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PRUEBA/PROVA: AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW?
EXAM
An Example to follow?
The European Union has decided to reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent. However, a recent survey
found that only 12 per cent of young British people think they can help to slow climate change by
changing their lifestyles. It has been suggested teenagers feel that individual actions make little
difference. If they had met a 67‐year‐old woman from London before completing the survey, their
answers might have been different.
Joan Pick recently appeared in the British newspapers because of her unusual lifestyle. Joan’s flat
doesn’t have any heating or hot water. She hasn’t eaten a cooked meal for years, and she just eats raw
food and nuts. The only electrical appliances that she uses are a kettle, a light bulb and a radio. Thanks
to her radical lifestyle, Joan has reduced her carbon footprint to almost zero.
But what made Joan Pick choose to live like this? The answer can be found in her job. She was working
on an energy efficiency project which led her to conclude that mass consumption was wrong. As a
result, she stopped using her car and gave up on all motorized transport. Since then, she has walked
everywhere.
To most of us, the way that Joan Pick lives isn’t a very attractive proposition. According to Joan,
however, we should all live in a more sustainable way so that the world’s resources don’t run out.
After
all, what’s the point of worrying about climate change if we are always recharging our mobile
phones
and spending hours on a computer?
1. Say whether the following sentences are TRUE or FALSE according to the text. COPY the
evidence from the text. No marks will be given without evidence. (1.5 points)
a) Joan Pick uses electricity for cooking and heating.
b) Joan Pick never travels very far.
c) The text says most people would like to live like Joan Pick.
2. ANSWER the questions below. COPY no more than 10 words and/or a number from the text to
answer each question. (1.5 points)
a) What per cent of young British people think they can help to slow climate change by
changing their lifestyles?
b) What is unusual about Joan Pick’s flat?
c) What has happened as a result of Joan’s radical lifestyle?
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