Examen de inglés Selectividad Bon's tips (www.bontips.com)

IS BIRD FLU NATURE'S REVENGE?

Have you seen the Hitchcock film The Birds? Could this film function as a strange but prophetic symbol of what nature has prepared for us?

Hitchcock did not tell us why the birds attacked. Humans were victims in his film. They were not responsible for bringing terror on themselves. But today, the reality of human involvement may not be so innocent. Most of us don't realize that in order to put "the birds" on our dinner table, we have tried to deceive Mother Nature. Bird flu and mad cow disease derive from improper methods we have used to obtain animal protein for our diet.

The majority of chickens we eat are treated cruelly; living in horridly overcrowded cages, their feet never touch the ground. Turkeys receive similar treatment. When we buy poultry* treated this way, we are supporting unnecessary cruelty. If we want to eat chicken, and we all do, let's start considering ecological methods for producing our eggs, chicken, turkey and so on. Perpetuating systems that produce our poultry in industrially disgusting conditions may be exactly the conditions that cause the bird flu.

* Poultry = The meat of birds that are used as food: chicken, turkey, etc.

a) Add True or False, quoting the relevant information from the text. (3 p.)

1. Humans provoked the birds' attacks.

2. Turkeys receive a better treatment than chicken.

3. Poultry consumers are also responsible for birds' maltreatment.

b) Answer the following questions in your own words (Do not copy from the text). (2 p.)

1. What is the reason for bird flu according to the text?

2. What should be done to solve the problem?

c) Complete the following sentences. Both sentences should have the same meaning (2 p.)

1 It's likely we should be responsible for bird flu and mad cow disease.

We...

2. We treat animals cruelly. Mother Nature punishes us.

If...

3. We should produce our eggs and poultry ecologically.

We...

4. If conditions were better, there would be fewer diseases.

Were...

d) Write a composition with the following title (80 to 100 words). (3 p.)

We should take more care of our environment.