EXAMEN DE INGRESO –

ENGLISH
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A- READING COMPREHENSION
Read the text and answer the questions         (20 points)
We generally use the word "stress" when we feel that everything seems to have
become too much - we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope
with the pressures placed upon us. Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to
our well-being is a stress. Some stresses get you going and they are good for you -
without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably
feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and
physical health they are bad. In this text we shall be focusing on stress that is bad
for you.
The difference between "stress" and "a stressor" - a stressor is an agent or
stimulus that causes stress. Stress is the feeling we have when under pressure,
while stressors are the things we respond to in our environment. Examples of
stressors are noises, unpleasant people, a speeding car, or even going out on a
first date. Generally (but not always), the more stressors we experience, the more
stressed we feel.
The way you respond to a challenge may also be a type of stress. Part of your
response to a challenge is physiological and affects your physical state. When
faced with a challenge or a threat, your body activates resources to protect you - to
either get away as fast as you can, or fight.
If you are upstairs at home and an earthquake starts, the faster you can get
yourself and your family out the more likely you are all to survive. If you need to
save somebody's life during that earthquake, by lifting a heavy weight that has
fallen on them, you will need components in your body to be activated to give you
that extra strength - that extra push.
Our fight-or-flight response is our body's sympathetic nervous system reacting to a
stressful event. Our body produces larger quantities of the chemicals cortisol,
adrenaline and noradrenaline, which trigger a higher heart rate, heightened muscle
preparedness, sweating, and alertness - all these factors help us protect ourselves
in a dangerous or challenging situation.

Non-essential body functions slow down, such as our digestive and immune
systems when we are in fight-or flight response mode. All resources can then be
concentrated on rapid breathing, blood flow, alertness and muscle use.
Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/145855.php
 
 According to the texts are these statements true or false?
 1) The article is about the difference between stress and stressors. T/F
2) All types of stress a person is exposed to is bad for his/her health. T/F
3) A stressor appears when a person already suffering from stress.     T/F
4) The author claims that there are two types of body responses to stressful
situations T/F
5) The body adjusts many of it functions to prepare for the fight –or- flight
response.    T/F
6) What does “them” refer to ? ---------------------------

 B - USAGE
(Use BLUE FONT for answers)
1) Rewrite the following sentences using the given words. Make sure the
meaning remains the same. ( 20 points)

1) I felt really tired, so I stayed at home and had a rest.

because…
2) I didn’t use that piece of string, because it was too short.
enough ..
3) I spend the summer at the seaside.
in…
4) Dina left my house at 10.00
until….
5) I should have listened to my son more atentively. He doesn’t trust me now.
If I ….

 2) “Read the following texts and think of the word which best fits each
space. (10 points)

Last year (1)________to have an expensive holiday, so we (2________ to visit

some friends, Brian and Ann, who (3) _________to live by the sea. They (4)
___________to put us up for two weeks, and as we always (5) ___________
seeing them, it(6) ___________ to be a good idea. They asked us if we 7)
__________ sleeping on the sofa , and said that they would (8) ________to make
us comfortable. We (9) _________ to get there by bus, and when we arrived we
could(10) ______ them sitting in the garden. They (11) ______to be glad to see
us, but it was obvious that they hadn´t 12)_______________to see us. They said
that we had 13) _______________to tell them when we were arriving . We 14)
____________feeling embarrased, so the next day we went home.

1 continued Couldn’t afford liked promised

2 fancied tried wished decided
3 meant kept hoped happened
4 offered admitted enjoyed intended
5 denied imagined enjoyed preferred
6 began seemed imagined expected
7 minded suggested wanted remembered
8 practise mean learn try
9 suggested tried managed started
10 watch see keep wait
11 intended pretended expected suggested
12 preferred forgotten promised expected
13 denied seemed forgotten chosen
14 imagined minded Couldn’t help seemed

 3 - Find the part in the sentences that is INCORRECT among the four
underlined and provide the correct word. (20p)

1. The new workers aren´t used for the working conditions here.
______________

2. Mary, which car broke down, had to take a taxi.

_______________

3. His shop has gone into business after making heavy losses.
_____________

4. She was one of the five astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger, that
completed a successful six-day voyage in space in June 1983.

__________________
5. Your friends are taken in his fantastic story of having get to the pole alone.

__________________

6. Karajan was the first person recognizing her extraordinary musical gift.

_________________________

7. No one stands a chance of beating Mansell in this year´s champion.

_________________________

8. A lunch of soup and sandwiches do not appeal to all of the students.

__________________________

9. Mr. Peters used to think of hisself as the only president of the company.
__________________________

10. Although both of them are trying to get the scholarship, she has the highest
grades.

__________________________
 C) WRITING
Choose ONE of the following subjects and write a composition (250). Be
careful with tenses, connectors and patterns. (30 points)

A) What are some of the qualities of a good parent? Use specific details and
examples to explain your answer. 
B) My pet. What is he/she like? How did it get to your house? How does it
behave?
C) On Sunday morning as I was walking along the park….