# Pruebas de acceso a facultades, escuelas técnicas superiores y colegios universitarios

Comunidad: | Comunidad Valenciana
Convocatoria: | Junio de 2001
Modalidad: | LOGSE - Todas
Ejercicio: | 1er Ejercicio B
Asignatura: | Inglés
Obligatoriedad: | Obligatoria
Duración: | 90 minutos
Baremo: | Part A: I = 2 puntos. II = 1 punto. III = 1 punto. IV = 2 puntos. Part B: 4 puntos

## Part A. Reading comprehension

Read the following text:

Has pollution made drinking water unsafe?

Environmentalists warm that groundwater is badly polluted. Environmental writer Steve Coffel calls groundwater pollution the plague of the 1990s because almost everyone uses groundwater and will be adversaly affected if it becomes seriously polluted.

Groundwater is the water held beneath the earth in large pools and mineral formations. It is the largest available supply of drinkable water. Because groundwater collects at the lowest levels underground, pollutants that settle on the soil above ground eventually seep into it. Year after year they accumulate there. Some groundwater pollutants have been found in concentrations thousands of times greater than in surface water like lakes and rivers.

Those on the opposite side of the debate about water pollution contend that the water supply is safe. Researcher Kristine Napier, for example, argues that the public equates safe water with pure water and that the two are not the same. Napier points out that pure water has never existed in nature,only in laboratories. All natural water is contaminated by other ingredients. Whether it is safe to drink depends not so much on what is in it, but on how much of the contaminant is in it.

In addition, these people argue, water is tested much more thoroughly than in the past. Recent technology has allowed scientists to detect water pollutants at increasingly minute levels. When the scientists report their findings, the public becomes alarmed. But people have probably been drinking these small amounts of polluntants with their water for decades without ill effect.

Robert Anderson. Pollution. Examing Cause and Effect Relationship.1991. p.15. San Diego. Greenhaven Press

I. Answer these questions using your own words (2 points: 1 point each)

1. What are the possible effects of polluted groundwater?
2. What is the public reaction to the scientific reports on water pollutants?

II. Are the following statements True(T) or False(F)? (1 point: 0,5 each)

1. Environmentalists point out that natural water is safe to drink.
2. Everybody agrees that drinking water is badly polluted.

III. Find a word in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to: (1 point:0,5 each)

1. People who want to protect and reserve the natural environment.
2. Substances that make the water impure and dangerous for people and animals to drink.

IV. Choose a, b or c after each statement below. Only one choice is correct (2 points:0,5 each)

1. Groundwater pollution is called the plague of the 1990s because...
   1. it might affect almost everybody.
   2. it is the water held beneath the earth.
   3. it is known by everybody.
2. The amount of drinking water is mainly found...
   1. in lakes and rivers.
   2. in laboratories.
   3. in groundwater.
3. Non-environmentalists think that...
   1. pure water only exists in nature.
   2. drinking water is pure.
   3. drinking water is safe if the pollutants do not exceed the safety levels.
4. Recent technology has allowed scientist to...
   1. demostrate that safe water and pure water are the same.
   2. notice the presence of pollutants more accurately.
   3. demostrate all natural water is unsafe.

## Part B. Composition (100-150 words approximately)

Choose one of the following two topics (4 points)

1. Do you think that young people are interested in environmental problems?
2. Describe ways to protect the enviroment.

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