Facebook generation suffers from information withdrawal* syndrome
In an experiment, called “Unplugged”, volunteers at 12 universities around the world spent 24 hours without access to computers, mobile phones, iPods, television, radio and even newspapers. They were allowed to use landline telephones or read books. Participants were asked to keep diaries about their experience. Entries in the diaries showed that many recorded feeling impatient,anxious or isolated.
Participants described feeling restless and reaching for their mobile phones even when they weren't there. There were also some good effects though, as people developed survival skills and went out for walks and visited friends rather than sitting in front of a computer.
“What was amazing for us was how dependent people now are on their technology. People often don't own watches or alarm clocks because they rely upon their mobile phones to wake themselves up," researchers commented. Most participants in the study struggled without their mobile phones and felt they were missing out by not using Facebook. However, it was abstinence from music that caused them the most difficulty.
"A lot of them said they found the silence quite uncomfortable and awkward," he said. "But as they got used to it, they began to notice more things around them like birds singing or hearing what their neighbours were doing. In their reflections on what they had been through, people freely admitted that they were experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. The students compared the experience to going on a diet or giving up smoking radically. The word addiction kept recurring."
1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text.(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) The experiment described in the text was carried out by twelve universities in GreatBritain.
b) For most of the participants, not being able to use Facebook was the hardest partof the experiment.
2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the followingquestions. Do not copy from the text.(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) What did the volunteers in the experiment have to do?
b) What positive effects did the experiment have on participants? Mention two.
3.- Find the words in the text that mean: (Puntuaciónmáxima: 1 punto)
a) lonely (paragraph 1)
b) uneasy (paragraph 2)
c) depend on (paragraph 3)
d) when (paragraph 4)
4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word inbrackets when given.(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) 1% of Norwegians are addicted to the internet. An additional 5% are at risk of_____ (develop) internet addiction. The _____ (high) rate of addiction is in the 16-29 year old group.
b) Internet users in Greece have _____ internet addiction rate of 8.2%. Mostinternet addicts are males _____ play online games.
c) It wasn’t _____ the 1940s, with the development of electronic data machines, thatmanual calculation _____ (become) obsolete.
d) Technology addiction amongst teenagers is having a negative effect _____learning. The report revealed that, last year, students _____ (spend) 1-2 hours a dayon social network sites.
5.- Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.(Puntuaciónmáxima: 3 puntos)
Does technology help you save time or make you waste it? Explain your views.
Cleopatra Was not Killed by a Snake
The Queen of the Nile ended her life in 30 BC. According to legend it was the bite of an Egyptian cobra which caused her death. After losing the Battle of Actium, her Roman lover, Mark Antony, is said to have committed suicide. Cleopatra did likewise, according to tradition, by killing herself. Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and the many dramatizations of her story in literature and other media. Cleopatra is usually portrayed as a great beauty and her successive conquests of the world's most powerful men are taken to be proof of her aesthetic and sexual appeal.
Now Christoph Schaefer, a German historian and professor at the University of Trier, has presented evidence on a television programme that drugs and not a snake were the cause of death. He said that the bite of a snake would have given her an agonizing death over several days. “Queen Cleopatra was famous for her beauty and was unlikely to have subjected herself to a long and disfiguring death,” said Schaefer, the author of a best-selling book in Germany called Cleopatra.
“Cleopatra wanted to remain beautiful in her death to maintain her myth. The last female Pharaoh probably took a lethal cocktail, which, back then, was a well-known mixture that led to a painless death within just a few hours. We consulted eminent zoologists and toxicologists and they said that a snake bite would have been too uncertain and taken too long,” Professor Schaefer added.
1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. Nomarks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. (Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) Professor Schaefer’s new hypothesis about the cause of Cleopatra’s death wasmade known through a specialized magazine.
b) Experts in poisons told Schaefer that a snake bite causes immediate death.
2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.
Do not copy from the text.(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) Why is Mark Antony mentioned in the text?
b) What made Professor Schaefer think that a snake bite was not the cause ofCleopatra’s death?
3.- Find the words or phrases in the text that mean: (Puntuaciónmáxima: 1 punto)
a) the same (paragraph 1)
b) represented (paragraph 1)
b) proof (paragraph 2)
c) drink (paragraph 3)
4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in bracketswhen given.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2 puntos)
a) The popular image we have of Cleopatra is…………. of a beautiful queen …………. wasadored by Roman politicians and generals.
b) An old coin with the image of Cleopatra …………. (show) that she may not havebeen as attractive…………. first thought.
c) The coin, which …………. (hide) in a bank vault, accidentally fell …………. the floor ofthe bank after a robbery.
d) Shakespeare …………. (write) his tragedy Antony and Cleopatra in 1608, but it wasfirst printed fifteen years…………. (late).
5.-Write about 120 to 150 words on the following topic. (Puntuaciónmáxima: 3 puntos)
Write about a historical figure that you admire.
Just what is "development"?
Some years ago, a well-known writer on humanitarian issues took a European economist -who was a development expert- on a tour of villages in his native Sri Lanka. It was the expert's first visit to the developing world, and he came armed with a doctorate in development studies, goodwill toward the needy and the authority to hand out generous grants. In one village, the development emissary was troubled by the sight of peasants on bullock carts1 with old wooden wheels. "My country will give you a big donation so that you can buy rubber tyres for your carts", he said to the village chief. "That will make your vehicles more efficient". The sarong-wrapped village chief thanked the safari-suited visitor, then said, "Sir, we will use your donation to buy tractors for our people. That will be even more efficient".
The lesson of this story? All development is local. Global goodwill is worthy of praise, but real needs are better addressed through cultural sensitivity and sensible solutions to everyday problems. A few developing countries are starting to realize that the solution to their problems may not necessarily lie in international help alone. For example, one Bangladesh-based organization has assembled a coalition of ten nations to exchange expertise on development issues. These countries send local experts and funds to neighbouring nations to support culturally sensitive projects.
1Bullock carts: "carros de bueyes"
- Are the following sentences TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
- The European economist had visited a few developing countries before coming to Sri Lanka.
- The development expert was wearing the traditional Sri Lankan costume.
2.In your own words and based on the ideas from the text, answer these questions.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
- What did the development expert suggest in order to get more efficient vehicles? Did his proposal satisfy the village chief?
- What is the new attitude of developing countries towards international help?
3.Find in the text words which mean the same as the following words or phrases.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 1)
- questions (paragraph 1)
- poorpeople (paragraph 1)
- dealtwith (paragraph 2)
- special knowledge, skill or training (paragraph 2)
4. Complete sentences a) and b). (Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
- If I …………. (know) you were coming I would have told you………….(bring) me some new tools.
- "I ………….(not be) long. I'll be ready …………. a minute and then we can leave".
Write a comparative sentence using the adjective given: - The train takes ………….(long) …………. the bus.
Reorder the following words to make a suitable sentence: - /countries/ developing/ everybody/ help/ like/ to/ would/
5. Write 120 to 150 words on the following topic. Do not copy from the text. (Puntuaciónmáxima: 3)
- If you lived in anunderdeveloped country, what do you think your life would be like?
Golden "ants"
For more than 2,500 years, historians have been intrigued by Herodotus' tale of large furry* ants that enriched the Persian empire by marking holes to find gold. Herodotus' story of ants bigger than foxes but smaller than dogs inspired generations of treasure hunters, In the absence of proof; some classical scholars concluded that the man who many people call the father of history was at best ingenuous and at worst a liar.
Now it appears he may have been right -or largelyso. Recently returned, from a Himamalyan expedition, French explorer Michel Peissel and British photographer Sebastian Guinness say they have located the gold diggins ants on Pakistan´s Dansar plain near the tense border with India. The "ants", it turns out, are actually marmots, catsize rodents that live in a gold-bearing stratum of sandy soil a few feet underground. Peissel believes Herodotus' confusion came from the ancient Persian word for marmot, which means mountain ant.
Peissel first heard about gold-digging marmots in 1983, while travelling on the Indian side of the border. Local tribesmen told him their ancestors extracted gold from sand that was stuck to the rodents' fur and was deposited on the surface. But the marmots.were located on the Pakistani side of the border in an area that is regularly bombarded with mortar and gunfire. It took Peissel 14 years to get permission to visit the region under Pakistani military protection. But he is now convinced it was worth the wait. "The expedition's findings at last vindicate Herodotus*, said Peissel.
furry: "peludas"
Herodotus: historiador de la antigua Grecia.
1.- Are the following sentences TRUE or FALSE? Give the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only True or False. (Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a) Some scholars believed Herodotus' tale of large furry ants was not true.
b) The animals were found in a peaceful region.
2.- In your own words and based on. the ideas in the text, answer these questions. (Be careful with the grammar. Write precise answers).(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a) Why were treasure hunters so interested in the large "furry ants" Herodotus mentioned?
b) Why are Peissel and Guinness mentioned in the text?
3.- Find the words or phrases in the text that mean:(Puntuaciónmáxima: 1)
a) academics (paragraph 1)
b) frontier (paragraph 2)
c) adhered (paragraph 3)
d) shooting (paragraph 3)
4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate. form of the words in brackets when given.
(Puntuación máxima: 2)
a) IfPeissel ...... (not visit) Pakistan in 1983 he ...... (not hear) about the gold-digging marmots.
b) How long ...... (it / take) Peissel to get permission before …………. (visit) Pakistan?
c) Peissel and Guinness ...... (prove) that Herodotus' story ...... betrue.
d) “The scientist are studying the origin of the fossils that they found last year” Said the news reporter.
The news reporter
5.- Write about 120 to 150 words on ONE of the following topics. Do not copy from the text.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a) Have you ever thought of finding a buried treasure? Would it change your life?
Nessy
The history of the Loch Ness Monster goes back more than 1400 years to 565 A.D.. In this year,St. Columba, a Christian missionary from Ireland who was passing near the lake is supposed to have seen a dragon about to eat a visitor standing beside the river Ness. The religious man fortunately managed to chase the monster away. Although we cannot be certain about the authenticity of such an early account,there have been many other important sightings through the years and since 1953 the monster has begun to develop an international reputation. In April of that year some boys reported to the Inverness Courier,a local newspaper,that they had seen a dragon-like creature the size of a horse in the area of Loch Ness. In May another report appeared in the same newspaper,this time the story of a prominent businessman who was driving near the lake. This man saw a large creature "with a body resembling that of a whale and sending up waves bigger than those made by a steamship".
The most convincing evidence came in July when a London couple named Spicer,motoring along the shores of the Loch,came practically face to face with the beast. Mr. Spicer wrote in a letter to the Courier that the creature was "between six and eight feet long,with a long neck that moved up and down like a scenic railway, a hump in its back,and was the nearest approach to a dragon or a prehistoric animal that I have ever seen".
In London the Daily Mail felt that there might be a big story here and sent a reporter to Loch Ness. He interviewed the people who had seen the monster and wrote a story which made "Nessie" famous.
1.Indicate if the following statements are True or False and write down the lines of the text where you found the evidence to justify your choice:(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a) Among the miracles attributed to St. Columba is the saving of a man from a dragon´s mouth.
b) The history of the monster dates from the year 1400.
2.Answer the following questions using the information-but not the words-of the text:
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a)What are the proofs of the monster´s existence?
b) What role did the press play in the development of the legend?
3.- Find the words or phrases in the text that mean:(Puntuaciónmáxima: 1)
a) sure (paragraph 1)
b)narrated (paragraph 1)
c) reliable (paragraph 2)
d) protuberance (paragraph 3)
4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate. form of the words in brackets when given.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a)…………………..the history of the Loch Ness Monster is fairly old it has become world known thanks to scientific research.
b) The visitors said that it was ………………………..(huge) creature they have ………………seen.
c) Before………………….. (visit) Scotland, I …………………….. (read) a lot of stories ………………… the monster.
d)"Did you see a large creature while you were visiting The Loch Ness",the reported asked.
The businessman told the reporter......
5.- Write about 120 to 150 words on ONE of the following topics. Do not copy from the text.
(Puntuaciónmáxima: 3)
"A Daily Mail reporter made Nessy famous",write about 120 and 150 words on the power of the press.
Dictionaries
The earliest extant Dictionary that has been found in the Akkadian language from 17th century B. C. in Mesopotamia, was written on clay tablets. Dictionaries began as a result of language changes that needed explanation, the proximity of Europe´s languages brought about many multi-lingual dictionaries from the Middle Ages onwards. 17th and 18th century English words in some of these are the earliest records of written English. The word Dictionary comes from Latin dictionarius, meaning ‘a collection of words’. Latin dictionaries were used for many centuries, due to the quantity of scholarly works written in that language, including translations from Arabic.
The first English dictionaries were the result of attemps to standarize spelling, and to spread literacy among ordinary people. From 17th century onwards, dictionary production grew, often borrowing heavily from earlier sources. The compiling of one of the most notable was started in about 1746 by Doctor Samuel Johnson who, immersed in this task, often forgot to wash. When told by his wife ‘Doctor Johnson, you smell’, he is reputed to have replied ‘Correction Madam, you smell, I stink!’.A dictionary, while containing words in alphabetical order with their corresponding definitions, should ideally have standard and alternate spellings and meanings, grammatical forms, etymologies, and other pearls of infinite wisdom. Does your Dictionary have all these?.
1. Indicate if the following statements are True or False and write down the lines of the text where you found the evidence to justify your choice:(Puntuaciónmáxima: 2)
a) Doctor Samuel Jonhson was an English scholar who lived in the 18th century.
b) Today all dictionaries include the etymology of the word they define.