Candidat nº
DNI
NOM
COGNOMS
PROVA DE CERTIFICACIÓ DE COMPETÈNCIA LINGÜÍSTICA
CERTIFICAT DE NIVELL B2
ANGLÈS B2
Data:
Temps: 60 minuts
Reading Comprehension
Instructions
- DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.
- Write your name and surname in CAPITAL LETTERS within the space provided.
- Do NOT use pencil.
- Write your answers in the spaces provided in this booklet.
- When time expires, stop writing and hand in this booklet.
Information
This section consists of 3 tasks.
There are 22 items.
Each item scores 1 point.
I have read and understood the instructions above
Signature:
Absent
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 1
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 2
READING TASK 1 (Q1-Q7)



Read a medicine article about heart failure therapy.
Choose the most suitable option (Q1-Q7) for each question. The first
one (Q0) has been done for you as an example.
Write your answers in the space provided.
THE FUTURE FOR HEART FAILURE THERAPY
Calon Cardio-Technology Ltd, based in South Wales, is developing the next
generation of implantable micro-pumps for the treatment of heart failure.
Heart failure is a clinical syndrome that occurs when the heart is unable to pump
enough blood to meet the demands of the body. It is a serious condition that can
markedly reduce quality of life. Heart failure is a global health problem of epidemic
proportions –in the UK alone the number of people suffering from various stages of
the condition is approximately 650,000.
It has been clinically proven that heart assist pumps are a safe and effective
treatment, and indeed in many cases they are the only method of treatment.
However, these devices have so far failed to be universally adopted for two
reasons: firstly, their large size means that they require highly invasive surgery to
be fitted and, secondly, the devices are extremely expensive.
However, technology being developed by Calon Cardio-Technology Ltd, in
partnership with the Institute of Life Science at Swansea University in South Wales,
aims to address both these problems with the development of its miniature pump,
and promises to realize the vision of heart assist pumps becoming the routine
method of treatment for heart failure.
Pump therapy and why it works
Medical treatment has been shown to, at best, slow the progress of heart failure. A
successful heart transplant is still the benchmark as therapy: between 250 and 350
heart transplants are carried out in the UK each year. However, the number of
transplants is limited by the number of donor hearts available.
Heart transplantation offers significant improvement in symptoms and survival for
patients in end-stage heart failure but is available only to the few. A heart assist
pump, often known as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), has the potential to
meet the needs of those patients for whom there is little hope.
LVADs are currently used rarely in the treatment of heart failure and often only as a
treatment of last resort. This is despite the fact that LVADs offer greater blood
circulation and consequently greater clinical benefit in the treatment of heart failure
than any other existing non-transplant therapy.
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 3
Artificial hearts and LVADs were once medical novelties, but they have been
improving over the past 30 years, and their use is expanding.
Today there is a growing number of people with end-stage heart failure. With that
comes an equivalent growth in the number of people being put on the waiting list
for a donor heart –posing a distinct dilemma of not enough donor hearts to meet
the growing annual demand.
In patients with advanced heart failure, fitment of the pump halts the progress of the
disease and restores quality of life. In some cases, and in earlier stages of heart
failure, the patient may recover completely and the device can be subsequently
removed. The improved quality of life and the chance of a complete recovery is
something that is not possible with medical therapy, and the limited availability of
donor hearts means that only a tiny fraction of sufferers are able to receive a
transplant.
Calon Cardio-Technology
The formation of Calon Cardio-Technology was the brainchild of Professor Steve
Westaby and Mark Clement, and with the help of Dr James Abbey, Kevin
Fernquest and Graham Foster the company was formed and research and work
begun.
The technical team is headed up by Graham Foster. The team is currently testing
the novel pumps in the laboratories of the Institute of Life Science, with very good
progress being made towards the goal of smaller, lower cost heart assist pumps.
Although many challenges remain, the team is confident that it can commercially
realize technology that has many improvements over that currently available.
Miniature pump
Calon Cardio-Technology has developed a miniature pump that is implanted
directly into the failing heart on a long-term basis to boost its output. The pump is
driven by an embedded electric motor that is powered by a compact battery pack
worn by the user.
Calon has a clearly defined product pipeline comprising the pump designs. The
reason for this is that no one pump design is suitable for all patient types as later
stages of heart failure require a pump with a greater size and throughput than one
for earlier stages. Also, other medical factors can rule out some pump types for
significant patient populations; for example, valve complications rule out all pumps
that reside across the aortic valve.
Calon’s ultimate goal is to offer a complete solution for the treatment of all patient
types at all stages of heart failure.
Source: The future for heart failure therapy. Advances, Issue 65. Autumn 2010.
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 4
Q0. Choose the correct option:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Heart failure happens when the heart stops pumping
Heart failure happens when there is not enough blood to pump the heart
Heart failure happens when there is an extra demand of blood from the body
Heart failure happens when the heart cannot pump enough blood to the
body
Q1. Choose the correct option:
A. Heart assist pumps have been universally adopted although they are very
expensive
B. Heart assist pumps will be universally adopted in a few years
C. Heart assist pumps have not been universally adopted because they are
dangerous
D. Heart assist pumps have not been universally adopted yet.
Q2. Choose the correct option:
A. The problem with heart transplants is that it only slows the progress of heart
failure
B. The problem with heart transplants is that there are not enough heart
donors.
C. The problem with heart transplants is that only a few patients accept a heart
transplant
D. A heart transplant is the ideal medical treatment for heart failure
Q3. Choose the correct option:
A.
B.
C.
D.
The use of LVADs is considered the best medical treatment for heart failure
LVADs are still medical novelties
Nowadays LVADs are only used when heart transplantation is not possible
LVADs are frequently used as an alternative to heart transplantation
Q4. Choose the correct option:
A. The number of donors and the number of people with serious heart failure is
increasing at the same time
B. Nowadays there are more donors than people suffering from end-stage
heart failure
C. The number of donors is decreasing and it cannot satisfy the demand
D. According to the text the number of people in the waiting list for a donor
heart is equivalent to the number of donors
Q5. Choose the correct option:
A. The LVAD is suitable for all heart failure patients, and even patients in
earlier stages of heart failure may have the device removed
B. The LVAD is only suitable for patients in earlier stages of heart failure
C. The LVAD can only be fitted to patients with advanced heart failure
D. The LVAD is an alternative, but only medical therapy can achieve a patient’s
complete recovery
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 5
Q6. Choose the best option:
A. According to the text Calon Cardio-Technology is starting to work on other
different projects
B. According to the text Calon Cardio-Technology is working on the design of
other types of devices suitable for animals
C. According to the text Calon Cardio-Technology aims at producing cheaper
and tinier pumps
D. According to the text Calon Cardio-Technology will set up a new company in
the laboratories of the Institute of Life Science
Q7. Choose the best option:
A. Calon Cardio-Technology has so far produced three different solutions to
improve heart failure
B. Calon Cardio-Technology has designed a pump that can be adapted to
patients at different stages of heart failure
C. Calon Cardio-Technology has a wide range of pumps which can offer a
solution for the treatment of all heart failure patients
D. Calon Cardio-Technology is working on three new projects based on heart
failure to offer a new range of products
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS HERE
Q0
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7
D
D
B
C
C
A
C
C
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 6
READING TASK 2 (Q8-Q15)




Read this extract from a novel by Roald Dahl.
Choose the correct answer (A-K) for each gap (Q8-Q15) in the text. The
first one (Q0) has been done for you as an example.
There are two extra sentences that you do not need to use.
Write your answers in the space provided.
The Way Up To Heaven - Roald Dahl
All her life, Mrs Foster had had an almost pathological fear of missing a train, a
plane, a boat, or (Q0) even a theatre curtain. In other respects, she was not a
particularly nervous woman, but the mere thought of being late on occasions like
these would throw her into such a state of nerves that she would begin to twitch. It
was nothing much - just a tiny vellicating muscle in the corner of the left eye, (Q8)
…………………- but the annoying thing was that it refused to disappear until an
hour or so after the train or plane or whatever it was (Q9) ………………..
It was really extraordinary how in certain people a simple apprehension about a
thing like catching a train can grow (Q10)…………….. At least half an hour before it
was time to leave the house for the station, Mrs Foster would step out of the
elevator all ready to go, with hat and coat and gloves, and then, being quite unable
to sit down, she would flutter and fidget about from room to room until her husband,
(Q11) ……………….her state, finally emerged from his privacy and suggested in a
cool dry voice that perhaps they had better be going now, had they not?
Mr Foster may possibly have had a right to be irritated by this foolishness of his
wife's, but he could have had no excuse for increasing her misery by (Q12)
………………unnecessarily. Mind you, it is by no means certain that this is what he
did, yet whenever they were to go somewhere, his timing was so accurate - just a
minute or two late, you understand - and his manner so bland that it was hard to
believe he wasn't purposely inflicting (Q13)………………on the unhappy lady. And
one thing he must have known - that she would never dare to call out and tell him
to hurry. He had disciplined her too well for that. He must also have known that if
he was prepared to wait even beyond the last moment of safety, he could drive her
nearly into hysterics. On one or two special occasions in the later years of their
married life, it seemed almost as though he had wanted to miss the train simply
(Q14)………………the poor woman's suffering.
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 7
Assuming (though one cannot be sure) that the husband was guilty, what made his
attitude doubly unreasonable was the fact that, with the exception of this one small
irrepressible foible, Mrs Foster was (Q15)………………… a good and loving wife.
For over thirty years, she had served him loyally and well. There was no doubt
about this. Even she, a very modest woman, was aware of it, and although she had
for years refused to let herself believe that Mr Foster would ever consciously
torment her, there had been times recently when she had caught herself beginning
to wonder.
Source: Dahl, Roald. The Way Up to Heaven. Klett Ernst
A. even a theatre curtain
B. into a serious obsession
C. in order to intensify
D. up to the cloudy and sad sky
E. had been safely caught
F. keeping her waiting
G. and always had been
H. who must have been well aware of
I. like a secret wink
J. had never become
K. a nasty private little torture of his own
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS HERE
Q0
Q8
Q9
Q10
Q11
Q12
Q13
Q14
Q15
A
I
E
B
H
F
K
C
G
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 8
READING TASK 3 (Q16-Q22)



Read this text about dog yoga.
Say whether the statements (Q16-Q22) are true or false. Correct the
false statements. The first one (Q0) has been done for you as an
example.
Write your answers in the space provided.
DOG YOGA
Organic food, prepared as simply as possible or, preferably, left raw. Frequent
sessions with a spiritually inclined fitness practitioner, working toward the health of
both mind and body. And of course, regular detoxifying cleanses.
That may sound like a health regimen penned by Gwyneth Paltrow, but it’s actually
the discipline for a different kind of animal: the American dog.
In recent years, upscale pet owners have been turning to alternative treatments
and seeking out services like acupuncture, yoga classes and even cleansers for
their beloved companions. Dr. Jeffrey Levy, a veterinarian and certified veterinary
acupuncturist in New York City, has seen a marked increase in patients. “I have pet
owners tell me all the time about how transformative acupuncture has been for their
pets,” he says. “They’ll pick up a toy they haven’t played with in years, or start
digging in the dirt like a much-younger animal. The pets are really rejuvenated by
the treatments.”
Dog yoga, also known as “doga,” is another popular alternative-health option for pet
owners. Suzi Teitelman, who claims to have founded the discipline back in 2001,
says it will lead to happier, healthier pets that are more bonded to their owners.
Teitelman compares dog yoga to infant yoga; pet parents move the animals
through the poses or involve them in their own poses. She has trained several doga
instructors and offers DVDs for pet owners who can’t find classes near them.
Doga isn’t the only new age fitness option available for dogs. Jaime Van Wye, CEO
and founder of the Zoom Room dog training center, has recently begun offering
classes in “pup-lates” (a canine variant of Pilates). “Pup-lates combines physical
fitness and low-impact agility training with a mental component called ‘puzzling,’
which includes a lot of thinking games for the dogs, such as a training drill where
owners use rewards (like dog treats) to teach their dogs to track the scent of their
footsteps,” Van Wye says. “It’s great for older animals, animals with attention
issues and overweight animals who might not have the stamina for higher-impact
activities.”
Not everyone is enthusiastic about the potential of these therapies. Louise Murray,
DVM and DACVIM (Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine)
and the vice president of the ASPCA Animal Hospital in New York City, cautions
pet owners that more research into all of these treatments is needed. “There is
some evidence of possible benefits from acupuncture, but there just haven’t been
enough well-designed studies on the topic,” she says. “At this point, we are a long
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 9
way from safe, educated use of any alternative medical approach for dogs and
cats. These fields are yet to be fully explored even in human medicine.”
Though Murray cautions pet owners that acupuncture, like any treatment, comes
with risks, her most insistent warning is against another alternative treatment that
has been gaining in popularity: animal detoxes. Proponents claim that toxins from
the environment build up in animals’ bodies, in particular the liver. Treating the
animal with diet changes and herbal supplements—popular supplements include
turmeric, milk thistle, stinging nettle and dandelion—is meant to flush these toxins
out, improving both overall health and specific conditions attributed to the toxins.
Murray paints the risks of self-administered detoxing in starker terms. “There is
zero evidence that there is any benefit to these products. Additionally, there is no
evidence that these products are safe for animals,” she says, referring to over-thecounter herbs and supplements marketed to pets. “Herbal products and
nutraceuticals are not regulated, and there is no guarantee of their safety,
effectiveness or manufacturing process.”
The other downside to all these alternative therapies is the cost. Spending on pets
in the U.S. continues to rise precipitously. Just 20 years ago, in 1994, pet owners
spent a little over $27 billion (in today’s dollars) on their animals. In 2014, the
American Pet Products Association is projecting spending of nearly $59 billion.
Alternative treatments are certainly helping to inflate that bottom line. Providers and
pet owners reported acupuncture costs ranging from $90 to $185 for a single
acupuncture appointment; doga and pup-lates classes can cost $12 to $25 per
session; and detoxifying treatments can run you as much as $120 for a month’s
supply.
Considering the high cost of these and other popular alternative treatments—
including pet massage, pet reiki and pet crystal therapy—one thing’s for certain:
You’re going to want to consider a second mortgage on the doghouse.
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/02/dog-yoga-248520.html
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 10
WRITE YOUR ANSWERS HERE
Q0 Average pet owners are looking for alternative treatments for their pets.
False. Upscale pet owners.
Q16. Owners say their pets feel younger after an acupuncture treatment.
True
Q17. Dog yoga helps the pets feel closer to their owners.
True
Q18. Van Wye doesn’t recommend “Pup-lates” to dogs with low stamina.
False. He recommends it to older dogs, dogs with attention problems, and
overweight dogs who might not have enough energy.
Q19. Unlike in human medicine, alternative treatments for pets need more
research.
False. Even human medicine.
Q20. According to Murray, animal detoxes will improve animal health.
False. Murray warns against animal detoxes.
Q21. Murray says that over-the counter herbs and supplements for pets are safe.
False. There is no evidence that those products are safe.
Q22. Pet owners are meant to spend more money on them.
True
Prova de certificació de competencia lingüística
Pàgina 11