1 EXAM WITH ANSWERS

1 PEvAU Practice Examination (Andalucía)

2
3 Instrucciones: a) Duración: 1 h. 30 m. b) No se permite el uso de diccionario.
4 c) La puntuación de las preguntas está indicada en las mismas.
5 d) Los alumnos deberán realizar completa una de las dos opciones
6 A o B, sin poder mezclar las respuestas.

7 A Language For All

8 The European Union has over 20 official languages, which results in an enormous amount
9 of money that is spent every day on translations and interpreting. The Swiss economist
10 François Grin was asked to look into this issue and make suggestions. In 2005 he published a
11 report which suggested the use of a “constructed language” – that is, an artificial language
12 which has been specially invented for the purpose of making communication easier. By far the
13 best-known constructed language is Esperanto.
14 Esperanto was invented in 1877 by L. L. Zamenhof, a Polish eye doctor. He believed that
15 with the help of an international language, he could promote harmony and peace between
16 countries. Zamenhof’s aim was to make learning Esperanto as easy as possible, so its
17 vocabulary and grammar are straightforward.
18 Linguists estimate that Esperanto can be learned in 5%-25% of the time required to learn
19 other languages. It has also been shown that learning Esperanto makes it easier to learn a third
20 language. In one study, a group of students learned Esperanto for one year and then French for
21 three years. At the end of the four years, they were significantly better at French than a control
22 group which had studied French for four years.
23 Despite all these good reasons for learning Esperanto, there are probably only between one
24 to two thousand native speakers of Esperanto – that is, people who have learned the language
25 as small children from their Esperanto-speaking parents. In contrast, there are about 400
26 million native English-speakers and perhaps 1.1 billion people speak it as a secondary
27 language. The problem is that it is pointless to learn Esperanto unless many other people do as
28 well. Zamenhof himself said that it might take “many centuries” for Esperanto to become a
29 universal language.

30 I* COMPREHENSION (4 points)
31 CHOOSE AND WRITE THE CORRECT OPTION (A, B, C OR D). (0.5 points each)
32 1. Zamenhof …
33 (a) thought Esperanto could make 37 (c) wanted to learn an easy language.
34 the world a better place. 38 (d) cooperated with other linguists to
35 (b) studied Esperanto as a student in 39 promote peace between countries.
36 Poland.

40 2. The writer of the text …

41 (a) encourages readers to learn 45 (c) gives a negative opinion about
42 Esperanto. 46 Esperanto.
43 (b) informs readers about 47 (d) wants to learn Esperanto.
44 Esperanto.
48

2 1
49
50 ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE
51 PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
52 (0.5 points each)
53 3. François Grin was asked to construct an artificial language.
54 False: “The Swiss economist François Grin was asked to look into this issue and make
55 suggestions.”
56 4. Esperanto is the only known constructed language.
57 False: “By far the best-known constructed language is Esperanto.”
58 5. Learning Esperanto makes learning other languages less difficult.
59 True: “It has also been shown that learning Esperanto makes it easier to learn a third
60 language.”
61 6. There are about 1,000-2,000 parents who speak Esperanto.
62 False: “… there are probably only between one to two thousand native speakers of
63 Esperanto – that is, people who have learned the language as small children from their
64 Esperanto-speaking parents.”
65 7. FIND IN THE TEXT: (0.5 points)
66 7.1 ONE OPPOSITE FOR “complicated” (adjective). straightforward
67 7.2 ONE SYNONYM FOR “needed” (verb). required
68 8. FIND IN THE TEXT: (0.5 points)
69 8.1 ONE WORD MEANING “to examine or investigate” (phrasal verb). look into
70 8.2 ONE WORD MEANING: “having no purpose” (adjective). pointless

71 II* USE OF ENGLISH (3 points; 0.5 points each)

72 9. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS:
73 9.1 I wish more people would learn (learn) Esperanto.
74 9.2 She’s good at picking up (pick up) languages quickly.
75 10. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT WORD:
76 10.1 I can’t hear you. Could you please speak up (preposition)?
77 10.2 This book has been translated into (preposition) many languages.
78 11. THERE ARE TWO MISTAKES IN THE SENTENCE. FIND THE MISTAKES AND
79 REWRITE THE SENTENCE CORRECTLY.
80 The youngest you are, the least difficult it is to learn a language.
81 The younger you are, the less difficult it is to learn a language.
82 12. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING (CONDITIONAL) SENTENCE:
83 If there hadn’t been a translator there, … .
84 If there hadn’t been a translator there, we wouldn’t have understood anything.
85 (possible answer)
86 13. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE:
87 Perhaps more people will speak Esperanto one day.
88 Perhaps Esperanto will be spoken by more people one day.
89 14. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS.
90 French and English are the two official languages of Canada.
91 What are the two official languages of Canada?

92 III* WRITING (3 points)

93 15. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS ABOUT THE TOPIC
94 PROPOSED AND FOCUS STRICTLY ON IT.
95 Is the classroom the best place to learn a foreign language? Discuss.
96 Answers will vary.

3 PEvAU Andalucía – A Language For All 2