PRÁCTICA DIRIGIDA
It is inferred from the reading that
PASSAGE 1
Two Neanderthals from El Sidrón (Asturias)
have been recently analyzed for possible
mutations in FOXP2, a gene involved in the
faculty of language. Although this gene was
believed to be specific to modern humans, the
analysis in question revealed otherwise.
Such a discovery is raising a different
hypothesys about symbolic and communicative
capacities attributed to Neanderthals so far. We
concluded that (1) the relevant mutations do
not suffice to attribute to an organism a complex
linguistic faculty; (2) the discovery cannot be
used to defend that Neanderthals had a modern
linguistic faculty; (3) behavioral asymmetries
between Neanderthals and modern humans, as
shown by the archaeological record, also argues
against that view.
Sergi Balari, Antonio Benítez-Burraco, Marta Camps Serra,
Víctor Manuel Longa Martínez, Guillermo José Lorenzo
González y Juan Uriagereka López (2008). «¿Homo loquens
neanderthalensis? En torno a las capacidades simbólicas y
lingüísticas del Neandertal». En MUNIBE (Antropologia-
Arkeologia), n.° 59, pp. 3-24.
1. What is the subject of the reading?
A) Communicative capacities attributed to
Neanderthals
B) Behavioral asymmetries between
Neanderthals
C) Two Neanderthals from El Sidrón (Asturias)
D) The symbolic and linguistic capacities of
Neanderthals
2. The word SPECIFIC connotes
A) absence.
B) generality.
C) exclusivity.
D) situation.
3. It is consistent with reading to affirm that
Neanderthals probably had
A) a speech disorder.
B) a linguistic faculty.
C) the gene FOXP2.
D) a natural language.
4.
Neanderthals
A) have been recently analyzed in Asturias.
B) and modern humans fought each other.
C) had a modern linguistic faculty and genes.
D) could not talk like modern humans.
5. If the behavior of Neanderthals and humans
had been similar, then
A) his linguistic capacity would be evident.
B) they would not be able to practice rituals.
C) the burial rituals would be impracticable.
D) would have more clothes and tools than us.
PASSAGE 2
When John Boelts sows acres of cotton seed on
his farm in Yuma, Arizona, he does so knowing
that the fields will be free of an invasive pest
called pink bollworm. For nearly a century, the
small pink striped caterpillars terrorized cotton
fields in the U.S.
The adult bollworm, a gray moth, laid its eggs on
cotton bolls, and the pink-striped caterpillars
that emerged from those eggs began munching
on the bolls, fibers, and seeds.
Even with pesticides, Arizona farmers lost up to
a third of their crop every year.
“When I was a much younger man with hardly
any gray hair, we were planting cotton varieties,
and we would spray them nine to 13 times in a
season just for pink bollworm,” Boelts said. “I
have not sprayed for pink bollworm in over a
decade.”
That’s because Boelts now grows cotton
genetically engineered to repel pests. The
technology has helped not just his farm but the
entire U.S. to eradicate the pink bollworm.
It has also reduced pesticide use.
1. What is the subject of the passage?
A) The story of a farmer who lived more than a
decade planting cotton.
B) Principal worm plagues that involved the U.S.
in the last century.
C) The invasion of pink bollworm and its
implications in agriculture.
D) How genetically engineered cotton repelled
pink bollworm plague.
1
2. The word REPEL could be replaced by
A) repulse.
B) fight.
C) offend.
D) suffer.
3. About the use of pesticides in cotton, we can
infer that
A) it was a moderately inefficient strategy
against the pink bollworm plague.
B) farmers stopped using them since genetically
engineered cotton appeared.
C) it attacked the eggs of the pink cotton worms
but not the adult specimens.
D) in the present is the only form to disappear
that kind of invasive pests.
4. According to farmers like John Boelts, it is
valid to say that
A) they finally eradicated the pink worm, but
now they produce too much.
B) since they discovered these new kinds of
cotton, they stopped farming.
C) they would be surprised about the features of
genetic modified cotton.
D) they are supposing that genetics would be
applied in other types of plants.
5. If scientists invented a pesticide that could
eradicate the pink worm without harming the
plants of cotton
A) genetic engineered cotton would still be
useful.
B) farmers would only use pesticides on their
crops.
C) fear would start again over all Arizona
farmers.
D) the harmful work would evolve to survive
anyways.
2
PRÁCTICA DOMICILIARIA
PASSAGE
Nuclear power plants generate nearly 20
percent of America’s electricity—and nearly 60
percent of its carbon-free electricity—using
uranium fuel. Instead of burning anything that
emits carbon dioxide, these plants use the heat
generated by splitting atoms in the fuel to
produce the steam needed to drive the turbines.
During normal operation, nuclear plants release
small amounts of radioactivity in airborne and
liquid forms. All such releases are subject to
stringent annual limits established by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
regulations.
Releases of radioactivity from nuclear power
plants have decreased substantially in the past
30 years, according to the NRC, largely because
of improved reactor fuel performance and
waste-handling techniques. The federal limit for
annual radiation dose to the public from nuclear
plant operations is 25 millirem. The average
actual dose to the public from living near a
nuclear energy facility is less than 1 millirem per
year, according to EPA. Stringent radiological
monitoring programs are in place to protect
public health and the environment.
NEI. (July, 2015). «Nuclear Plants: Protecting Air, Water, Soil
and Wildlife».
<https://www.nei.org/resources/fact-sheets/nuclear-
protects-air-water-soil-wildlife>. (Texto editado)
1. Which of the following statements best
expresses the main idea of the passage?
A) Nuclear power plants produce emissions that
the body can tolerate.
B) All countries must have nuclear power plants
to produce cheap energy.
C) Nuclear energy doesn’t emit any type of
emission that could be harmful.
D) Nuclear energy is a friendly method with the
environment and health.
2. The word DRIVE connotes
A) motion.
B) vehicle.
C) route.
D) control.
3. The author's tone about nuclear energy is that
of a person attempting to
A) criticize the contamination of the earth's
crust.
B) assess the use of various energy matrices.
C) highlight the benefits of this type of energy.
D) discredit the production of energy with CO2.

4. Which of the following statements about the

use of nuclear energy in the United States can be
inferred from the passage?
A) Nuclear power plants produce 20 % of the
total energy in the United States.
B) In the United States, there is some interest in
keeping the environment clean.
C) The United States does not register any type
of environmental contamination.
D) The United States will completely solve the
problem of environmental pollution.

5. If America's nuclear power plants inevitably

produced 25 millirem a year, then
A) America would face a severe health and
environmental crisis.
B) living near such nuclear power plants would
be prohibited.
C) nuclear power plants would have to be shut
down urgently.
D) America's energy matrix would depend on
the use of fossil fuels.