UNIVERSIDAD DEL AZUAY
ENGLISH FINAL EXAM
LEVEL 3
NAME____________________________________________
SCORE:
/50
/20
READ THE PASSAGES. THEN FIND THE MAIN IDEA
The criminal justice system needs to change. The system could be more just if it allowed
victims the opportunity to confront the person who has harmed them. Also, mediation
between victims and their offenders would give the offenders a chance to apologize for the
harm they have done.
1. The main idea of this paragraph is that victims of a crime should
a. learn to forgive their offenders.
b. learn the art of mediation.
c. insist that their offenders be punished.
d. have the right to confront their offenders.
In the United States, almost everyone’s live is linked to the auto industry. Most people
depend on a car, bus, or truck for transportation. More than 12 million people earn their
living in some part of the car industry by building, shipping, servicing, or selling cars, buses,
or trucks. These people account for about one tenth of the labor force. In fact, there are
500,000 automobile-related businesses in the United States.
2. The main idea is:
a. Most people in the USA own a car for transportation
b. Many people work in the auto industry
c. The auto industry is of great importance for the majority of American people.
d. There are a lot of businesses related to the auto industry.
In 1769, Captain James Cook discovered Tahiti, a land he called paradise on Earth. The
Tahitian people believed that tattooing was the writing of this paradise. Thus, the Captain,
officers and crew allowed themselves to be tattooed. They brought back their souvenirs and
the word “ta-taw”. Hence, Europe adopted the word to denote this kind of body decoration.
Sailors of the many South Seas expeditions made the long-forgotten pricking of the skin
popular once again. By 1850, a great number of Europeans were tattooed, especially sailors
and soldiers.
3. The main idea is to say that:
a. Europe adopted the word tattoo to denote this kind of body decoration.
b. Tattoos became popular again.
c. Only sailors and soldiers were tattooed then.
READ THE PASSAGE AND CIRCLE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT
RESPONSE
CULTURE SHOCK
P-1 Psychologists tell us that there are four basic stages that human beings pass through
when they enter and live in a new culture. This process, which helps us to deal with culture
shock, is the way our brain and our personality reacts to the strange new things we encounter
when we move from one culture to another. If our culture involves bowing when we greet
someone, we may feel very uncomfortable in a culture that does not involve bowing. If the
language we use when talking to someone in our own culture is influenced by levels of
formality based on the other person's age and status, it may be difficult for us to feel
comfortable communicating with people in the new culture.
P.2 Culture begins with the "honeymoon stage". This is the period of time when we first
arrive in which everything about the new culture is strange and exciting. We may be suffering
from "jet lag" but we are thrilled to be in the new environment, seeing new sights, hearing
new sounds and language, eating new kinds of food. This honeymoon stage can last for quite
a long time because we feel we are involved in some kind of great adventure.
P.3 Unfortunately, the second stage of culture shock can be more difficult. After we have
settled down into our new life, working or studying, buying groceries, doing laundry, or
living with a home-stay family, we can become very tired and begin to miss our homeland
and our family, girlfriend/boyfriend, pets. All the little problems that everybody in life has
seem to be much bigger and more disturbing when you face them in a foreign culture. This
period of cultural adjustment can be very difficult and lead to the new arrival rejecting or
pulling away from the new culture. This "rejection stage" can be quite dangerous because the
visitor may develop unhealthy habits (smoking and drinking too much, being too concerned
over food or contact with people from the new culture). This can, unfortunately lead to the
person getting sick or developing skin infections or rashes which then make the person feel
even more scared and confused and helpless. This stage is considered a crisis in the process
of cultural adjustment and many people choose to go back to their homeland or spend all their
time with people from their own culture speaking their native language.
P.4 The third stage of culture shock is called the "adjustment stage". This is when you
begin to realize that things are not so bad in the host culture. Your sense of humor usually
becomes stronger and you realize that you are becoming stronger by learning to take care of
yourself in the new place. Things are still difficult, but you are now a survivor!
P.5 The fourth stage can be called "at ease at last". Now you feel quite comfortable in your
new surroundings. You can cope with most problems that occur. You may still have problems
with the language, but you know you are strong enough to deal with them. If you meet
someone from your country who has just arrived, you can be the expert on life in the new
culture and help them to deal with their culture shock.
P.6 There is a fifth stage of culture shock which many people don't know about. This is
called "reverse culture shock". Surprisingly, this occurs when you go back to your native
culture and find that you have changed and that things there have changed while you have
been away. Now you feel a little uncomfortable back home. Life is a struggle!
CIRCLE THE LETTER OF THE CORRECT RESPONSE.
4. What is the main idea of the passage?
a. Culture shock is unavoidable when you move to another place.
b. There are many stages of culture shock.
c. You always feel uncomfortable when you travel.
d. Reverse culture shock occurs when you go back to your native culture.
5. When does culture shock happen?
a. when you reach your teens
b. when you move to a big city
c. when you meet foreign people for the first time
d. when you go to live in a foreign culture
6. How do you feel during the first stage of culture shock?
a. lonely and depressed
b. bored and homesick
c. happy and excited
d. angry and frustrated
7. How do you feel during the second stage?
a. homesick and afraid
b. interested and amused
c. stressed, but positive
d. you have no particular feelings
8. How could the third stage be described?
a. adjustment
b. rejection
c. enthusiasm
d. anger
9. How do you feel during the fourth stage of culture shock?
a. tense, but positive.
b. relaxed
c. negative and stressed
d. afraid.
10. Why might reverse culture shock be a problem?
a.
b.
c.
d.
It hardly ever happens.
It is extremely stressful.
Most people do not expect it.
It only happens to young people.
CIRCLE TRUE OR FALSE NEXT TO THE SENTENCES.
11. Culture shock is experienced when we visit a new place.
T
F
12. When we experience jet lag we are in the “honeymoon” stage.
T
F
13. There are four basic stages that help us deal with “culture shock.”
T
F
14. The “rejection” stage may lead to the person getting sick or developing
skin infections.
T
F
15. You can solve most of the problems during the fourth stage.
T
F
VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT.
MATCH THE DEFINITIONS WITH THE WORD(S) FROM THE PARAGRAPHS
Tomatoes, actually a fruit that is used as a vegetable, began gaining wide acceptance as a
food plant in the United States between 1820 and 1850. Modern plant growers have done
much to improve the tomato and add to its usefulness. Its yields have been doubled, and
varieties with larger, smoother, more even shapes and meatier pulps have been developed.
The tomato is the leading crop canned in the United States today.
16. ample, broad…………………………………………………………………….
17. farmers, cultivators……………………………………………………………...
18. make better, develop…………………………………………………………….
19. worth, utility…………………………………………………………………….
20. multiplied by two, increased twofold…………………………………………...
21. less uneven………………………………………………………………………
Of the many influences on human behavior, social influences are the most pervasive. The
main influence on people is people. When we hear the term social influence, most of us think
of deliberate attempts of someone to persuade us to alter our actions or change our opinions.
The television commercial comes to mind. But many of the most important forms of social
influence are unintentional, and some of the effects we humans have on one another occur by
virtue of the simple fact that we are in each other's physical presence.
22. conduct……………………………………………………………………………
23. premeditated……………………………………………………………………….
24. convince, influence………………………………………………………………..
25. suggests itself………………………………………………………………………
26. inadvertent, accidental……………………………………………………………..
27. one another………………………………………………………………………...
FILL IN THE SPACES WITH THE CORRECT WORD FROM THE BOX
indigenous /undergone /bitter /trading /roasted /century/ involved/ drink.
The chocolate of today has (28) …………………………………numerous changes from its
beginnings as an ingredient in a spicy and bitter (29)……………………………… Numerous
cultures have made contributions to create the product that we know today.
Cocoa trees are (30)……………………………………. to South America's river valleys. By
the seventh century, the Mayans had brought the trees north into Mexico, and numerous other
cultures, including the Aztecs and the Toltecs, seem to have been
(31)……………………………………… in the production of cocoa trees. In fact, the words
"chocolate" and "cocoa" both came from the Aztec language. When Spanish explorers arrived
in Central America in the fifteenth (32)…………………………….., they noted that cocoa
beans were valued as a currency for (33)………………………………… and were also used
to
prepare
a
special
drink,
cacahuatl,
which
was
made
from
(34)………………………………… cocoa beans with red pepper, vanilla, and water. The
explorers at first were not very impressed with the cacahuatl because it was so
(35)……………………………………………..
p1.
Read the passage and choose the best answer for each question
Climate Change
Over millions of years, the world's climate has undergone a series of dramatic changes that
have most likely resulted from oscillations, or pendulum-like swings, in the rotation of the
Earth. One such dramatic climate change was what is commonly called the Ice Age and was
in reality a series of phases of colder and warmer weather that commenced approximately
two million years ago. What we today refer to as the Ice Age was in reality a series of weaker
and stronger glacial periods during which sheets of ice expanded and moved varying
distances south followed by interglacial periods when the glaciers melted to varying degrees
and retreated to the north. These successive periods of colder and warmer weather have had
striking effects on the world's landscape and on the life forms that inhabit the land. Each
glacial period in the series of colder and warmer phases had a different impact, depending on
how far south the ice extended, how long it lasted before melting, and how much it changed
the landscape and sea levels.
p2.
The effect on the world's landscape that resulted from the changing climate was dramatic.
Vast sheets of glacial ice in the northern latitudes of the world cut deep u-shaped valleys that
still exist today and caused huge boulders and enormous amounts of clay and dust to be
deposited across North America, Europe, and Asia and to reshape the landscape of these
areas. As the glacial sheets of ice crept southward on the northern continents, they trapped
large amounts of water. This served to reduce the amount of moisture in the atmosphere that
could fall as rain or snow, reducing the amount of rainfall and leading to further aridity and
the expansion of deserts in the tropical and subtropical regions. In addition, with so much
water held in the glacial ice, the sea level fell, resulting in the exposure of land that today is
covered with water. During glacial periods there was a land bridge from France to England,
the islands of Japan and Java were connected to the Asian mainland, and Asia was linked to
North America over what is today the Bering Strait. Then, during interglacial periods, when
the glacial ice retreated to the north, more water became available as glaciers melted.
Vegetation expanded with the increase in rainfall, and coastlines changed with the increase
in ocean water; during interglacial periods, many areas that today are landmasses were
covered with water.
p3.
Prehistoric people seem to have adapted well to these environmental changes. They moved
from place to place in response to climatic changes. They could be found living in the
grasslands of Asia, in the forests of southeast Asia, and in the temperate areas of southern
Europe, and they moved into and out of the more northerly regions as the glacial regions
retreated and advanced. Their diet changed to adapt to the changes in plant and animal life
during succeeding glacial and interglacial periods, and the use of stone tools, the building of
shelters, and the use of clothing came about during this period. It was these sorts of
adaptations that enabled humans to survive and progress while many other species failed to
survive and thrive during this period in the way that prehistoric people did.
36) What is stated about the Ice Age in paragraph 1?
a) It caused the rotation of the Earth to swing.
b) It was a period of sustained intensely cold weather.
c) It came about as a result of variation in the Earth's rotation
d) It lasted for two million years.
37) Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the highlighted
sentence in paragraph 1?
a) During the Ice Age, there were periods when the glaciers moved forcefully and other
periods when the movement of glaciers was weaker.
b) During glacial periods, the glaciers moved to colder areas in the north, while during
interglacial periods, glaciers moved toward the south.
c) During the Ice Age, glaciers tended to freeze north of the equator and melt south of
the equator.
d) The Ice Age really consisted of colder glacial periods and warmer interglacial periods.
38) The word striking in paragraph 1 could best be replaced by
a) remarkable
b) violent
c) attractive
d) dangerous
39) The word impact in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
a) explosion
b) collision
c) effect
d) crash
40) The word it in paragraph 1 refers to
a) a different impact
b) the ice
c) melting
d) the landscape
41) All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 1 as affecting the impact of a glacial
period EXCEPT
a) the amount of area that was covered with ice
b) the length of time that a glacier lasted
c) the effect that a glacier had on the geography of the land
d) the effect that a glacier had on the chemistry of the water
42) The word they in paragraph 2 refers to
a) these areas
b) the glacial sheets
c) the northern continents
d) large amounts
43) The word aridity in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
a) precipitation
b) irrigation
c) vegetation
d) dryness
44) It is NOT true according to paragraph 2 that during glacial periods
a) France and England were connected
b) Japan was a cluster of distinct islands
c) Java was attached to Asia
d) North America and Asia were connected
45) The word expanded in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
a) spent
b) spread out
c) got smaller
d) swelled
46) According to paragraph 3, prehistoric people
a) failed to adapt to environmental changes
b) tended to stay in one place during the Ice Age
c) lived only in the grassland areas of Asia
d) were living in the less frigid parts of Europe
47) The phrase in response to in paragraph 3 could be replaced by
a) to provide an answer to
b) in reaction to
c) resulting in
d) with knowledge of
48) What is NOT true about prehistoric people, according to paragraph 3?
a) They made changes in what they ate.
b) They used basic tools.
c) They did not live out in the open.
d) They did not wear clothing.
49) The word they in paragraph3 refers to
a) Glaciers
b) Glacial periods
c) Temperate areas
d) Prehistoric humans
50) Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the underlined
sentence in paragraph 3?
a) Many species failed to survive because of the adaptations that they made during this
period.
b) During glacial periods, the glaciers moved to colder areas in the north, while during
interglacial periods, glaciers moved toward the south.
c) Unlike some other species, humans were able to survive by adapting to the changing
environment.
d) The actions of prehistoric humans caused many other species to fail to survive during
this period.