Modelo A — IS BEING GIFTED REALLY A GIFT?
Were you one of those kids with the "gifted" label at school? Maybe you did an IQ test, or went through a series of workshops, or had a few meetings with parents and teachers. Being in the top three percentile of intelligence or pushing the roof of IQ tests does definitely change the game a bit, shaping your adult life. It seems that many gifted kids tend to channel their abilities into one particular field, usually "applied or prestigious subjects" like physics and math. They are shaped into their future paths not only by their own wishes and aptitudes but, to a greater extent, by what society believes gifted people should grow up to do, as it is what is expected of people with the label.
Are gifted children born with that condition or do they acquire it through childhood? Some specialists point out that there's no such thing as a gifted child. According to Professor Deborah Eyre, most people, unless they are cognitively impaired, can reach standards of performance associated in school with the gifted and talented. "Curiosity, persistence and hard work, together with the right support in developing those aptitudes at home as well as at school, are the ingredients needed to become gifted".
Nevertheless, it is perhaps the work of Benjamin Bloom, another distinguished American educationist, that gives the most pause for thought and underscores the idea that family is intrinsically important to the concept of high performance. Bloom's team looked at a group of extraordinarily high achieving people in disciplines as varied as ballet, piano, tennis, math, sculpture and neurology, and interviewed not only the individuals but their parents, too. He found two patterns of encouraging and supporting parents: those who had enjoyed and become hooked on those disciplines in their childhood, and those who didn't excel in those fields as children, trying to vent their frustration on their kids, so that these would outperform their parents. In both cases, the adults had worked very hard and consistently with their offspring.
Now this question arises: are gifted students high achievers at school? They are expected to be. But many gifted students do not succeed at school for many reasons—boredom, lack of a challenging curriculum, coexisting learning disabilities and teachers not knowing how to cope with their "intellectual talent". It is in the school's hands to adapt themselves to the gifted children's needs, providing environments that are stimulating for their cognitive, physical, emotional, and social needs. As for you, if you are a highly intelligent teenager, appreciate your gift, take pride in it and don't be scared to be great!
1. Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. What is Professor Deborah Eyre's opinion about gifted children?
b. What are the reasons why many gifted children do not succeed at school?

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. The influence of the parents in the careers choices of gifted students can be stronger than their own wishes.
b. Bloom found that some parents could be successful but their children couldn't do better than them.

Modelo A — 3. Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,25 each).
a. To direct (paragraph 1).
b. Disabled (paragraph 2).
c. Emphasizes, underlines (paragraph 3).
d. Addicted to (paragraph 3).
e. Handle (paragraph 4).

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).
Einstein was unexceptional when he was a child. He was late to talk (a)_ toddler. In his own words to a biographer, "My parents worried because I started to talk (b)_ ___ late and they consulted a doctor about it", but he eventually began talking and learnt quite quickly. (c)_ his teenage years, he felt a lot of academic pressure: from his family. That pressure seemed informed by letters between his mother and sister, (d)_ ____ respected young Albert had immense natural talent. By age 11, he was reading college-level math books. By age 13, he was smarter than most college math professors. He could (e)_ accurately described as a bored student, not because he hated school (f)_ ___ because he already understood most of the material. He was often reprimanded (g)_ ____ daydreaming and (h)_ he was also the one studying advanced textbooks in his free time.
BOX: IN, COMPARATIVELY, YET, BE, FOR, WHO, BUT, AS A, THAT, ON

Modelo A — 5. Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points)
a. Should gifted children attend "special" schools? Write a FOR and AGAINST essay on this topic.
b. Imagine one of your friends is gifted. Write about all the experiences he/she has gone through.

Modelo B — DEADLY SELFIES: ARE THEY WORTH A LIKE?
Let's face it, we've all gone a bit too far to snap that perfect shot. We perch a little too far on the edge, scale a bit too high up to get that right angle and even attempt to style traffic for our Instagram feeds. But how far is too far? For those who don't know where to draw the line, the selfie and the wefie are old news. Enter the killfie – that killer shot taken on the spur of the moment while deliberately risking your life and your friends' lives – just for narcissism… and for likes.
For social media influencer Gigi Wu, it went horribly wrong. The 36-year-old Taiwanese was popularly known as the "bikini hiker" by thousands of her online followers. In January 2.019, Wu ventured on a solo hike up Taiwan's Yushan Mountain. As she was making her way up to Taiwan's highest peak, Wu fell down a steep 30-metre ravine. Unable to move her lower body, she scrambled for her backpack and reached for her phone to ask for help, giving specific coordinates of her location. Bad weather delayed rescue efforts and Wu's dead body was recovered two days after the fall.
There was also the YouTube trio that perished at Shannon Falls in British Columbia last July. Megan Scraper, one of the members of the group, slipped when she stood on the edge at the top of the falls. Her two friends dove in to save her but the strong currents swept them away. All three plummeted 30 metres down the raging waterfall. It was believed that they were filming a segment for their High on Life YouTube channel where daredevil deeds are the norm. The study called "Selfies: A Boon or Bane?" states that not all those who die for the gram are social media influencers. Ordinary people make up an even bigger number of these deaths. This means that many selfie-related deaths have gone unreported, which also means that the numbers presented are just the tip of the iceberg.
However, why do people tread on dangerous ground for the sake of a couple of likes? As an article in The San Diego Times points out "we do it because it's probably a way of measuring our self-worth. Some of us tend to measure popularity by the number of likes or the number of followers garnered. It's normal human behaviour to want to be accepted by others. In addition to this, today people are trying to prove that they did something. In the old days people went out to have an experience. Now they go out to record that they had that experience".
1. Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. What does the author refer to with "draw the line"?
b. According to an article in the San Diego Times, why do people risk their lives?

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. Gigi Wu reached the summit of Taiwan's Yushan Mountain.
b. The rescue operation for Gigi Wu was called off owing to bad weather.

Modelo B — 3. Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,20 each).
a. Pose, sit (paragraph 1).
b. On impulse, without planning it before hand (paragraph 1).
c. Physically dangerous (paragraph 1).
d. Not recorded or kept hidden (paragraph 3).
e. Step, set foot (paragraph 4).

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).
Large-scale use of phone and enhanced selfie features have (a)_ to increased selfie deaths. The youth and tourists are frequently affected (b)_ the desire of "being cool", posting photos and getting likes and comments. Drowning and fire have (c)_ percentage of deaths. Interestingly, (d)_ of the selfie deaths due to firearms occurred in the United States, (e)_ could be due to less restrictive gun laws in the region. Selfies are (f)_ not harmful, but the human behavior that accompanies selfies is dangerous. Individuals need to be educated (g)_ certain risky behaviors and risky places where selfies should not be taken. To decrease the incidence of selfie-related deaths "No selfie" zones (h)_ be declared across many tourist areas, especially in places such as water bodies, mountain peaks, and over tall buildings.
BOX: THEMSELVES, BECAUSE OF, MOST, SHOULD, LEAD, REGARDING, WHILE, WHICH, THE HIGHEST, LED

Modelo B — 5. Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points)
a. What is your opinion of dangerous selfies? Would you ban them if you had the power to do so?
b. Last summer you went on a trip with a group of friends and one of them took a selfie risking his/her life. What happened? Write a narrative about it.