Modelo A — THE POWER OF INTROVERTS
Do you enjoy having time to yourself? Do you go to parties but you'd rather stay home or go to the cinema? Then Susan Cain's book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts" is for you. Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments, while extroverts need higher levels of stimulation to feel their best. Unfortunately for introverts, we live in a nation (USA) that values its extroverts – the outgoing, the lovers of crowds – but not the quiet types. As a result, many introverts feel there's something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you're not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time. Introverts are constantly going to parties and such when they'd really prefer to be home reading, studying, inventing, meditating, designing, thinking, cooking… or any number of other quiet and worthwhile activities.
The fact that introverts are underrated in the US is not just a problem for introverts, though, it hurts the country as a whole. Here's just one example: Most schools and workplaces now organize workers and students into groups, believing that creativity and productivity come from group thinking. This is nonsense, of course. When you're working in a group, it's hard to know what you truly think. We're such social animals that we instinctively mimic others' opinions, often without realizing we're doing it. The organizational psychologist Adrian Furnham puts it pretty bluntly: "If you have talented people, talent should be encouraged to work alone, their potential will be damaged if you make them work in groups". The most creative people in many fields are usually introverts. From Darwin to Einstein to Picasso, our greatest thinkers have mainly worked in solitude. It is introverts who change the world. This is probably because introverts are comfortable spending time alone, and solitude is a crucial ingredient for creativity.
Here's what Susan Cain says about her own introversion: "I believe that introversion is my greatest strength. I have such a strong inner life that I'm never bored and only occasionally lonely. No matter what chaos is happening around me, I know I can always turn inward. In our culture, snails are not considered valiant animals – we are constantly exhorting people to 'come out of their shells' – but there's a lot to learn and enjoy inside the shell. Introversion is a strength, not a weakness".
1. Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. In the USA extroversion is preferred over introversion. What are the consequences of this for introverts?
b. How does Susan Cain see her own introversion?

Modelo A — 2. Read the following statements, decide whether they are true or false and justify your answer by quoting evidence from the text (1 point, 0,50 each).
a. Group work is ideal at schools and workplaces.
b. Working on one's own triggers creativity.

Modelo A — 3. Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,20 each).
a. Large groups of people who are together in one place (paragraph 1).
b. Useful and enjoyable (paragraph 1).
c. Something that someone has said or written and that you consider silly or not true (paragraph 2).
d. Directly, saying exactly what you think without caring about people's feelings (paragraph 2).
e. Towards the inside of something (paragraph 3).

Modelo A — 4. Complete the text using the correct words from the box below. There are 2 words that you won't need (2 points, 0,25 each).
Yes, I am an introvert. People sometimes (a)_ surprised when I say this, because I'm a pretty (b)_ person. This is one of the (c)_ misconceptions about introversion. We are not anti-social; we're differently social. I can't live without my family and close friends, but I (d)_ need solitude. I feel (e)_ lucky that my work (f)_ writer affords me hours a day alone with my laptop! I have a lot of other introvert characteristics, such (g)_ thinking before I speak, disliking conflict, and concentrating only. According to the latest research, one third to one half of us are introverts (h)_ of every two or three people you know.
BOX: SEEM, AS A, SEEMS, OUT, FRIENDLY, SUCH, GREATEST, ALSO, INCREDIBLY, AS

Modelo A — 5. Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points)
a. You are tired of going to parties and making superficial friendships. You want to start a group of people to do quiet activities and really get to know each other. Write a blog entry to explain what you would like to do and why.
b. Discuss the following quote attributed to Albert Einstein: "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination".

Modelo B — WHY DO PEOPLE BUY DESIGNER BRANDS?
My name is Naomy. Let me tell you what I think about why people buy expensive designer brands like Nike, Adidas, Michael Kors, Rayban, etc. I was sitting in mass last week when a woman sat down in front of me. She was wearing a Michael Kors bag. I looked at it and started to wonder: how much did she pay for that bag? And why? This was just a plain black over the shoulder bag, nothing you couldn't get at a much cheaper price, except for the fancy logo with the brand name (Michael Kors) on it, of course. Why did she spend £500 on a handbag? Is it better quality? Will it last longer? As I see things, people don't wear branded clothes, they wear brands. It's not just a top, it's an "Michael Kors" top. Not just a bag, it's "Michael Kors", those aren't sunglasses, they're "Raybans". People don't buy branded clothes to wear them, but to be seen wearing them. If branded clothes didn't have logos on them, would people still buy them? Do you like that Nike top? Yes. Would you pay £50 for it if it was made by Nike but didn't have the logo? Would it still be "worth" the £50 if people couldn't see it was Nike? Hmm I don't know.
I own no "designer" brands, I never have. All the items I own are affordable. My logic has always been the following: why should I buy 1 top for £50 if I can buy 5 for the same price? In other words, I'd rather have a cheap purse with more money in it, than a designer purse that's nearly empty. However, my no-logo behaviour comes at a price. Schoolkids often laugh at me and my clothes. Well, if I can buy the same thing they have but for £60 cheaper, surely I should be laughing at them! This peer pressure, however, drives some people to buy brands purely to fit in, regardless of whether or not they actually like the goods. Honestly, there are some hideous items out there that wouldn't be popular if they weren't made by a designer brand.
If something is a certain style or design that only one designer brand really does or specializes in, then fair enough – I can see why people might want to buy it. But I don't really get the concept of paying extortionate amounts of money to buy an item just because of its logo. Shouldn't the brand companies be paying you? Wearing clothes with obvious branding kind of makes you a walking billboard advertising for them. I get it from the companies' points of view, I mean why pay models to promote your clothes when you can get consumers to do it for free?
1. Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. According to Naomy, why do people buy expensive designer brands like Nike, Adidas, Michael Kors, Rayban, etc?
b. What's Naomy's logic when buying items? What price does she pay for it?

Modelo B — 2. Read the following statements, decide whether they are true or false and justify your answer by quoting evidence from the text (1 point, 0,50 each).
a. Naomy noticed that the Michael Kors bag was really worth its price.
b. Naomy cannot find a single reason to justify why people buy designer brands.

Modelo B — 3. Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,20 each).
a. Ask yourself, think about something (paragraph 1).
b. Entirely in one colour without any decoration or extra things (paragraph 1).
c. Expensive and fashionable (paragraph 1).
d. Expression you use when you want to say a statement, decision, or action seems reasonable to a certain extent (paragraph 3).
e. A large advertisement (paragraph 3).

Modelo B — 4. Complete the text using the correct words from the box below. There are 2 words that you won't need (2 points, 0,25 each).
When a leading shoe brand releases a new pair of goodies and a high street shop releases a similar "copycat" version, why do people feel (a)_ to be seen in these "fakes"? If you're buying something (b)_ the design and appearance, then what difference (c)_ a logo on the side make? I don't buy designer brands. But that's me, and that's my preference. I have always been a cheap and cheerful kind of person. I guess this is why I don't understand people who choose (e)_ I'm sure I'd think differently if I (f)_ thinking that brands actually mattered, but I (g)_ so I (h)_. And I'm perfectly happy this way, buying and wearing "cheap" things – I don't want to be "branded", I am not a cow.
BOX: HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP, WASN'T, LOOK, EMBARRASSED, DOES, OTHERWISE, EMBARRASSING, DON'T, FOR, HAD BROUGHT UP

Modelo B — 5. Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points)
a. What do you think about wearing expensive designer brands (for example Nike, Adidas, etc.)?
b. Some of your friends have been laughing at a new student who wears very different clothes. Write a mail to them and tell them what you think about their behaviour.