ESCUELA DE IDIOMAS

SECCIÓN SERVICIOS Y EXTENSIÓN

DEPARTAMENTO DE ADMISIONES Y REGISTRO
EXAMEN DE COMPETENCIA LECTORA INGLÉS
PREGRADO Versión A
El objetivo de esta prueba es medir la habilidad para comprender textos escritos en una lengua extranjera como requisito
de graduación en los pregrados en la Universidad de Antioquia. Esta prueba evalúa la habilidad para entender información
general y específica en tres lecturas. Cada lectura incluirá entre seis y siete preguntas para un total de 20 ítems. El examen
se aprueba con el 60% de respuestas correctas, es decir 12 de 20 y tiene una duración de una hora y media a partir de la
hora anunciada por el docente a cargo de cuidar el examen. Los resultados se publicarán el lunes siguiente a la
presentación de la prueba en la cartelera de la oficina 12-106 y en la página de la Escuela de Idiomas.

Conteste el examen en la hoja de respuestas rellenando con lápiz el círculo de la opción que considere correcta. Durante la
prueba usted podrá tomar notas en el mismo cuadernillo del examen que deberá dejar al terminar junto con la hoja de
respuestas. Para optimizar el manejo del tiempo le sugerimos leer las preguntas antes del texto. Priorice estrategias como
comprensión global, inferencia, deducción del significado de acuerdo al contexto y la formación de la palabra, y utilice el
diccionario sólo cuando sea estrictamente necesario.

Text 1 5
1 It turns out that we don’t need to use up and wear out
In the last 100 years, we got very confused about the planet in a mad rush to produce the stuff that is
happiness. This is no small thing. The way we define supposed to make us happy. We don’t need people
happiness drives what we do, what we’re willing to working in sweatshop conditions to produce cheap stuff
sacrifice, and how we spend our money and our time. to feed an endless appetite for possessions. We don’t
2 even need economic growth, although some types of
This confusion didn’t just happen. Advertisers spend growth do help.
billions spreading the illusion that more belongings will 6
bring us happiness. And policy specialists of all political The research shows that sustainable happiness comes
stripes—but especially those connected to business from other sources. We need loving relationships,
interests—spread the message that economic growth thriving natural and human communities, opportunities
leads to well-being. Both are false promises that have for meaningful work, and a few simple practices, like
instead been undermining the very conditions that could gratitude. With that definition of sustainable happiness,
lead to sustainable happiness. we really can have it all.
3 URL: http://goo.gl/T7dUyw Retrieved on August 19, 2015
Sustainable happiness is built on a healthy natural world
and a vibrant and fair society. It is a form of happiness
that endures, through good and bad times, because it 1. The word ‘drives’ in paragraph 1, could be replaced
starts with the fundamental requirements and aspirations for…
of being human. You can’t obtain it with a quick fix; a) turn
sustainable happiness cannot be achieved at the expense b) ride
of others. c) induce
4 d) approach
The good news is that sustainable happiness is
achievable, it could be available to everyone, and it
doesn’t have to cost the planet. It begins by assuring that
everyone can obtain a basic level of material security.
But beyond that, more stuff isn’t the key to happiness.
2. As a conclusion of paragraph 1, it could be stated
that:
a) Our actions, time and money use and sacrifice
capacity are commanded for our sense of
happiness
b) Our actions, sacrifice capacity and time and
money use depend on how unhappy we feel
c) We spend money and time, act and sacrifice only
if we feel happy
d) Happiness leads us to willingly sacrifice our
money and time for good actions
3. Based in paragraph 2, it can be inferred that:
a) Policy specialists and business executives work
on behalf of sustainable happiness
b) Advertisers and policy specialists promote a
misleading idea of happiness based on wealth and
possession
c) Advertisers and political stripes connected to
business interests promote wellbeing and
sustainable happiness
d) Confusion about happiness has grown due to the
media advertisements and politics’ inculcation
4. The main purpose of the author in paragraph 3 is:
a) To demonstrate why advertisements and policy
specialists are leading to a wrong idea of
wellbeing
b) To describe and provide examples of societies that
become sustainably happy
c) To make clear what sustainable happiness is and
promote awareness about it
d) To list the fundamental requirements and
aspirations of human beings for becoming happy
5. In paragraph 4, the word “achievable” means:
a) Something that cannot be gotten
b) Something that you can buy
c) Something that is far from our possibility
d) Something that can be obtained
6. In paragraph 5, the sentence: “we don’t need to use
up and wear out the planet” is OPPOSITE in meaning
to:
a) We don’t have to waste and run out of the natural
resources
b) It is not necessary to overspend and devastate the
earth
c) We could gently use our planet without
exhausting it
d) We must erode and decrease badly the natural
resources
7. The author’s words in the last paragraph can be
considered…
a) enlightening and realistic about where sustainable
happiness stems from
b) controversial and pessimist about what sustainable
happiness implies
c) speculative and conflicting concerning what
people think about sustainable happiness
d) indifferent to what the research shows in relation
to sustainable happiness sources
Text 2
1
Affectionately called “Professor” by his neighbors,
Josefino Martinez is a well-respected indigenous farmer
and community organizer from the remote town of
Chicahuaxtla, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. He
watched with patient attention as I showed him
photographs of Soul Fire Farm, my family’s organic
farm in the mountains of upstate New York.
2
The farm was literally incised into the mountainside,
with an inclination so severe that plowing with tractors
or animals was impossible. Yet his storage room was full
of maize, beans, dried chili, squash seeds, and fresh fruit
that he’d grown right here.
3
When I asked how this was possible, Martinez explained
that he simply farmed in the manner of his ancestors, the
indigenous Triqui people.
Western agronomists would have us believe that farming
practices by Triqui indigenous are irrelevant today, but I
thought they might be part of the solution to the nascent
global food crisis. I spent the first half of 2015 in
southern Mexico on a Fulbright fellowship to exchange
ideas with indigenous farmers like Martinez on how get
long-term high yields out of difficult farmland. I was fed
up with our society’s obsession with corporate, industrial
agriculture, which is flooding vulnerable communities
with unhealthy food, destroying natural resources, and
undermining the independent family farm.
4
A serious concern is that agriculture already accounts for
a nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and 70
percent of freshwater use globally. So if we simply
increased the scale of what we’re doing now, the
ecological effects would be catastrophic. The report goes
on to describe a “menu of solutions” that farmers can
follow in the future to grow more food without using
additional land, water, and fuel. I had a feeling that rural
farmers in Mexico were already modeling some of these
practices and not being credited.
URL: http://goo.gl/uXl7qG Retrieved on August 19, 2015
8. Which of the following options could be inferred from
paragraph 2?
a) Due to the fact that the farmer’s land was not
suitable for growing, he could not get good crops
b) Even though the farmer’s land was so difficult for
cultivating, the crops were very productive
c) The farmer was unable to harvest because of his
lack of equipment such as tractors
d) The severe ascent of the farmer’s land made not
possible to grow some seeds
9. The term “Triqui” in paragraph 3 is a name given
to:
a) Western farmers
b) Farming practices
c) Martinez’s ancestors
d) Indigenous farmers
10. The word “they” in paragraph 3, makes reference
to:
a) Western agronomists
b) Triqui indigenous
c) Triqui Farming practices
d) The Martinez’s community
11. In paragraph 3, the author blames at the corporate,
industrial agriculture as the responsible of…
a) weakening the independent family farm,
producing unhealthy food, and affecting natural
resources
b) feeding up the Western society with unhealthy
eating habits not matter the high cost of natural
resources
c) having us believe that farming practices by Triqui
indigenous are irrelevant today
d) high cost-benefit farming practices
12. The word “these” in paragraph 4, makes direct
reference to:
a) Mexican rural farmers who cultivate without
wasting water
b) Ecological effects owing to negative farming
practices
c) Practices for growing food without using
additional land, water, and fuel
d) Solutions against greenhouse gas emissions
13. At the end of paragraph 4, the author criticizes the
report that describes a “menu of solutions” because …
a) it does not include complete solutions for avoiding
the catastrophic ecological effects
b) it does not recognize the Mexican farmers who
use practices similar to those fomented in the
“menu”
c) he does not consider it a good help for the solution
to the ecological catastrophe
d) it does not provide farmers with instructions about
how to save natural resources
Text 3
1
Generally speaking, the more an organism is awake, the
more it feels a need to sleep. The balance between
sleeping and waking is known as homeostasis. Induced
or perceived lack of sleep is commonly called sleep
deprivation.
2
Sleep deprivation tends to cause slower brain waves in
the frontal cortex, shortened attention span, higher
anxiety, impaired memory, and a grouchy mood.
Conversely, a well-rested organism tends to have
improved memory and mood.
3
In rats, sleep deprivation causes weight loss and reduced
body temperature. If prevented from sleeping for several
weeks, rats die. In humans, sleep deprivation has been
studied up to 11 days, during which subjects are more
likely to gain weight. Human deaths from sleep
deprivation alone are not known.
4
Researchers at the University of Warwick and University
College London have found that lack of sleep can more
than double the risk of death from cardiovascular
disease, but that too much sleep can also be associated
with a doubling of the risk of death, though not primarily
from cardiovascular disease. Professor Francesco
Cappuccio said, "Short sleep has been shown to be a risk
factor for weight gain, hypertension, and Type 2
diabetes, sometimes leading to mortality; but in contrast
to the short sleep-mortality association, it appears that no
potential mechanisms by which long sleep could be
associated with increased mortality have yet been
investigated.
5
Furthermore, sleep difficulties are closely associated
with psychiatric disorders such as depression,
alcoholism, and bipolar disorder. Up to 90% of adults
with depression are found to have sleep difficulties.
6
In terms of prevention, our findings indicate that
consistently sleeping around seven hours per night is
optimal for health, and a sustained reduction may
predispose to ill health.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep
14. In paragraph 1, the definition: “The balance
between sleeping and waking”, corresponds to the
concept:
a) Sleep deprivation
b) Homeostasis
c) Good sleep
d) None of the above
15. The following are effects of sleep deprivation
mentioned in paragraph 2, EXCEPT …
a) shortened attention extent
b) slower brain waves in the frontal cortex
c) cheerful mood
d) defective memory

16. Based on paragraph 3, it could be stated that…

a) rats gain weight as a result of sleep deprivation
while human beings lose it
b) unlike human beings, rats lose weight as a
consequence of sleep deprivation
c) human beings lose weight due to sleep deprivation
as it happens to rats
d) both rats and human beings gain weight as a
consequence of sleep deprivation

17. According to researchers’ findings about sleep, it

can be inferred in paragraph 4 that…
a) for our health lack of sleep is less affecting than
oversleep
b) it is much risky to oversleep than sleeping too
little
c) both lack of sleep and oversleep are not significant
health risk factors
d) sleeping too much is not as risky for our health as
it is sleep deprivation

18. In paragraph 5, one of the following is NOT a

psychiatric disorder associated to sleep difficulties:
a) Alcoholism
b) Depression
c) Bipolar disorder
d) Stress

19. Which of the following could be a good

summarizing idea for the last paragraph?
a) Health advice: keep balance between sleeping and
waking
b) Do not sleep more than what you need
c) A sustained reduction of sleep need may
predispose to ill health
d) Research tips for preventing sleep deprivation

20. A coherent title for the whole reading passage can

be…
a) research on sleep deprivation and its effects on
health
b) homeostasis a good solution for your mental
disorders
c) prevention of some death risks by stimulating a
good sleep
d) nothing better than sleep as we please