You are going to read a newspaper article about a guitar-making course. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.

Guitar that’s a work of art

Tom Pretlove learns how to make his own unique instrument under expert tuition.

When I arrive at Bailey’s Guitars, where I am to spend the next five days, my first impressions are not very positive. An old shed in the corner of an industrial estate, Bailey’s contains two old workbenches which sit beneath a couple of unsteady-looking shelves. The tutor, Mark Bailey is a man in his midthirties. He teaches people such as me how to build their own electric guitars. (1)…………. They shouldn’t be confused either with those which come in sections for you to put together yourself, following a few simple instructions. No, Bailey’s guitars are works of art, carved by hand from large pieces of wood, such as maple and mahogany. Trained as a maker of musical instruments since the age of sixteen, Mark Bailey is passionate about his craft and is a perfectionist. ‘I can’t let people make any old rubbish,’ he explains. (2)…………. Yet many of them are made by people who, like me, sign up for one week courses, having no previous experience. There are four of us on the course this week, each working at different speeds, and Bailey goes from one to another, making sure that no mistakes are being made. His face is screwed up in total concentration. (3)…………. So there are raised eyebrows when I ask to make the standard model. Surely I would like to add a few personal touches – wasn’t that the point of coming? With the course costing just £400 per week, these guitars work out cheaper than having one made for you by a professional. And making your own involves plenty of choices such as the type of wood used and the colour of the varnish. (4)………… The work is divided into about 50 different tasks and Bailey has a tried and tested method for each stage of the process. Machines are used for some of the jobs. This is the first woodwork I have tackled since leaving school a decade ago, so I needed a lot of guidance. (5)…………. In two years, only one pupil has made such a drastic mistake that a half-finished guitar had to be thrown away. Most of those who come to Bailey’s are men, but they vary in age from teenagers to old-age pensioners. Our working day began about 9 a.m. and went on until late in the evening and I found the work unexpectedly hard and physical. (6)………… On the last evening, after fixing the various electronic parts together inside our guitars, we are ready to play them for the first time. Bailey, who claims he can only ‘bash out a couple of tunes’ gives each instrument a trial, mine included, playing each one with considerable style. Witnessing this brings it home to you that you’ve actually produced a genuine musical instrument. In fact, I realised that the sound of my guitar had come from all my hard work over the five days. By this time, I must admit that I’d even come to feel quite at home in the scruffy shed on the edge of the industrial estate.

Instrucciones: 

• Lea atentamente los siguientes pares de palabras e intente memorizarlas.
• Dispone de tres minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar las preguntas que se le proponen.

 

1	TAPIZ	EUREKA
2	OBSTÁCULO	VIDRIO
3	BÁCULO	ORIFICIO
4	PIERNA	RENDIJA
5	RUIDO	BÁSCULA
6	MIRADA	SALADO
7	TIEMPO	GUITARRA
8	MAR	CABLE
9	HOJA	AVENTURA
10	DÍSCOLO	RADIO
11	CALLE	ARCÉN
12	DEFENSA	PULGAR
13	LECTURA	BANQUILLO
14	CANALLA	AZÚCAR
15	MELANCOLÍA	VISIÓN
16	OJO	MÚSICA
17	IMPUTADO	APÉNDICE
18	CANCIÓN	ZÓCALO
19	ESTACIÓN	LIBRO
20	PROHIBIDO	SIRENA

 

Instrucciones: 

• Lea atentamente los siguientes pares de palabras e intente memorizarlas.
• Dispone de dos minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar las preguntas que se le proponen.

 

1	LOBO	AULLIDO
2	VERANO	PLAYA
3	JUEGO	REGLAS
4	PELO	PEINE
5	CESTA	MIMBRE
6	ARROZ	PAELLA
7	PUERTA	POMO
8	ESPALDA	COLUMNA
9	AMANECER	SOL
10	SEÑAL	ASFALTO
11	PALMERA	COCO
12	MÉXICO	TEQUILA
13	PEZ	PECERA
14	GORRO	DUCHA
15	TIBURÓN	ALETA
16	CABALLO	SILLA
17	TIJERA	PAPEL
18	PULPO	TINTA
19	CACAO	CHOCOLATE
20	VIENTRE	OMBLIGO

 

Instrucciones: 

• Lea atentamente los siguientes pares de palabras e intente memorizarlas.
• Dispone de tres minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar las preguntas que se le proponen.

 

1	ROJO	SANGRE
2	PLANCHA	ROPA
3	SILLA	SOFÁ
4	LLUVIA	GOTA
5	SARTÉN	CAZO
6	CARTÓN	CAJA
7	TABACO	HUMO
8	BANCO	MISA
9	CUADRO	MARCO
10	HILO	AGUJA
11	ANCHOA	LATA
12	JARRÓN	AGUA
13	MOTO	CASCO
14	VERDE	PIMIENTO
15	VINO	VASO
16	RELOJ	MINUTO
17	GUANTE	BUFANDA
18	LIBRO	GAFAS
19	PIJAMA	CAMA
20	LIMA	CÁRCEL

 

Instrucciones: 

– Lea atentamente las siguientes líneas e intente memorizarlas.

– Dispone de cuatro minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar el texto que se le propone.

Instrucciones: 

– Lea atentamente las siguientes líneas e intente memorizarlas.

– Dispone de cuatro minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar el texto que se le propone.

 

Soy mujer y escribo. Soy plebeya y sé leer. Nací sierva y soy libre. He visto en mi vida cosas maravillosas. He hecho en mi vida cosas maravillosas. Durante algún tiempo el mundo fue un milagro. Luego regresó la oscuridad. La pluma tiembla entre mis dedos cada vez que el ariete embiste contra la puerta. Un sólido portón de metal y madera que no tardará en hacerse trizas. Pesados y sudados hombres de hierro se amontonan en la entrada. Vienen a por nosotras. Las Buenas Mujeres rezan. Yo escribo. Es mi mayor victoria, mi conquista, el don del que me siento más orgullosa; y aunque las palabras están siendo devoradas por el gran silencio, hoy constituyen mi única arma. La tinta retiembla en el tintero con los golpes, ella también asustada. Su superficie se riza como la de un pequeño lago tenebroso. Pero luego se agrieta extrañamente. Levanto la cabeza esperando un envite que no llega. El ariete ha parado. Las perfectas también han detenido el zumbido de sus oraciones.

¿Acaso han logrado acceder al castillo los cruzados?

 

Historia del rey transparente, Rosa Montero.

Instrucciones: 

– Lea atentamente las siguientes líneas e intente memorizarlas.

– Dispone de cuatro minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar el texto que se le propone.

---

En un seminario internacional sobre el futuro de la parapsicología en el que participaron hace más de tres décadas los más destacados expertos, se discutió si la investigación debía tener un enfoque cualitativo o cuantitativo. La mayoría de los participantes coincidieron en que esta disciplina debería combinar adecuadamente análisis de estos fenómenos tal y como se producen espontáneamente y la confirmación experimental de los mismos en el laboratorio; el estudio de los primeros casos espontáneos permitiría diseñar nuevas investigaciones.

Rhine recordó que la parapsicología debía su origen a la observación de los casos espontáneos y que la evaluación de estos “no tiene que ser necesariamente calculada por los matemáticos para ser considerada válida…

Diversas encuestas indican que las experiencias parapsicológicas están mucho más extendidas entre la población de lo que podría pensarse. Una de las más representativas es el estudio sobre las creencias de la población norteamericana que realizó en 1973 el Centro Nacional de Investigaciones sobre la Opinión Pública. Según esta encuesta, hace tres décadas, el 58% de los encuestados aseguraba haber tenido alguna experiencia de telepatía y el 24% de clarividencia. Había un 15% que confesaba experimentar fenómenos paranormales de manera frecuente.

 

Los poderes ocultos de la mente, Enrique de Vicente.

 

Instrucciones: 

– Lea atentamente las siguientes líneas e intente memorizarlas.

– Dispone de cuatro minutos para ello. Transcurrido este tiempo, dispone de dos minutos para completar el texto que se le propone.

---

Mary conoció a un atractivo hombre en un bar, era su primer día de vacaciones de ese caluroso verano de 1987. Un par de copas y varios cigarrillos fueron suficientes para que congeniaran inmediatamente y el hombre la invito a que pasase unos días con él en su casa de las Bahamas. Aceptó aun sin saber muy bien si lo hacía por las interminables tardes sumergida en aguas cristalinas, o por poder recuperar el tiempo perdido acurrucada entre aquellos bronceados brazos que sutilmente comenzaban a rodear su cintura.

Fueron las mejores vacaciones que había tenido en los últimos años y ella se sentía más mujer que nunca. Las noches de pasión parecían haberla rejuvenecido, y una amplia sonrisa adornaba su cara desde el primer día.
El día de la vuelta a casa, se despidieron en el aeropuerto sin un propósito firme de volver a verse. Justo antes del último beso él le entrego un regalo con la condición de que no podría abrirlo hasta que estuviere sentada tranquilamente en el sofá de casa.

Una vez llegado el momento, Mary sopesó entre sus manos aquella caja de cartón, al levantar la tapa encontró en su interior una pequeña cafetera de metal. En su tapa había una nota que decía: “Te serà útil para todas las noches que vas a pasar sola. Bienvenida al mundo del Sida”.

El fabuloso Libro de las Leyendas Urbanas, J. Harold Brunvand.

You are going to read an article in which a television news producer talks about his work. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap (37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. 

Working as a TV news producer

Rob Cole has produced TV news for decades now, working on anything from international celebrities to global conflicts. He shares the benefit of his considerable experience in the industry

Rob’s time behind the cameras has coincided with huge changes in the way news is reported – from a time when everyone bought local newspapers, through the birth of 24-hour rolling news, and now the Internet. But what is the work like on a day-to-day basis?

Rob’s always worked in foreign news, so his focus is obviously on news from around the world. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of that. Rob comes in early, having checked his phone, social media, and listened to as many news programmes as he could. (1)……………….   . Running the foreign section is like a never-ending contest – constantly trying to get his journalists’ news presented ahead of the TV station’s other sections.

Once you have a story it’s then a matter of making sure that wherever the journalist is, the report comes into the building – through satellite, Internet or other routes – and it is ready to run on air on time. (2)……………….   . There’s nothing like getting a note from the producer at another network congratulating on a job well done. The low points, on the other hand, are much less pleasant: ‘I’ve had colleagues badly injured.’

So how can you become a news producer? Says Rob: ‘We get loads of applications. (3)……………….   .Don’t be put off; people in this business admire people who don’t give up.

You need to be keen to learn and, of course, take a real interest in current affairs. ‘You have to be obsessed with news, constantly following it. Even if you’re a creative producer, doing graphics, you still have to care about what’s going on in the world. Also, some people think about going into the media just because it sounds exciting. That would be a mistake; you have to really want to do the job. Luck’s involved too, of course. (4)……………….   .

In some ways, Rob’s job should remain fairly constant for the next few years. ‘They will always need someone to make decisions and take responsibility for newsgathering. However, what will change is the way in which news is delivered. When I started in TV, the crew used to consist of a reporter, producer, a camera operator, a sound person, and sometimes even a separate lighting person. (5)……………….   . Now there’s just the reporter and a multitasking camera operator who also edits and supplies the written material – if you’re lucky!’

‘Before long there will be a crew of just one, shooting all their own material on a smartphone, then editing and voicing that material, before sending it to head office, where it ends up going straight on air. (6)……………….   . Actually, this has already started to happen. The technology will just get quicker and quicker and smaller and smaller.’

You are going to read an article about new types of university courses. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Online Courses

The boundaries between education and entertainment are beginning to blur, and a new type of learning, in which education merges with entertainment, is emerging – ‘edutainment’. (1)………………. But now US television company AMC has teamed up with the University of California to produce an online course based on the TV show, The Walking Dead, which features a post-apocalyptic world ridden with zombies.

 

With an audience of 10 million, student numbers for the course are expected to be in the hundreds of thousands. (2)……………….

 

Academics from the University of California say that the online course will be a ‘legitimate educational experience’ and tackle serious issues from the fields of science, public health, nutrition, psychology and sociology.  (3)………………. However, students will gain no formal qualifications or credits on successful completion of the course.

 

(4)……………….  It insisted that all modules had been made as academically rigorous as those taught on the university grounds.  One lecturer in social science stated that the university already used contemporary media examples to make theories more relevant to students, and this course was merely taking this concept one step further. ‘The curriculum is very real,’ says Josh Coates, head of Infrastructure and designer of the online platform. (5)……………….   ‘The fact that the context is this fictional world of an apocalypse is incidental.  This course gives us the opportunity to educate people about the science of disasters.’

 

The market for massive open online courses, or MOOCs, is rapidly expanding. Millions of students sign up for online education courses each year. However, millions fail to complete the courses, suggesting that they pose a real challenge to online learners. Part of this experiment is to find out whether the power of television can reduce the high drop-out rate characteristic of MOOCS.

 

The university is taking this opportunity to hone the way it delivers online courses. (6)……………….    With the increasing demand for online courses, these are issues that universities looking to invest in online learning are increasingly having to face.