SELECTIVIDAD

 “An Original Way to Meet People.”

That morning I had an appointment with Frank Gehry, an architect from the city building department.  I wanted to build a housing project and the plans needed his approval. I was driving quite fast and became lost in a maze of one way streets. I never like being late, so I was paying more attention to finding my way back downtown than to the road. That’s when I felt a hard bump. I stopped and saw a large dog, apparently dead, on the road. I ran to the nearest house, rang the bell and a young woman opened the door. “I’ve killed a dog and I need to call the police,” I said. “Can I use your phone?” I asked. She looked out and said calmly, “That’s my dog.”After the officers had left she offered me a cup of coffee. I accepted. There were some letters on the kitchen table and I saw that one of them was addressed to “Frank Gehry.” I was astonished and asked what her husband’s name  was. “Frank Gehry”, she answered. “Great,” I thought. “I need this man’s approval, and I’ve just killed his dog.”When I arrived at the city hall a few minutes later, Frank was coming down the stairs with an angry look on his face. When he reached me, he embraced me and said loudly, “You’ve done us a great favour. Our dog was old and blind and had cancer, and neither my wife nor I had the courage to put him to sleep. Thank you so much for what you’ve done.”

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. Why was the narrator going to meet Frank Gehry?

   2. How did the accident happen? Explain.

   3. What does Frank Gehry thank the narrator for? Explain.

 ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

   4. The woman felt nervous when she knew about the accident.

   5. The narrator felt worried when he discovered who the owner of the dog was.

II * USE OF ENGLISH (3 points; questions 6-9, 0.25 points each; 10-13, 0.5 points each)

  

    6. GIVE ONE OPPOSITE OF “approval” (noun) AS IT IS USED IN THE TEXT (LINES 2, 9).

    7. FIND IN THE TEXT ONE WORD MEANING “the central part and commercial area of a town or city.”

   8. FIND ONE SYNONYM FOR “bravery” (noun).

   9. GIVE AN ADJECTIVE WITH THE SAME ROOT AS “sleep” (verb).

  10. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONAL SENTENCE:

        If I had been you_______________________________________

  11. REWRITE THE SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED:

       The race was so long that I couldn’t finish it.

       It was such_______________________________________________________

  12. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS:   His sister’s boyfriend was quite funny.

  13 TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: Someone stole my wife’s car yesterday.

III * PRODUCTION (3 points)

  14. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS. FOCUS STRICTLY ON THE TOPIC:

       Have you ever seen or had an accident? Describe what happened.