Cynthia or her mothcr who is refusing to attend?

15.- Explanation:
Thc correct usagc is to say, "the reason is that", not " the reason is because".

16.- Explanation:
lncorrect comparison. Atmosphere must be compared to atmosphere. We could write, " ... its
atmosphere is anything like that of the old one."

17.- Explanation:
Change 1 to me (object of a preposition).

18.- Explanation:
Change to we hope because hopefully is an adverb and yet it is not modifying a verb.

19.- Explanation:
lt has no antecedent. Change to they or the team.

20.- Explanation:
To make the sentence construction parallel, put not mere/y aftcr expected.

21.- Explanation:
Change besides to beside.

B.-ONE WORD FITS ALL. FIND THE ONE WORD THAT FITS IN THE THREE
SENTENCES

1.-We must yield at this intersection to let other cars pass.

The yield this year was outstanding for corn farmers.

Thc army didn ' t yield its weapons to thc enemy.

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Inglés Secundaria ©MELC,S.A.(MAGTSTER) Solución Práctico Parte B MARCH 2016

2.-The hit song was the third track on the CD

Are you going to the track to see the race?

There was a bicycle track on the mud

3.-The flight to London lasts three hours

The flight of eagles is beautiful

We had to go up a flight of stairs to get to bis office.

4.-Susan bates it wben men look at her rear

I will try to rear my kid to respect others

Jake has a woodpile at the rear of his house

5.-We need to crop the hedges as they 're overgrown

This year wc havc a fine crop of football players

It's soo hot.. .I' m going to tell the hairdresser to crop my hair

6.-Thc horse injured a hoof during the race ycsterday

I ran out of gas, so I had to hoof it to the nearest hotel.

Even though I liked the music at the bar, I didn't hoof because I was tired

7.-My new desk is made of wood

The wood owl is quite a sight to see

This shot calls for a wood, not an iron

8.-The project ran into a wall when an accident halted the production line

As a result of thc bike accident he injured bis chest waU

I'm out of cash, I need to find a hole in the wall

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Inglés Secundaria ©MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER) Solución Práctico Parte B MARCH 2016

C-OPEN MAZE. Fill in the gaps with one suitable word.

Althou2:h eugenics as understood today dates from the late 19th century, efforts to select matings
m order to secure offspring with desirable traits date from ancient
times. Plato' sRepublic (c. 378 BCE) depicts a society where efforts are undertaken/made to
improve human beings through selective breeding. Later, Italian philosopher and poet Tommaso
Campanella, in City of the Sun (1623), described a utopian community in which only tbe socially
elite are allowed to procreate. Galton, inHereditary Genius (1869), proposed that a system of
arranged marriages between men of distinction and women of wealth would eventually produce a
gifted/superior/higher race. In 1865, the basic laws ofheredity were discovered by the father of
modero genetics,Gregor Mendel. His experiments with peas demonstrated/proved that each
physical trait was the result of a combination of two units (now known as genes) and could be
passed from one generation to another. However, his work was largely ig:nored until its rediscovery
in 1900. This fundamental knowledge ofheredity provided eugenicists-including Galton, who
influenced his cousin Charles Darwin- with scientific evidence to support the improvement of
humans through selective breeding.

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