EvAU Practice Examination (Comunidad de Madrid)

INSTRUCCIONES GENERALES Y VALORACIÓN

Después de leer atentamente los textos y las cuestiones siguientes, el alumno deberá
escoger una de las dos opciones propuestas y responder en INGLÉS a las cuestiones de la
opción elegida.
CALIFICACIÓN: Las cuestiones 1ª, 2ª y 4ª se valorarán sobre 2 puntos cada una, la
pregunta 3ª sobre 1 punto.
TIEMPO: 90 minutos

Stop Trying to Change

In an effort to gain better control of our lives, lots of us make declarations of good intentions – promises
to ourselves that we are going to do and be better in the future: “I’m going to make major changes.”
And there are many self-help books that claim to show the way – books that tell you to tidy your room,
to take up yoga or meditation (or both), to look for a new hobby or seek out new experiences. There
are books that suggest you be more assertive or less assertive, that you start talking to strangers on the
bus, etc.
But I can’t help thinking that if one of these books was genuinely effective, we wouldn’t need all the
others – we could simply follow the instructions. Unfortunately, despite what the books suggest, it’s not
easy to make major changes. It takes time to develop new habits, and in the meantime there’s the ever
present danger of falling back into your old ways. As the famous American author Mark Twain said,
“Giving up smoking is easy; I’ve done it hundreds of times.” The biggest obstacle of all, it seems, is …
ourselves. The French novelist Marcel Proust once said that it’s not about travelling to new places, but
about looking with new eyes. And of course, we can’t change our eyes – or the brain behind our eyes.
The truth is that you can never stop being you. Perhaps the wisest sentence I ever heard is, “Wherever
you go, there you are.”
So, instead of trying to change ourselves, we should try to know ourselves. When you know yourself
well, you realise that there are situations and places that are suitable for you, and those that aren’t. Just
as different species of flowers need different conditions, so there are circumstances and conditions that
will be especially good for you. Rather than trying to change yourself, change your circumstances. Put
yourself in situations where the conditions suit you – discover what you are good at and when and where
you prosper and flourish.

QUESTIONS
1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text.
No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.
a) The author has found one very effective self- help book. FALSE. “But I can’t help thinking that

if one of these books was genuinely effective, we wouldn’t need all the others.”
b) A good title for the text would be: “ Change Yourself and Change Your Life”. FALSE. “So, instead

of trying to change ourselves, we should try to know ourselves.” “Rather than trying to change
yourself, change your circumstances. Put yourself in situations where the conditions suit you – discover
what you are good at and when and where you prosper and flourish.”

(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos )

2. In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.
Do not copy from the text.
a) What did Mark Twain mean by his quote? I think that Mark Twain meant was that if smoking was
the obstacle, every person in the world would be smoking. We are the obstacles, because if I smoke,
I do it because I want to, and the only one who can stop me from doing that is myself. The thing that
I have to do is tell myself that smoking is not appropriate. There are more suitable things to deal
with stress rather than cigarettes.
b) Why does the writer mention flowers in the text? The “ different species of flowers need different
conditions” phrase is a metaphor referring that every person, that is different from the rest (flowers
who don’t belong to the same specie) need different kinds of conditions and helping. This message
means that every person does need one kind of thing that another person doesn’t. We are different,
and our needs are different.
(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos )

3. Find the words in the text that mean:

a) start a new activity (paragraph 1) Look for a new hobby.
b) people you don’t know (paragraph 1) Strangers.
c) truly (paragraph 2) Genuinely.
d) quitting (paragraph 2) Giving up. (Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when
given.
a) Despite reading (read) many self-help books, I couldn’t stop smoking ( smoke) for many years.

b) If I had understood (understand) that my surroundings were bad for me, I would have made
(make) changes years ago.
c) I don’t remember the name of the author of self-help books I read while I was looking for some
solutions to my life problems.
d) Complete the following sentence to report what was said.
“Can you recommend a good book to read this weekend?” She asked me if I could recommend her
a good book to read the following weekend.
(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)