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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

Turno Mañana

LANGUAGE SECTION

1 Reading:

CHANGING PEOPLE, CHANGING TIMES

A Today Magazine special

‘Change is the only constant,’ said the writer Isaac Asimov, but exactly how much do we
change as we grow older? As part of our series of articles on modern Britain we asked a
random selection of people on London’s busy streets that question last weekend.
Paula
Paula is smart, trendy and successful, every inch a confident and independent young professional. A
loan manager in a bank not far from Cork in the Republic of Ireland, much in her life seems
unchanged, but under the surface, things are considerably different ‘. I still live there now, on the
same farm, still with my parents, but underneath little has stayed the same’. While her address may
not have changed, she does not feel tied to one place in the way that her parents do, and she loves that
feeling of freedom. ‘Back then, people didn’t use to travel much. In fact, I didn’t leave my village
until I was a teenager, but now I travel quite a lot. I love visiting places – that’s why I’m in London
right now – and I try to go somewhere most weekends. I feel as much at home in New York or London
as I do in Ireland.’
Sam
With his jeans, t-shirt and jacket, Sam looks like a typical Londoner travelling about town, and his
accent confirms his local origins. Formerly an electrician with a large construction firm and now
running his own one-man company, he tells us he’s not in a hurry and can spare a moment to talk to
us – but his frequent glances towards the bus stop tell a different story, as does his hurried speech.
‘Well, I’ve got a family to support these days so that’s a worry,’ he says, and he sees the parallels
with his own childhood very clearly. ‘I remember when I was a kid back in the 1970s things were
quite tough, much more so than today, I think. We never had any money to spare and my dad always
seemed to be angry. My mum didn’t work, unlike my wife today. Now my father is like a different
person, so easygoing and calm about things. My kids love him and I try to be as relaxed as he is, but
it’s not easy, even though we don’t have the same kind of financial worries today.’
Christine
American Christine’s extravagantly coloured clothes could mark her out as a student but, in fact, she
stands on the other side of the school desk. ‘The biggest change in my life is obviously that I live in
the UK now instead of the US!’ Her choice of career was not one she would have expected in her
youth. ‘You know, it’s funny but I never used to pay too much attention in school. I suppose I might
have liked it more than I realised at the time, though, because now here I am teaching and I love it!’
In spite of the thousands of miles across the Atlantic she has travelled, Christine does not feel her life
has changed dramatically. ‘I went to school in New York and then studied there too and a lot of things
are similar here: in the States I travelled on the subway a lot, now it’s the Tube, I lived quite near the
centre of New York, now it’s the centre of London and I still go jogging in the park and go to the
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

theatre whenever I can, so I suppose I can say that most things in my life have stayed the same. That’s
good because I liked my lifestyle in the States, even though I think London suits me better. I still ride
my bike to work as well, but one thing’s different and that’s where I ride. I can’t get used to riding
on the left and I don’t think I ever will, however long I spend here!’
Amir
Tall, slim of build and athletic, 25-year-old student Amir looks like he could be a professional
sportsman. A member of Britain’s sizeable Muslim community, Amir feels that relations have
changed between Britain’s different communities since his schooldays. ‘Back then it was difficult to
be from an ethnic minority and having a different religion to most of the other kids in my class. Most
of them didn’t even know what a Muslim was and assumed I was from India – most of them had
never heard of Pakistan – even though my parents and I were all born in the same town as they were.
We’d never even been to France, let alone Asia! I used to hear comments about me that weren’t very
nice, about me not being English and so on, but I can’t remember the last time somebody spoke like
that to me so I suppose how people think about these things must have changed a lot, and that’s good.

1-Write a question for each answer: (5x4=20)

1- ____________________________________________________

Paula´s life has changed very much.

2- ____________________________________________________

The only wage earner in the family was Sam.

3- ___________________________________________________

Things are difficult for Christine in London.

4- ___________________________________________________

Amir says that people are more tolerant today than before

5- ___________________________________________________

When Paula was younger, she used to live on a small farm near Cork with her parents.

2- Read the text again and choose the correct answers. (5x2=10)

1 Paula
a works on a small farm.
b feels different about home than her parents.
c went abroad as a teenager.
d travels every weekend.
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

2 Sam says that

a his father is angry with him.
b his father is more relaxed than he is.
c his father has a lot of problems.
d his financial situation is worse than his father’s.
3 Christine says that
a she has the same job in London as in New York.
b she was a good pupil at school.
c she spends her free time the same way in London as in New York.
d she uses her bike to travel everywhere.
4 Amir was born in
a India.
b Pakistan.
c France.
d England.
5 All the speakers
a are not married.
b mention their parents.
c have full-time jobs.
d things are better now.
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

B. Vocabulary: Write six meaningful sentences using the following words. You MUST use ONE
word for each sentence (minimum 8 words each sentence). (6x4=24)

Cash-sapping:
Brochure:
To flock into:
Moody:
Wintry:
Cost-effective:

C. Writing:
Write a description of a city you consider worth visiting. Where is it located? What is it like? What can
you do there? (150 words aprox.) (31 marks)

Follow the instructions below to complete the task:

* Pay attention to form.
* Use content-specific vocabulary.
* Use connectors to show the relationships between ideas.
* Write a title for your description.
* Do not write in the margins.
* Include the word count at the end.
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

Keys:

1-

1)What has changed very much?

2)Who was the only wage earner in the family?

3)Where are things difficult for Christine?

4)When does Amir say people were more tolerant?

5) Who did Paula use to live with when she was younger?

2-

1b 2b 3c 4d 5d
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

SECCIÓN GRAMÁTICA
1. Fill in the blanks with the suitable tense of the verb in brackets (15x2: 30)

My brother 1) ................................... (always/ want) to be an astronaut. One day, while he 2)

……..................…….(watch) TV, he 3) ……………………. (see) Neil Armstrong first moon
landing. Since then he 4) …………….......……… (dream) of doing the same.

Every night when there 5)……..…. (be) a full moon, he 6)………….……….. (stare) up at it for hours
and 7) ……………..........……. (imagine) himself walking around on it.

At the moment, however, he 8) ……….…………….(work) as a night-watchman at a meat factory.

He 9) …………………………. (do) the same job since he 10)……...…….. (leave) school fifteen
years ago, but he still 11)…………..……..(hope) that one day his dream

12) ……….............………….. (come) true. He 13) ……………………… (hear) that in the near
future they 14) …........................... (sell) tickets to fly to the moon. For this reason he 15)
…………….............(save) half of his wages every month for the past two years.

2. Read the text again and identify the part of speech of the following words which are
highlighted in the text. (give as many details as possible) (6x2:12)

a) an …………….
b) while ……….....
c) moon ………….....
d) fifteen ………….....
e) still …………….
f) his ……………………………

3. Pluralize all the possible elements in this sentence (8 pts)

A child entered and broke a glass of water that was on a shelf.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

4. Write meaningful sentences using the words in brackets as indicated. [Note: Use at least 10
words in each case] (10x5: 50)

a) a great deal of (as a det. quantifier)

……………………………………………………………………………………………

b) work (as a countable and an uncountable noun, if possible)

U: …………………………………………………………………………………………

C: …………………………………………………………………………………………

c) well (as an adverb in the comparative degree of superiority)

……………………………………………………………………………………………

d) travel (as an intransitive verb/ expressing an arrangement in the future)

………………..………………………………………………………………………

e) ask (as a ditransitive verb/ referring to an action that happens too often and annoys the speaker)
………………….……………………………………………………………………

f) funny ( in the superlative degree of superiority/ in predicative position)

…………………….…………………………………………………………………
g) become (as a linking verb/ expressing a past action that has no connection with the present)
………………………………………………….………………………………

h) a little ( as a determiner, quantifier).

………………………………………………………………………………….
i) book (as a monotransitive verb / expressing a past action with present results)

………………………….…………………………………………………………
Nombre: …………………………………………………… D.N.I: ………………………. Comisión: …………………..

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

KEY GRAMMAR

1) 15x2:30
1. has always wanted
2. was watching
3. saw
4. has dreamt / has been dreaming
5. is
6. stares
7. imagines
8. is working
9. has been doing / has done
10. left
11. hopes
12. will come
13. has heard
14. will sell / will be selling
15. has been saving/has saved
2) 6x2 = 12

an: noun determiner, indefinite article

while: subordinating conjunction

moon: noun working as an adjective

fifteen: noun det, quantifier/numeral

still: adverb

his (dream): possessive noun determiner

3) 8x1:8
Two/ some/ many children entered and broke many/ several/ a lot of glasses of water that were over
two/some shelves

4) 5x10: 50

a. A great deal of research has been done already.

b. (U)Anne often brings work home with her from the office
(C) works of art/ fiction/ literature/ Beethoven’s piano works
c. Tom behaves better than his brother
d. I´m travelling to Buenos Aires on Saturday morning.
e. She is always asking/ me /the same silly questions.
f. Susan is a happy girl. She is the funniest I have ever met.
g. She became a lawyer in 2018
h. There is little sugar left so I’ll go to the supermarket to get some.
i. We have already booked the hotel for the trip. I´m so happy about it!
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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

Phonetics section

1. Listen to the teacher and circle the word you hear. Then complete the phonemic transcription of
the word with the corresponding symbol. (5p)

a. Could you fill / feel it?

/f__l/
b. Did you slip / sleep yesterday?
/sl__p/
c. She bought a hat / hut in the village.
/h__t/
d. I wish I could find some peas / peace .
/pi:__/
e. He´s joking / chocking !
/___əʊkɪŋ/

2. Your teacher will now read some words. Indicate if your teacher has read the same word twice, or two
words, by ticking the appropriate column. (p5)

Same Different
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

3. Choose the word you hear in each series. (5p)

a. bed – bad - bead

b. cat – cut - cart

c. eel – ill – all

d. chin – gin - pin

e. hit – heat – hat - hut

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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS - PARCIAL
CICLO DE NIVELACIÓN 2020

KEY

1.

a. /fi:l/

b. /slɪp/

c./ hʌt/

d. /pi:z/

e. /ʤəʊkɪŋ/

2.

Same Different
a) x Sue - zoo
b) x Then - den
c) x Jeans
d) x Yale - jail
e) X so

3.

a. bed – bad - bead

b. cat – cut - cart

c. eel – ill – all

d. chin – gin - pin

e. hit – heat – hat - hut