Question

Después de leer atentamente el texto y las cuestiones siguientes, el alumno deberá responder en INGLÉS a las cuestiones proporcionadas.

TEXTO
The Decline of “Once upon a time….”
Once upon a time, parents read bedtime stories to their children... But now it
seems that the fairy tale is over. According to a poll of mums and dads with
under-sevens, 36 per cent of parents never pick up a book with their little
ones. Of those who do read with their kids, just 21 per cent make time for a
story before bed every night. The study also showed that nearly half of the
kids would rather watch TV or play with toys or computer games.
In light of the findings, Littlewoods.com, a British online retailer behind the
study, has teamed up with 31-year-old British pop star Natasha Hamilton to
get youngsters back into reading. Littlewoods and Natasha have just
launched a bedtime story competition for children under seven to draw
pictures and create their own tale. The winning entry will be turned into an
audio book, narrated by Natasha. The pop star said: “As a mum of three, I
know how enjoyable bedtime stories are for my kids. I’m really excited
about seeing all the different story ideas. I can’t wait to see what the kids
come up with. Choosing a winner will not be easy”.
Experts say that one of the key ways of helping children to learn to read and
write well is to give them a love of books. However, some parents blame a
lack of time for not reading with their children, while others say they are just
too stressed, or that their kids are simply not interested. Surprisingly enough,
the vast majority of parents were told bedtime stories regularly when they
were little

QUESTIONS

1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No
marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

a) A little over a third of parents who took part in the study never read a story to their
children.

b) Most of the mums and dads who participated in the study had bedtime stories read to
them when they were kids.
(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do
not copy from the text.

a) How is Natasha Hamilton collaborating with Littlewoods.com in order to get young
people to read again?

b) Give two reasons why parents fail to read stories to their kids.
(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

3.- Find the words in the text that mean:

a) almost (paragraph 1)
b) joined forces (paragraph 2)
c) produce (paragraph 2)
d) main (paragraph 3)
(Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)

4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets
when given.
a) When my children were young, I ____ (tell) them a story every night before ____
(go) to bed.

b) Nowadays, reading ____ (consider) to be an interaction ____ the reader and the text.
The more you read to children, ____ (good) their reading and writing skills become.

c) According to research, English children read less for pleasure ____ their peers in
many other countries.

d) Complete the following sentence to report what was said:

A spokesman from the company said: "We appreciate how important it is for parents
and kids to spend quality time together.”

A spokesman from the company said that _____.
(Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

5.- Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.

What kind of books do you like to read? Explain why you like them.
(Puntuación máxima: 3 puntos)


Prueba de selectividad para la comunidad de Madrid. Convocatoria Jun 2013-2014. Inglés.

Answer 1

1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE?

Copy the evidence from the text. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.

a) A little over a third of parents who took part in the study never read a story to their children.

True. “According to a poll of mums and dads with under-sevens, 36 per cent of parents never pick up a book with their little ones”

b) Most of the mums and dads who participated in the study had bedtime stories read to them when they were kids.

True.  “Surprisingly enough, the vast majority of parents were told bedtime stories regularly when they were little”.  


2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text.


a) How is Natasha Hamilton collaborating with Littlewoods.com in order to get young people to read again?

Littlewoods.com and Natasha Hamilton came up with the idea of launching a storytelling competition in which kids will be able to come up with their own tale and illustrations, whichever wins will have his or her book turned into an audiobook narrated by the artist.


b) Give two reasons why parents fail to read stories to their kids. Nowadays, schedules are tight for both parents and kids, so moms and dads may find it difficult to open up a space in their daily routine to read to their children. With so many extra-curricular activities at school for the kids and all the effort this represents for the parents, everyone’s tired by the time bedtime comes around.
With all the kid-friendly devices that we have today, kids get entertained in a different way than being told stories, so they lose interest in things that are not animated or cannot be touched.


3.- Find the words in the text that mean:

a) almost (paragraph 1)  - Nearly

b) joined forces (paragraph 2)  - Teamed up

c) produce (paragraph 2) - Create, Come up With,

d) main (paragraph 3)  - Key

4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets when given.


a) When my children were young, I _told___ (tell) them a story every night before _going(go) to bed. 

b) Nowadays, reading __is considered__ (consider) to be an interaction ___between _ the reader and the text. The more you read to children, __the better__ (good) their reading and writing skills become. 

c) According to research, English children read less for pleasure _than___ their peers in many other countries.

d) Complete the following sentence to report what was said: 

A spokesman from the company said: "We appreciate how important it is for parents and kids to spend quality time together.” A spokesman from the company said that they appreciated how important it is for parents and kids to spend quality time together.  _____. 


5.- Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic. What kind of books do you like to read? Explain why you like them


When I have to time to read, I like to immerse myself in all kinds of books. From dystopias like 1984 by George Orwell, to cheesy romance novels like P.S. I Love You. I love to be taken into another world where everything is possible, where I can be whatever character I’m reading and I can discover things about myself by seeing them reflected in other characters. In my opinion, everything you read will change you, may it be in a large or small scale. It might be that one phrase your favorite author wrote or that one character that made your heart break, there will always be something you will remember about every book you read, whether you’re aware of it or not.

Prueba de selectividad para la comunidad de Madrid. Convocatoria Jun 2013-2014. Inglés.