ASOCIACIÓN EX ALUMNOS DEL PROFESORADO EN LENGUAS VIVAS

“JUAN RAMÓN FERNÁNDEZ”

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Apellido y nombres: ................................................................................... B

Documento nº: ........................................................................................... C

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Teléfono: ....................................................................................................
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FIFTH YEAR F
Sample Paper 2011 G
Exam Duration: 1.45 hours
Total

A. Read the passage and answer the questions. (25)

The Last Word

Talking to people is something we take for granted. We do it every day without
thinking. However, for Maluerindi, chatting in his native tongue is something that he would
love to do, but he cannot. This is because he is the last person in the world who can speak
his Aboriginal language. 'Having nobody to talk to makes me feel lonely. It's sad, but there's
nothing we can do about it now,’ he says.
Linguistic experts say that there are 51 languages in the world which have only one
speaker left and 28 of them are like Maluerindi, in Australia. These languages are so close
to dying that nobody can save them. The experts also tell us that of the world’s 6,000
languages, 3,000 will disappear in the next 100 years.
There are many reasons why languages die.
Sometimes natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods suddenly destroy small groups
of people who live in faraway places. Other times, changes in the weather cause crops to
fail and communities die from hunger.
But disasters like these are not the biggest danger, and they do not tell us why
languages are disappearing faster than ever before. The real problem comes from the big
world languages such as English, Spanish and French. Today, in this era of globalization,
only about 20 languages are spoken by three-quarters of the world's population. This
means that it is very hard for smaller languages to survive.
There are things that small communities can do to save a language, but they need
time and money. Recording the language onto CDs and writing it down is essential.
Training native speakers of these languages as teachers, and writing grammar books and
dictionaries is very important, too.
Losing a language is a tragedy: when it dies, there is only silence.

1 What does Maluerindi think about his loneliness?

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Sample Paper 2011
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2 What will happen during the next century, according to experts?

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3 Why do languages die?

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4 What effect has globalisation had on this issue?

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5 How can we protect a language from disappearing?

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B. Find the words in the passage that mean the following: (5)

1. connected to the area or the country

where you were born (Paragraph 1) ...........................................................

2. connected to language (Paragraph 2) ...........................................................

3. distant (Paragraph 3) ..........................................................

4. the process by which improved international

communication makes the world seem

smaller (Paragraph 4) ...........................................................

5. a society with its own culture (Par. 5) ...........................................................

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C. Complete each of these sentences so that it means the same as the sentence written
before it. (10)

1. The book was long. I couldn’t finish it.

It …....………………………………………....................................................................

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2. The Academy has given Russell Crowe the Oscar for best actor.

Russell ......................................................................................................................

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3. Lucy left the party before Tony arrived.

When Tony ….................…............................................................................................

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4. How long have Ellen and Tom been married?

When........................................................................................................................

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5. Thomas started working for the company twelve years ago.

Thomas has ..................................................................................................................

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D. Complete with the correct tense or form of the verbs in brackets. Use modals, when
necessary. (15)

Saved by her mobile

Late last night Rebecca Richards, an 18-year-old student, (drive) ……………….. in
thick fog along a road when she suddenly (lose) ………………. control and her car
fell over a 150m cliff. Rebecca (throw) ……………….. out and landed 20 m from the
sea. When she regained consciousness, she realized that she still (have)
……………….. her mobile phone.
She dialled 999 (the emergency number), but she was so confused that she had to
make several calls before she could finally make the ambulance people
(understand) ………………….. her. While she was waiting for help to come, she
could see that the sea (come) ………………. closer every moment. She lay there
(feel) ……………….. terrified, watching and waiting. Suddenly, she heard the noise of
a helicopter in the sky above.
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The helicopter took half an hour (see) ……………….. exactly where Rebecca was,
but in the end it managed (reach) ……………….. her. By the time the helicopter took
off, the waves were just one metre away. Eventually, she got to the nearest hospital
where she (recover) ……………….. now. ‘It was so lucky that I had my mobile phone
with me,’ she said to journalists, ‘because if I hadn’t been able to phone for help, I
would definitely have died!’

E. Complete the following conversation with a question or phrase. (15)

Tom: Hi, Marie. I haven’t seen you in ages. (1) ______________________________

__________________________________________________________________?

Marie: Nothing new. Life´s hard!

Tom: Yeah, I know what you mean. Hey, listen, (2) ___________________________

_____________________________________________________________ tonight?

Marie: Yeah, I’m going to see a film with Peter and Berta. Do you fancy coming with

us?

Tom: It sounds like a good idea! (3) _______________________________________

__________________________________________________________________?

Marie: We're not sure yet. We are meeting at six thirty and then maybe we’ll try that

new Indian restaurant before we go to the cinema.

Tom: Yeah I’ll come along if (4) __________________________________________.

Marie: Of course. We´re meeting outside school. Six thirty.

Tom: I can give you a lift if you like, ______________________________________?

Marie: Great. I’ll see you later then.

Tom: Bye.

F. Composition. (30)

Choose ONE of the following subjects and write about a text or around 120 words.

1. Write an article about a book/movie you have just read/seen.

2. Write a composition which starts with the following sentence: ‘Late one night I

was driving along the motorway…………….

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