Name: Mark:

Unit 4 Test
Written Comprehension

(Bloque 3 Comprensión escrita: 1. Comprender instrucciones; 3. Comprender correspondencia personal y mensajes en foros y blogs;
Bloque 4 Producción escrita: 3. Tomar notas; 4. Escribir notas, anuncios, mensajes y comentarios)

Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Marco’s Blog: Venice – The Cruise Capital of the World

I As you already know, I love being a gondolier in Venice! I’m so proud to steer my boat through this
beautiful city. But there is one thing that really bothers me. Even though gondoliers are some of the
most well paid workers in Venice, I can’t afford to live here. Because house prices are so high in
Venice, my wife and I can’t rent a decent sized flat in the city and have to live on a nearby island.
And we are not alone. Three decades ago, more than 120,000 people lived in Venice. Today, there
are fewer than 55,000.

II So, why has this happened? First of all, there are the cruise ships. A few years ago these enormous
ships, filled with tourists, started arriving in Venice. It’s true that this is good for my business. Many
of the tourists buy a ride on a gondola. But because they go back to eat and sleep on the ship at the
end of day, they spend much less money in restaurants and shops than regular tourists. And even
the regular tourists who sleep here don’t necessarily stay in hotels. Many of them prefer to rent flats,
so property owners are able to charge high prices. This has driven up the rental prices for local
people like me.
The number of available apartments is also on the decline. This is because the ground floors of
III buildings have been damaged by floods over the years. It is true that our government has invested
billions of dollars into building a system of underwater gates to protect us against this. But the
problem is far from being ironed out.
Tourists who visit our beautiful city are not aware of all the problems that we face. But we Venetians
are very worried about the future of our city. Some residents have even suggested that we should
IV
raise income for the city by building gates around Venice, and making tourists pay a fee as they
come and go.
V I personally am really against this idea. I think it would turn the city into a theme park. But there is no
doubt that we’re going to have to do something if we want to ensure that local people will be able to
continue to live here in the future. But what?
VI

1 Choose the correct answer. (4 x 2 = 8 points)

1 Marco doesn’t live in Venice because .
a he doesn’t want to
b it’s too expensive
c he wants to live in a small flat
d there are no small flats in Venice
2 Tourists from cruise ships .
a don’t visit Venice
b don’t spend any money in Venice
c don’t pay for accommodation in Venice
d stay in local hotels
3 The price of housing in Venice has gone up because .
a fewer houses are being built
b tourists don’t spend as much money in Venice as they used to
c fewer flats are available for short-term rental
d tourists are able to pay high rental rates
4 Marco .
a believes that visitors to Venice should pay an entrance fee
b believes nothing can be done to stop the population of Venice from declining
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 Unit 4 Test
c doesn’t know how to stop the population of Venice from declining
d isn’t worried that the population of Venice is declining
2 Complete the sentences. (5 x 2 = 10 points)
1 Marco loves his job because .......................................................................................................................................................... .
2 Marco and his wife live on an island because .................................................................................................................... .
3 Since cruise ships began arriving in Venice, ...................................................................................................................... .
4 Tourists who visit Venice don’t realise that ........................................................................................................................ .
5 A suggestion was proposed by some of Venice’s residents to ..................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ .
3 Find words or expressions in the text that mean: (6 x 2 = 12 points)
1 reasonable (paragraph I)
2 increased (paragraph II)
3 solved (paragraph III)
4 deal with (paragraph IV)
5 bring in money (paragraph IV)
6 it is certain (paragraph V)

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