EXAMEN SELECTIVIDAD SEMANA 26 - 30 ENERO

     Have you ever thought about that? Detective stories and legal thrillers are among the most popular genres in literature. Murder mysteries are the only genre of literature which offers you the chance to figure out the story for yourself. Readers love to catch the killer before he or she is revealed. Detective stories are really a game, a puzzle to solve. The reader must put together the clues, and if you do this one step ahead of the detective, you feel really proud.

     In no other genre does a team of people spend so much energy to understand the identity of one person. We usually focus on the murderer, but it is really the dead who is the star. To solve the murder, the team of detectives must know the victim’s history. They have to find out who would want to kill them and why. In looking for the killer, they use their brain power to deduce the truth behind the appearances the killer has created. In a mystery, death is explained through reasoning. You can see the dark side of people, but you know that justice prevails. Good will defeat evil.

     People who like detective stories usually love forensics shows like CSI or Bones. They are a new variation on an old formula: instead of solving crimes with guns and car chases, the ‘good guys’ use microscopes and DNA, and the investigators, like any detective of the past—Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple, for example—are intelligent guardians of justice, caught in a battle against an equally intelligent criminal.



I * COMPREHENSION (4 points: questions 1-3, 1 point each; 4-5, 0.5 points each)
ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
1. What makes detective stories different from other genres?
2. Why is the victim so important in this kind of story?
3. What’s the difference between the detectives of the past and the new investigators in forensics shows?
ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
4. You feel good when you discover the murderer before the detective does.
5. In detective stories the criminal isn’t brought to justice.
II * USE OF ENGLISH (3 points; questions 6-9, 0.25 points each; 10-13, 0.5 points each)
6. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR “opportunity” (noun).
7. GIVE A NOUN WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “proud” (adjective).
8. FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION: “The police looked ..... the accident”(up/ after/ out/ into)
9. FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION: “Something which serves to guide or direct in the solution of a problem or mystery.”
10. JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY: “Agatha Christie was the best selling mystery writer of all time. Her husband was an archaeologist.”
11. REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: “If your friend doesn’t come before ten, he will miss the train.” Unless.........
12. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: “Agatha Christie wrote ninety-three books.”
13. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: “People were accusing me of the robbery.”
III * PRODUCTION (3 points)
14. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS ABOUT THE PROPOSED TOPIC AND FOCUS STRICTLY ON IT:
Write a review or a summary of a book or film which you have enjoyed.