MAGISTER

OPOSICIONESALPROFESORADOInglsSecundaria

ANSWERSTOPRACTICEEXERCISES(PARTALINGSTICA)
JUNE2014
1. TRANSLATIONS.
A. Translate the following text into English.
No se arrepinti. Desde haca mucho tiempo el pueblo yaca en una especie de sopor, estragado
por diez aos de historia. Esa tarde otro viernes sin carta la gente haba despertado. El coronel se
acord de otra poca. Se vio a s mismo con su mujer y su hijo asistiendo bajo el paraguas a un
espectculo que no fue interrumpido a pesar de la lluvia. Se acord de los dirigentes del partido,
escrupulosamente peinados, abanicndose en el patio de su casa al comps de la msica. Revivi casi
la dolorosa resonancia del bombo en sus intestinos.
Cruz por la calle paralela al ro y tambin all encontr la tumultuosa muchedumbre de los
remotos domingos electorales. Observaban el descargue del circo. Desde el interior de una tienda una
mujer grit algo relacionado con el gallo. l sigui absorto hasta su casa, todava oyendo voces
dispersas, como si lo persiguieran los desperdicios de la ovacin de la gallera.
En la puerta se dirigi a los nios.
Todos para su casa dijo. Al que entre lo saco a correazos.
Puso la tranca y se dirigi directamente a la cocina. Su mujer sali asfixindose del dormitorio.
Se lo llevaron a la fuerza, grit. Les dije que el gallo no saldra de esta casa mientras yo
estuviera viva. El coronel amarr el gallo al soporte de la hornilla. Cambi el agua al tarro
perseguido por la voz frentica de la mujer. (/)
(/) El viscoso aire de octubre haba sido sustituido por una frescura apacible. El coronel
volvi a reconocer a diciembre en el horario de los alcaravanes. Cuando dieron las dos todava no
haba podido dormir. Pero saba que su mujer tambin estaba despierta. Trat de cambiar de posicin
en la hamaca.
Ests desvelado dijo la mujer.
S.
Ella pens un momento.
No estamos en condiciones de hacer esto dijo. Ponte a pensar cunto son cuatrocientos
pesos juntos.
Ya falta poco para que venga la pensindijo el coronel.
Ests diciendo lo mismo desde hace quince aos.
Por esodijo el coronel. Ya no puede demorar mucho ms.
Ella hizo un silencio. Pero cuando volvi a hablar, al coronel le pareci que el tiempo no haba
transcurrido.
Tengo la impresin de que esa plata no llegar nunca dijo la mujer. (/)
(/) Es la misma historia de siempre, comenz ella un momento despus. Nosotros
ponemos el hambre para que coman los otros. Es la misma historia desde hace cuarenta aos.
(/)

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(/)Tambin tenas derecho a que te dieran un puesto cuando te ponan a romperte el cuero
en las elecciones replic la mujer. Tambin tenas derecho a tu pensin de veterano
despus de exponer el pellejo en la guerra civil. Ahora todo el mundo tiene su vida asegurada y
t ests muerto de hambre, completamente solo.
De El Coronel no tiene quin le escriba de Gabriel Garca Mrquez.

ANSWER
He didnt repent. The village had been long sleeping in a sort of drowsiness, as if stranded from
history. That evening another Friday without any post/ mail people had woken up. The colonel
recalled another time. He saw himself, with his wife and his son attending, from underneath an
umbrella, a show which wasnt put off despite the rain. He remembered the party leaders, their hair
neatly/conscientiously combed, fanning themselves to the rhythm of music, in the backyard of his
house. He even revived the painful resonance of the bass drum in his gut/ stomach.
He crossed the street running by the river and there he also found the riotous crowd in a Sunday
of elections. They were watching the circus unpacking. From the inside of a shop a woman shouted
something related to the cock. He went on absent-mindedly to his house, still hearing dispersed
voices, as if he was haunted by the remains of the cockpit acclamation / plaudits / ovation.
He warned the children by the door.
You must go home, he said. If I find anyone inside, Ill whip you off with my belt.
He locked the gate with a bar / barred the entry door and went straight to the kitchen. His wife
emerged from the dormitory/ bedroom, breathing with great difficulty/ in suffocation.
They took it by the force, she screamed. I told them the cock wouldnt leave this house as
long as I was alive. The colonel tied the cock to the support / basis of the stove. He changed the
water in the jar, chased by the frantic voice of his wife. (/)
(/) The viscous air of October had been replaced by a peaceful/ tranquil freshness/ coolness.
The colonel recognised again December in the calendar of the stone-curlews / thick-knee birds. He
still couldnt asleep by two but he knew his wife was awake too. He tried to change his position in the
bed / hammock.
Cant you sleep? / Are you still awake? she asked.
No. / Yes.
She was thinking for a while.
We cant afford doing this she said. Just think for a moment how much four hundred pesos
are together.
The pension will arrive very soon, the colonel said.
You have been saying the same for fifteen years.
Thats why the colonel said. It cant take any much longer.
She remained silent. But when she spoke again, it seemed as if time hadnt passed by to the
colonel.
Ive got the feeling that the money will never arrive, the woman said.
(/) Its always the same story she started shortly afterwards. We endure hunger for others
to eat. I has been the same story for the last forty years. (/)

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(/) You also had the right for a post after supporting them in the elections, she added. You
also had the right for a veteran pension after risking your neck in the civil war. Now everyone
has their lives sorted out, and you are starving, completely abandoned/ totally alone / deserted.
From The colonel has no one to write him by Gabriel Garca Mrquez.

B. Translate the following fragment into Spanish.

Frodo looked at them in wonder, for he had never before seen Elrond, of whom so many tales
spoke; and as they sat upon his right hand and his left, Glorfindel, and even Gandalf, whom he
thought he knew so well, were revealed as lords of dignity and power.
Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver
beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face
under great snowy brows his dark eyes were set like coals that could leap suddenly into fire.
Glorfindel was tall and straight; his hair was of shiny gold, his face fair and young, and fearless
and full of joy; his eyes were bright and keen, and his voice like music; on his brow sat wisdom, and
in his hand was strength.
The face of Elrond was ageless, neither old nor young, though in it was written the memory of
many things both glad and sorrowful. His hair was dark as the shadows of twilight, and upon it was
set a circlet of silver; his eyes were grey as a clear evening, and in them was a light like the light of
stars. Venerable he seemed as a king crowned with many winters, and yet hale as a tried warrior in
the fullness of his strength. He was the Lord of Rivendell and mighty among both Elves and Men.
In the middle of the table, against the woven cloths upon the wall, there was a chair under a
canopy, and there sat a lady fair to look upon, and so like was she in form of womanhood to Elrond
that Frodo guessed that she was one of this close kindred. Young she was and yet not so. The braids
of her dark hair were touched by no frost, her white arms and clear face were flawless and smooth,
and the light of stars was in her bright eyes, grey as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and
thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years
bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems,
glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver.
So it was that Frodo saw her whom few mortals had yet seen; Arwen, daughter of Elrond, (/...)
Long she had been in the land of her mothers kin, in Lrien beyond the mountains, and was but
lately returned to Rivendell to her fathers house. But her brothers, Elladan and Elrohir, were out
upon errantry: for they rode often far afield with the Rangers of the North, forgetting never their
mothers torment in the dens of the orcs.
From The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien
Frodo los observ maravillado, pues nunca haba visto a Elrond, de quien se contaban tantas historias;
y segn se sentaban a su izquierda y derecha, Glorfindel, y aun Gandalf, a quien crea conocer tan
bien, ambos se le revelaban como dignos y poderosos seores.

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Gandalf era de menor estatura que los otros dos, pero su larga melena blanca, su poblada barba
plateada, y sus hombros anchos, le daban un aspecto de rey sabio de las antiguas leyendas. En su
rostro aejo, bajo espesas cejas de nieve, estaban engarzados sus ojos oscuros como carbones que de
sbito podran encenderse y arder.
Glorfindel era alto y erguido, su cabello de oro reluciente, su semblante joven y hermoso, valiente e
iluminado de alegra; sus ojos brillantes y penetrantes, y su voz musical; en su frente reposaba/ se
asentaba la sabidura, en su mano, la fortaleza.
El rostro del Elrond era atemporal; no era ni viejo, ni joven, aunque llevaba escrito el recuerdo de
muchas cosas, felices y tristes. Tena el cabello oscuro como las sombras del crepsculo, y ceido por
una corona de plata; sus ojos eran grises como un atardecer claro y con la luz de los luceros. Pareca
venerable como un rey coronado por muchos inviernos, y vigoroso sin embargo como un guerrero
probado en la plenitud de sus fuerzas. Era el Seor de Rivendel, poderoso tanto entre los Elfos, como
entre los Hombres.
En el centro de la mesa, contra los tapices que pendan del muro, haba una silla bajo un dosel, y all
estaba sentada una dama hermosa de ver, y de tal parecido a Elrond, en forma femenina, que no poda
ser, pens Frodo, sino un familiar cercano. Era joven, mas no tanto, porque aunque la escarcha no
haba tocado las trenzas de su pelo oscuro, y sus brazos blancos y rostro claro fueran tersos y sin
defecto, y la luz de las estrellas le brillara en los ojos, grises como una noche despejada, haba en ella
verdadera majestad, y su mirada tena el conocimiento y la sabidura, de quien ha visto las muchas
cosas que los aos traen. Le cubra la cabeza una redecilla de encaje de plata entretejida con pequeas
gemas de un blanco resplandeciente, pero sus delicadas vestiduras grises no tenan ms adorno que
una guirnalda de hojas forjada en plata.
As fue como vio Frodo a aquella a quien pocos mortales haban visto: Arwen, hija de Elrond, (/)
Mucho tiempo haba permanecido en la tierra de la familia de su madre, en Lrien, ms all de las
montaas, y haba regresado haca poco a Rivendel, a la casa de su padre. Pero sus dos hermanos,
Elladan y Elrohir, llevaban una vida errante, y a menudo cabalgaban muy lejos junto con los
Montaraces del Norte; y jams olvidaban los tormentos que su madre haba sufrido en las guaridas de
los orcos.
De El Seor de los Anillos de J.R.R.Tolkien

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2. TEXT ANALYSIS.

Read the following text and answer the questions below:

The gradual disintegration of the Midnight Childrens Conferencewhich finally fell apart on the
day the Chinese armies came down over the Himalayas to humiliate the Indian faujwas already
well under way. When novelty wears off, boredom, and then dissension, must inevitably ensue.
Or (to put it another way) when a finger is mutilated, and fountains of blood flow out, all manners
of vilenesses become possiblewhether or not the cracks in the Conference were the (activemetaphorical) result of my finger-loss, they were certainly widening. Up in Kashmir, NaradaMarkandaya was falling into the solipsistic dreams of the true narcissist, concerned only with the
erotic pleasures of constant sexual alterations; while Soumitra the time-traveller, wounded by our
refusal to listen to his descriptions if a future in which (he said) the country would be governed by
a urine-drinking dotard who refused to die, and people would forget everything they had ever
learned, and Pakistan would split like an amoeba, and the prime ministers of each half would be
assassinated by their successors, both of whom he swore despite our disbelief would be
called by the same name wounded Soumitra became a regular absentee from our nightly
meetings, disappearing for long periods into the spidery labyrinths of Time. And the sisters from
Baud were content with their ability to bewitch fools young and old. What can this Conference
help? they inquired. We already have too many lovers. And our alchemist member was busying
himself in a laboratory built for him by his father (to whom he had revealed his secret); preoccupied with the Philosophers Stone, he had very little time for us. We had lost him for the lure
of gold.
From Mildnight Children by Salman Rushdie

a) Identify the style and textual types in the extract. Explain your answer.
Its a piece of literary prose, an extract from a novel.
It is mostly a narrative text mixed, yet with hints of subjective description and argumentation. None
of the before mentioned texts following established patterns.
Narration of events occurs without time sequencers, but imprecise time references (e.g. the day the
Chinese armies came down over the Himalayas). Description happens with a sort of very subjective
qualifiers (solipsistic dreams, a urine-drinking dotard), and non-finite (past participle) adjective
form (wounded, governed). Argumentation subtly hidden on lexical choices, narrative voice and
inserted disjuncts (active-metaphorical).
Slight dialogic (direct speech).
There is a 1st person narrator, giving account of facts and experiences in a rather informal style, thus
using the first person, phrasal verbs (wears off, put it, flow out), and coordinating connectors:
or, and in initial position. Besides there are locative adjuncts in initial position too. In addition to
syntactical repetition (would be governed, would be called, would become, would split) and
direct speech (What can this Conference help? they inquired. We already have too many lovers. ).
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It seems to try to provide agility while lexical choices still stick to the formal style, there is use of
Latin origin words: nouns (novelty, vilenesses,) verbs (to humiliate,) and adjectives (mutilated,
solipsistic).
The irregular narration is characterised by the use of rare tenses such as:
-passive constructions of verbs in non-finite attributive position: is mutilated, become possible,
concerned. Wounded by, would be assassinated, would be called)
- continuous tenses for description: was busying himself.
There is evidence of argumentation in the disjuncts, to explain opinion and establish metafictional
relationship with the reader: When novelty wears off, boredom, and then dissension, must
inevitably ensue. Or (to put it another way), he swore despite our disbelief
Lack of further cohesive devices.

b) Describe the communicative functions used on the text.

Representational, so as to account for the events in the story even if it is quite obscure due to the
textual features and narrative voice chosen.
Emotive and Poetic, due to the lexical choice and signs of expressive load in epithets and subjective
description, where there is also some underlying argumentation attempting to address and engage the
audience we(Conative).
c) Locate cohesive devices and other rhetorical resources, illustrated by examples.
Already mentioned in textual types. Plus:
Simile: like an amoeba,
Metaphors: a urine-drinking dotard,
Epithet: spidery labyrinths, solipsistic dream
d) Comment briefly on the author, his work and time.
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (born 19 June 1947) is an Indian British novelist and essayist. His first
novel, Grimus (1975), a part-science fiction tale, was generally ignored by the public and literary
critics. His next novel, Midnight's Children (1981), catapulted him to literary notability. It won the
Booker Prize in 1981. Much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. He is said to combine
magical realism with historical fiction; his work is concerned with the many connections, disruptions
and migrations between East and West. Midnight's Children follows the life of a child, born at the
stroke of midnight as India gained its independence, who is endowed with special powers and a
connection to other children born at the dawn of a new and tumultuous age in the history of the Indian
sub-continent and the birth of the modern nation of India. The character of Saleem Sinai has been
compared to Rushdie. However, the author has refuted the idea of having written any of his
characters as autobiographical, stating, "People assume that because certain things in the character are

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drawn from your own experience, it just becomes you. In that sense, Ive never felt that Ive written
an autobiographical character."
After Midnight's Children, Rushdie wrote Shame (1983), in which he depicts the political turmoil in
Pakistan, basing his characters on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Shame
won France's Prix du Meilleur Livre tranger (Best Foreign Book) and was a close runner-up for the
Booker Prize. Both these works of postcolonial literature are characterised by a style of magic realism
and the immigrant outlook that Rushdie is very conscious of as a member of the Indian diaspora.
Rushdie wrote a non-fiction book about Nicaragua in 1987 called The Jaguar Smile. This book has a
political focus and is based on his first-hand experiences and research at the scene of Sandinista
political experiments.
His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), was the centre of a major controversy, provoking
protests from Muslims in several countries. Death threats were made against him, including a fatw
issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, on 14 February 1989.
Rushdie was appointed Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in January 1999. In
June 2007, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked
him thirteenth on its list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945.
Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States, where he has worked at Emory University and
was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he published Joseph Anton: A
Memoir, an account of his life in the wake of the controversy over The Satanic Verses.
Rushdie collaborated on the screenplay for the cinematic adaptation of his novel Midnight's Children
with director Deepa Mehta. The film was also called Midnight's Children. Seema Biswas, Shabana
Azmi, Nandita Das, and Irrfan Khan participated in the film. Production began in September 2010;
the film was released in 2012
In 2012, Salman Rushdie became one of the first major authors to embrace Booktrack (a company
that synchronises ebooks with customised soundtracks), when he published his short story "In the
South" on the platform.
e) Provide definitions or synonyms for the following words from the text. Add their
phonological transcription:
1. novelty: /nvlti/ originality by virtue of being new and surprising
2. dissension: /dsenn/ a conflict of people's opinions or actions or characters
3. solipsistic: /slpsstk/ of, relating to, or being disposed to solipsism (philosophy) the
philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist
4. dotard: /dtd/ someone whose age has impaired his intellect
5. amoeba: /mib/ naked freshwater or marine or parasitic protozoa that form temporary
pseudopods for feeding and locomotion
6. spidery: /spad()ri/ relating to or resembling a member of the Arachnid class
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AGISTER)

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7. bew
witch: /bw
wt/ attract; cause to be enamoured,c
e
cast a spell over
o
someonee or somethin
ng;
8. lurre: /l(j)/ qualities
q
that attract by seeming to promise soome kind off reward
f)

Transcribe phon
nologically the
t followin
ng lines fro
om the text.
Whhen novelty wears off, boredom, and
a then diissension, must
m
inevitaably ensue. Or (to put it
anoother way) when a finnger is muttilated, and
d fountains of blood fl
flow out, alll manners of
vileenesses become possibblewhetheer or not th
he cracks inn the Confeerence weree the (activvemettaphorical) result of myy finger-losss, they weree certainly widening.
w
| ween nvlti wez f | bdm | nnd en dseen()n | mst nevtbbli nsju | | t pt t
n we | wen
w fr ()z mjuutletd | nd
fantnnz v bld ffl at | l mnz v

r
krks n
knnferns we kttf
valnsz bkkm psbb()lwe nt
r
mettfrk()l rzlt v ma
m fing( )-ls | e we
w st())nl wad())n |

g)

Analyse syntaactically thee followingg extract fro

om the textt.
Peoople would forget eveerything theey had eveer learned, and Pakisttan would split like an
a
amoeba, and the
t prime ministers
m
of each
e
half would
w
be asssassinated bby their succcessors, both
of whom
w
he swore desppite our disbbelief wou
uld be called by the sam
me name
Senntence 1
Peoople
Subbject

would foorget
everyth
hing they haad ever learrned,
Predicaator
G
VG
Od (NG)

NG (head)

Operator

l
lexical
verb

Nouun

Modal verb

( heaad) + (postmoddifier)

native
Distribuutive Determin

Personal Pronoun
P

(Adj G : that-clausse, that omitteed)

S
P
VG
N (head)
NP
Operator+adjuunct+lexical veerb
O
A
Auxiliary
AdvvG
P.P

andd (Coordinatinng Conjunctioon)

Pakkistan
Subbject

would split
Predicator

NG (head)
Nouun

like an amoeba,
a

C
Complement
oof manner

VG
operrator

lexical verb

Head+Subordiinate clause)
Adv G (H
Head
comparativee clause
Adv
S (NG)
V
VG (omitted:d
does)
D head
Det

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ELC,S.A.(MA
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the prime miniisters of eacch half

SOLUCIN Prctico Partte A (Lingstiica)-Junio 20114

woould be assa
assinated byy their succeessors,

Subject
NG

VG

Det premod head post mod (PrepG)

(

Predicatoor
A
Agent
compleement

operator auxiiliary lexical verb

Deff Adj

nounn head coompletive (NG

G)
Prep deet head (nouun)
(Objject complem
ment ref: successors)

prep

PrrepG

hhead complletive (NG)

det (possesssive) head(nou
un)

botth of whom he
sworee despite ourr disbelief
would be called by thhe same nam
me
disjunct

Ng:Head ( prronoun)

NG lexical veerb + (Adv G))

post modifier
m
quantiifier + Prep G
ve)
head (prep)+ Completivee (relative pronnoun) (Possessiv

S (omitteed)

Prediccator

G
VG
Co mannner
operator auxilliary lexical verb
v
PrepG
head +Completivee

3. LISTEN
NING
Listen to the
t documeentary 60 Second Ad
dventure in
n Thought and answeer the follow
wing
questions.
a. Why could Achiless never beaat the tortoise accordiing to Zenoo?
Because noo matter how
w much Acchilles would ran, whilee he is tryinng to catch uup the distan
nce with thee
tortoise, thhere is alwayys time enouugh for the tortoise to move
m
slighttly further aaway.
b. How doo banks putt into practtice that moovement pa
aradox?
This conceept of sometthing finite being dividded an infiniite number of times, inn an infinite series, is
used in finance to lookk at mortgage paymentts
c. Which trilogy
t
was inspired by
b Barjavells grandfatther paradox?
Back to Thhe Future Sppielbergs films.
fi
d. Why did Searle saay his Chineese room proved
p
com
mputers werre not intellligent?
Because hee thought thhey just imittate knowleedge and thinking patterns. They cannot do it for
themselvess.
e. Hilbertss Grand Hotel
H
allowss infinite gu
uests, how is
i that posssible?
By movingg guests to the
t double number
n
of thheir originaal room, so that
t all odd rooms wou
uld be free.
f. Did Einsstein have any
a twin brrother?
No he didnnt. He just figured
f
out what it wouuld be like.
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g. What is the main conclusion of his relativity theory regarding time and space?
That regarding travelling at light speed, the faster you move, the slower time passes.
h. Why did Schrdinger dislike his own theory on quantum mechanics?
Because it challenged our perception of things. Most things cannot be taken from a superposition but
atoms do show two different positions at the same time, which is misleading. He wasnt prepared to
assume his own theory.
Summarize the content.
The transcript is a brief and light hearted description of thought challenges in History. There is a
narrator, probably the voice over a video, as lots of sound effects are heard in the soundtrack, who
provides short accounts of six different challenges related to thought or science.
The first one explains the myth of Achilles and the tortoise on the grounds of the idea of infinite
series which are currently applied to mortgage and bank instalments.
The second one, explains the famous grandfather paradox, proposed by the French writer Barjavel,
suggesting the consequences of travelling back in time which inspired the 80s blockbuster
Spielbergs trilogy of Back to the Future.
Thirdly we can listen Searles attempt to prove artificial intelligence is nothing but imitation by
means of the Chinese Room.
Next, Hilberts infinite hotel again refers to the infinite possibilities of infinite subdivisions, making
humorous comments on the complaints of the liable guests constantly moving room and suffering
eternal queuing for breakfast.
Following, Einsteins twin paradox, refers to the effects of light speed travelling and the relativity of
time and space distance and the funny consequences this could bring to his own couple of twins.
Finally, Schrdingers attempt to study and explain quantum mechanics, which ended up by
frustrating himself and cats worldwide.
TRANSCRIPT
60 seconds adventures in thought
No.#1
Achilles and the tortoise
How could a humble tortoise beat the legendary Greek hero Achilles in a race?
The Greek philosophers Zeno liked the challenge and came up with this paradox. First the tortures is
given a slight head start. Anyone fancying a flatter would still rush to put their money on Achilles.
But Zeno pointed out that to overtake him Achilles would first have to cover the distance to the point
where the tortoise began in that time the tortoise would have moved so Achilles would have to cover
that distance, giving the tortoise time to amble forward a bit more logically this would carry on for
ever.
However small the gap between them the tortoise would still be able to move forward while Achilles
was catching up, meaning that Achilles could never overtake. Taken to an extreme, this bizarre
paradox suggested all movement is impossible, but it did lead to the realization that something finite
can be divided an infinite number of times. This concept of an infinite series is used in finance to look
at mortgage payments which is why they take an infinite amount of time to pay off
No.#2
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Ingls Secundaria

MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER)

SOLUCIN Prctico Parte A (Lingstica)-Junio 2014

The grandfather paradox

Will time travel ever be possible?
Ren Barjavel was a French journalist and science fiction writer who spent a lot of his time thinking
about time travel. In nineteen forty-three, Barjavel asked what would happen if a man went back in
time to a date before his parents were born and killed his own grandfather? With no grandfather one
of the man's parents would never have been born and therefore the man himself would never have
existed, so there will be nobody to go back in time and kill the grandfather in the first place.
Or the last-place depending on how you look at it the grandfather paradox has been a mainstay on
philosophy, physics and the entire Back to the Future trilogy.
Some people have tried to defend time travel with arguments like the parallel universe resolution in
which the changes made by the time traveller create a new separate history branching off from the
existing one, but the grandfather paradox prevails although the paradox only suggests the traveling
backwards is impossible. It doesn't say anything about going the other way.
No.#3
The Chinese room.
Can a machine ever be truly called intelligent?
American philosopher and road scholar John Searle said certainly cant. In 1980 he proposed the
Chinese room thought experiment in order to challenge the concept of strong artificial intelligence
and not because of some eightys design fan. He imagines himself in a room with boxes of Chinese
characters he can't understand and a book of instructions which he can. If a Chinese speaker outside
the room passes in messages under the door Searle can follow instructions from the book to select an
appropriate response. The person on the other side would think they're chatting with a Chinese
speaker just one who doesn't get out much but really is a confused philosopher.
Now according to Alan Turing the father of computer science, if a computer program can convince a
human they're communicating with another human then it could be said to think. The Chinese room
suggest that however well you program a computer it doesn't understand Chinese, it only simulates
that knowledge. Which isn't really intelligence, but then, sometimes humans are not that intelligent
either.
No. #4
Hilbert's infinite hotel.
At Grand Hotel with an infinite number of rooms and an infinite number of guests in those rooms that
was the idea of German mathematician David Gilbert, friend of Albert Einstein and enemy of
chambermaids the world over.
To challenge our ideas about infinity he asked what happens if someone new comes along looking for
a place to stay Gilbert answers to make each guests shift along one room. The guest in room one
moves to room two, and so on to the new guest would have a space in room 1, and the guest book
would have an infinite number of complaints.
But what about when a coach containing an infinite number of new guests pulls up? Surely he can
accommodate all of them. Hilbert frees up an infinite number of rooms by asking the guest to move to
the room number which is double their current one, leaving the infinitely many odd numbers free.
Easy for the guest in room 1, not so easy for the man in room 8,600,590. Hilberts paradox has
fascinated mathematicians, physicists and philosophers. Even theologians and they all agree you
should get down early for breakfast.

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Ingls Secundaria

MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER)

SOLUCIN Prctico Parte A (Lingstica)-Junio 2014

No. #5
The twin paradox
Albert Einstein didn't have a twin brother. But he had some funny ideas of what you could do with
one he imagined two identical twins. Let's call them Al and Bert.
Now Al is a couch potato but Bert likes to travel, so he hops into a spaceship and zooms off at closer
the speed of light. Thats when Einsteins special theory of relativity kicks in it says that the faster
you travel through space the slower you move through time. So from Als point of view Bert's time
would be moving slower than his own. To put it another way, time might fly when you're having fun.
But when clocks fly they run more slowly in relativity. After a while Bert decides to head back, still
at closer the speed of light, and return to his brother with his holiday snaps. When Bert arrives home,
Al will now be older than his twin which makes their double dates a lot more over. Although it seems
implausible Einstein just follows his theory to its logical conclusion and it turns out he was right. This
concept of time dilation provides the basis for our global positioning system which how youre set
now knows you need to turn left in 200 yards.
No. #6
Schrdingers cat
Erwin Schrdinger was a physicist, a theoretical biologist, and probably more of a dog pet. In the
1920s scientists discovered quantum mechanics which said that some particles are so tiny you can't
even measure them without changing them. But the theory only worked if before you measured them
the particle is in a superposition of every possible state all at the same time. To tackle that
Schrdinger imagined the cat in a box with a radioactive particle and a Geiger counter attached to a
vial of poison. If the particle decays it triggers the Geiger counter releases the poison and Bye, bye,
tickles. But if the particle is in two states both decayed and not decayed, the cat is also in two states
both dead and not dead, until someone looks in the box.
In practice is it's impossible to put a cat into a superposition. Youll have the animal rights lobby up
in arms. But you can isolate atoms and they do seem to be in two stays at once. Quantum mechanics
challenges our whole perception of reality so maybe it's understandable that Schrdinger himself
decided he didn't like it. And we're sorry he had started it all about cats.
4. USE OF ENGLISH
A. Rephrase the following sentences in TWO different ways using the given expressions:
1. He stood no chance of passing his exams.
a. BOUND He was bound to fail his exams.
b. INEVITABLEIt was inevitable to fail his exams.
2. Im sure that he missed the eleven oclock train.
a. MUST
He must have missed the eleven oclock train
b. CANT
He cant have caught the eleven oclock train
3. The house has got everything except a large garden.
a. LACKS
The house lacks a large garden
b. FROM
Except for the large garden the house has got everything
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Ingls Secundaria

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SOLUCIN Prctico Parte A (Lingstica)-Junio 2014

4. Im afraid to say that we havent got ant oil left.

a. UP
Im afraid we have used up all the oil
b. OUT
Im afraid we have run out of oil.
5. The film is similar to Shakespeares Hamlet in a number of ways.
a. BEARS
The film bears some resemblance with Shakespeares Hamlet
b. COMMON The film has several points in common with Shakespeares Hamlet
B. Choose the word which best completes each sentence.
1. I was kept awake for most of the night by the . of a mosquito on my ear.
a. whine
b. moan
c. groan
d. screech
2. If you would like to wait a moment, sir, I will just .. your file on the computer screen.
a. call up
b. pull down
c. bring in
d. pick up
3. If I were you, I would regard their offer with considerable , because it seems too good to be
true.
a. suspicion
b. doubt
c. reservation
d. disbelief
4. My sisters confidence in her ability to play the piano was badly .. by her last music
teacher.
a. subsided
b. weakened
c. loosened
d. undermined
5. Nows a . time to tell me youre going out this evening Ive spent the whole day
preparing supper for you.
a. suitable
b. reasonable
c. fine
d. right
6. He .. to be an expert in bomb disposal.
a. pronounced
b. certified
c. professed

d. declared

7. He was not .. to taking on all the extra responsibilities the promotion entailed.
a. hesitant
b. unenthusiastic
c. reluctant
d. averse
8. As fog had closed the airport, they had to . the relief flight elsewhere.
a. distract
b. divert
c. deflect
d. detract
9. There was a(n) . Of freshly baked bread coming from the field kitchens.
a. reek
b. scent
c. odour
d. aroma
10. During the rioting several houses in the area had their windows ..
a. clinked
b. banged
c. crashed
d. smashed

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Ingls Secundaria

MELC,S.A.(MAGISTER)

SOLUCIN Prctico Parte A (Lingstica)-Junio 2014

C. Fill in the gaps with a suitable expression:

Collocations in English (1) fall into a number of different categories. In this article I should like to
draw a (2) distinction between ordinary collocations and those that are so fixed that they can be
called idioms. Although my main focus is on ordinary collocations, I shall also to some extent (3)
take idioms into consideration too. I plan to (4) raise a number of questions about learning
collocations in a foreign or second language. I shall attempt to answer these questions by (5) making
reference to the work of the leading writers in the field. My intention is to make a strong (6) case for
a more intensive focus on collocation in the language learning process. I shall also (7) touch on
issues such as pronunciation.
D. Match the idiomatic expressions on the left with their meaning on the right:
IDIOM

EQUIVALENCE

MEANING IN SPANISH

1. to be patsy
2. to get out of the jam

g). to take the blame

d). to get by

3. to be topsy-turvy
4. to call the roll
5. to be head-andshoulders
6. to have ones heart set
on
7. to be head over heels in
love
8. not to make head or tail
out of
9. to come to a head

j). to be jammed, messed up

l). to check attendance
k). to be ahead of

pagar el pato
salir del atolladero, de
un apuro
Estar algo patas arriba
Pasar lista
Aventajar a alguien,
sacarle la delantera
Tener la esperanza
puesta en algo
Estar perdidamente
enamorado
No tener pies ni cabeza

e). to hope
b). to be madly in love
a). not to make any sense

10. to gild the lily

c). to be in the worse

possible case
f). to adorn unnecessarily

11. to go out on a limb

h). to get into danger, to risk

12. to toe the line

i). to obey the rules

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Estar la cosa que arde

Rizar el rizo,
emperifollar
Jugrsela, arriesgar la
vida
Ceirse a las reglas