PRACTICE 1

THE IDEAL WORLD OF VIRTUAL REALITY

TASK 1. Acronyms. Very often you can see acronyms in technical English. An acronym is a word composed of the initial letters
of the words in a phrase. It is used to shorten the name of something.

Examples of acronyms are:

UFO Unidentified Flying Object BC/AD Before Christ/Anno Domine for years

Do you know what the following acronyms stand for?

VR Virtual Reality CPU Central processing unit

HMD Head mounted display SPS Solar powered satellite

AI Artificial Inteligency CD ROM Compac disk Road on memory

CFCs Cloro Fluor Carbons IQ

MT systems Machine translator system PV technology photo voltaic technology

AC Alternative courent VHF Very high frecuency

TASK 2. Guessing Unknown Words. Find the equivalent English words for the Spanish terms below.

Entorno environment casco Helmet Dedos Fingers

Parecer seem lentes Lenses Audifonos Speakers
Manipular handle Brujula Compasses Rastreador Tracker
Sentir feel Usuario User Llevar a cabo
Superficie surface Desplegar Expand Vuelos Flights
Permitir enabling Pantalla Screen Entrenamiento Training
En realidad actually guante glove Cabina cockpit

TASK 3. Compound Nouns. When two or more nouns go together, they form a Compound Noun, which has a specific way of
translating- from the last word going backwards. Find examples of compound nouns in the article below and the practice
translating them into Spanish. There are more than 15.

Computer memory Memoria de computadora

Virtual reality Realidad Virtual
North see Mar del Norte
Nuclear power station Estación de energía nuclear
Space ship nave especial
Space ship cookpit cabina de una nave
Informations technology Tecnologia de la información
Human being Ser humano
NR System Sistema de realidad virtual
Software engeniering Ingeniería de software
TASK.4. Contextual reference. Using the line references given, find what the words in italics refer to.
1. objects
2. people
3. illusions
4. image
5. real object
6. building
7. men
8. the helmet
9. what the
10. the object
11. the object
12. a tracker
13. the glove
14. application
15. video game

TASK 5. Understanding concepts. Match these sentence halves to check how much you understood the ideas
presented in the article you read.
1h
2k
3e
4j
5c
6b
7g
8h
9a
10f
11d
12i
 PRACTICE 2

S.O.S. PLANET EARTH AT RISK

TASK 1. Read the following, Write T for true , F and? (a question mark) if you do not know or if you are not sure.

1. After the land has been polluted ir takes hundreds of years to recover again T

2. Since 1947, 50% of the forests in Europe have disappeared T

3. Because of pollution, 120 species of birds and fish may become extinct by 2020. T

4. Every year, in developing countries, chemicals like DDT kill 40000 people and make a million people il. T

5. In 1981 there were 15000 rhinoceros in Africa, today there are 3500 because of illegal hunting. T

6. Pollution affects fish in 68% of rivers and lakes . it also affects animals which eat fish, including human beings. T

7. People in Europe throw away 120 million tonnes of paper every year. That is the same as 1300 million trees which are
cut down to make that amount of paper. T

8. In 1900 there were 1000000 people living in the Amazon forest. In 2000 there were only 120000 F

9. since 1900, 92 tribes have disappeared completely in Brazilian rainforests because foreigners shot them , poisoned them
and gave them diseases to rob their land. T

10. In the USA factories dump 275 million tonnes of toxic waste every year, most of which is buried in the ground. This waste
is a latent time bomb for future generations. T

TASK 2. Read the article below in order to learn more facts about the world real situation the complete the other
tasks related to the topic.

TASK 3. Cause- Effect Relationships. Read the text above more carefully to complete the chart in order to establish
the origins and the results of our world problems.

Rich countries produce 65% of toxic waste which poisons the earth water

Gases and chemicals from cars y factories go up to to fall back to the earth as acid rain the air

Acid forn containing lethal chemicals kills fish, tress and other life forms

Gases and chemicals form a layer around our planet producing the green house effect

The greenhouse effect result in global warning with dangerous temperature rise

The global warming will cause the melting of ice at the poles

The ice melting will result in an increase in the level of the seas which will produce floods

The soil will become too dry or too wet for farming resulting in less food famine

When fossil fuels are used up

  Two substitutes will replace them
 Nuclear Power, Natural energy

The need for wood and mineral

The need for more space for farms and houses

The wood exports to first world countries

Cause the disappearance of 50 hectares of rainforests every minute in South America.

The intensive exploitation of soil causes erosion especially in Africa

Erosion makes it difficult to grow food which cause famine and health problems

Young people join green organizations so they can take actions to help the environment

Exaggerated consumism and overexploitation of resources will result in our planet destruction

TASK 4. Suffixes. You already know the importance of using suffixes to expand your vocabulary. Practise this
knowledge by looking up words with suffixes in the article and translate them.

Solve solution Solución Pollute Pollution Contaminación

Farm farms granjas Organize organizes organización

Consume consumes consumir Exigent exigented exigir

Consume consumer consumir Effect effects efecto

Expence expenses gastos Exaggerate exaggerated exagerar

Overload overloads sobrecarga Limit limited limites

Extermination Extermination exterminacion Complete completed completer

Especial especial especial Final final final

TASK. 5 Gap filling Here are some ideas from the article you read. Complete the gaps with words from the list. Be
careful There are some extra words.

1. overexploitation

2. Chernobyl

3. large

4. gases, layer

5. forests, fossil fuels

6. fossil fuels clean and safe

7 natural, haid

8. heath, solution
TASK 6. Composition. What is your point of view about the ideas presented in this Reading practice? What things should
people and authorities do to stop killing the earth? What do you already do to help take care of the environment? Write a
composition in Spanish in about 300 words.
CONTAMINACIÓN VEHICULAR

1.- INTRODUCCIÓN
Los automóviles aparte de ser considerados un elemento esencial para la sociedad en la actualidad, pueden ser una
importante causa de contaminación al medio ambiente. Día a día grandes empresas automovilísticas construyen miles de
vehículos, dando como resultado un incremento de la contaminación ambiental.
2. MARCO TEORICO
Hoy en día transitan miles de vehículos en las ciudades convirtiendo a estos en un foco de contaminación en proporciones
exponenciales de contaminación, por su elevado crecimiento Bolivia posee un gran parque automotor, con relación a sus
habitantes, siendo nuestro país un gran usuario de vehículos. A veces se escucha decir que el automóvil es sinónimo de
progreso, pero parece un poco errónea esta afirmación, ya que con el incremento de estos hace que las ciudades se llenen de
polución exagerada haciendo difícil que respire aire de calidad, que es vital para la vida. Un automóvil no es un lujo en tiempos
actuales entonces se tendría que ver algunos planes futuros para hacer de estos menos contaminantes y así coadyuven en la
protección del medio ambiente. Se puede hacer de estos que utilicen ya no el combustible fósil, sino combustibles amigables
con el medio ambiente, o en todo caso eléctrico.
Los automóviles bajo un constante deterioro aparte de contaminar, alguno de sus componentes son difíciles de reciclar, uno de
estos elementos pueden ser sus refrigerantes y sus neumáticos que son sustancias que son agotadoras de capa de ozono, en el
futuro se tendrían que fabrican de elementos más sencillos y amigables con el medio ambiente, esto quiere decir que el
progreso tiene que ir de la mano con el progreso industrial, y se tendrá que pensar en nuevas tecnologías que ayuden con esta
idea, para el futuro transporte sea menos contaminante, y tambien así se utilizaría menos recursos naturales para su
fabricación.
3. Conclusión.
La eliminación de la contaminación es en general una tarea muy difícil y costosa, por lo que las medidas preventivas tienen
una gran importancia para ayudar en este aspecto.
 PRACTICE 3

TOMORROW’S ENERGY

TASK 1. How much do you know about the topic? Tick (‘) the correct answer in the questionnaire below. Then read
two articles below to check your answer.

1. Which one of the following is not renewable?

b. COAL

2. What is not true about nuclear power?

c. Nuclear installations are now safe from accidents.

3. Which one is not true about biofuels?

b. It is burnet to extract its stored chemical energy.

4. Which one is not true about geothermal energy?

a. The production costs, after the power station has been installed, are very high.

TASK 2. What do these figures refer to in the article? Write the answer in Spanish.

40 En 40 años probablemente no se reemplacen los carburantes fósiles por complete 1970 s El término renovable se
introdujo a principios de 1970. 50 se creía que las fuentes tradicionales se agotarían dentro de unos 50 años. 20 to 40 El uso de
biodiesel reduce la emisión de monóxido de carbono y otros hidrocarburos en unos 20% y 40%. 85% / 15% E85 es un
combustible compuesto por 85% de etanol y 15% de gasolina que actualmente se vende a los consumidores. 60% Este tipo
de energía geotérmica ya calienta miles de edificios en Islandia, donde el 60% de su energía proviene de la tierra. 170 MW
Islandia produjo 170 MW de energía geotérmica y calentó 90% de todas las casas en el año 2005 a través de este tipo de
energía. 2005 90% de todas las casas en el año 2005 fueron calentadas a través de este tipo de energía. 7 °C to 14 °C La
temperatura de la corteza a unos pocos pies por debajo de la superficie se mantiene constante entre 7° y 14 ° C.

TASK 3. Mach the questions to the answer about the contents in the article.
1g
2h
3b
4e
5a
6b
7d
8c

TASK 4. Choosing the correct meaning. The words below, which underlined in the text, have several meanings in the
dictionary. Tick the adequate meaning according to the context in which they are used in the article you are
studing.

STATION d) Lugar donde máquinas herramientas motores funcionan.

TAP c) Tubería por la que se extrae un líquido

CRUST b) La parte exterior solida de la superficie terrestre corteza.

CURRENT a) Que esta ocurriendo ahora actual.

MATTER c) Una cosa de importancia

CORE c) La parte sustancial o esencial de un tema.

STEP c) Acción, medida a tomar respecto a algo

POWER b) Energía que permite hacer funcionar una maquinaria.

SAFE a) Estar libre de peligro o daño.

RUN d) Hacer funcionar una maquina energizante.

ENGINE c) Una maquina que convierte la fuerza física en calor o energía mecánica.

TERM a) Un límite de tiempo un periodo de estudio o semestre.

 PRACTICE 4

ERGONOMICS- THE MODERN SCIENCE OF DESIGN

TASK 1. Look up the English equivalents in the text for the following Spanish words.
Confiar Relieson Tamaño Size Estanterias Shelves
manejar Handle Objetivo Goal Basurero Trash can
Lugar de trabajo Work plece Enfermedades Illnesses Falta de Lack
Artefactos Gadgets Riesgos Hazards Continuo
Herramientas Tools Rama Branch Lavaplatos Sinks
entorno enviroment utensillos appliances varon male

TASK 2. Contextual Reference Look back at the article to find out what the words in italics refer to.
1. sophisticated products
2. engineers
3. need
4. people
5. things
6. use ful object
7. ergonomics
8. people
9. people
10. ergonomics
11. Lillian Moller Gilbreth
12. Lillian Moller Gilbreth
13. Lillian Moller Gilbreth
14. Lillian Moller Gilbreth

TASK 3. Understanding Ideas Match the questions to the answer to check how much you understood the concepts
contained in the article above. Be carefull there are extra answer.
1.f
2.b
3.k
4.j
5.d
6.a
7.g
8.l
9. i

TASK 4. Research Word. Find more information about Ergonomics and Lillian Moller Gilbreth on the internet in
English. Then summarise it in Spanish in one page.
El matrimonio Gilbreth diseccionó, incluso filmándolas, todas las acciones que tanto ellos como sus hijos realizaban en casa,
dividiéndolas en sus elementos más básicos, incluso los más sencillos como agarrar un cazo o afeitarse. Con todo ello lanzaron
sus propuestas para gestionar mejor el elemento humano en las empresas obteniendo una gran repercusión, pero también
la oposición de sindicatos y funcionarios del Gobierno (además de la del propio Frederick Taylor, el padre del taylorismo, que
consideraba que en realidad añadían muy poco a sus propias ideas, cuando lo cierto es que es que él había obviado la
psicología de los trabajadores).
Así que ya sabe, la próxima vez que se tope en la sobremesa televisiva alguna de las entregas de Doce en casa, con el inefable
Steve Martin, piense que, aunque no se lo crea, estará presenciando una de las obras fundamentales del capitalismo
moderno. Así lo reconoce al menos la muy americana Smithsonian Institution, que le dedica toda una sala al matrimonio
Gilbreth en su museo de Washington D.C
 PRACTICE 5

TASK 1. Background Knowledge. What do you know about Genetic Engineering? Read the following statements and
tick the ones you think are right. Then read the article to confirm your answer.

Genetically modified plants have more advantages than traditional crops.

2. Cloning is an important part of genetic engineering.
3. Scientists have already managed to clone a human being.
4. No damage to the environment or to human health has been reported so far as a result of genetic modified
food.
5. Genes contain the individual characteristics of each species such as the colour or size.

TASK 2. Comparisons As you read the text more carefully, underline all the expressions that show comparisons and
write on the margin the number that expresses Similarity=1, Deference=2 and the Superlative=3, There are at least
15 of them. One has been done as an example.

Tiny Smaller Long Bigger Largest Reducing

Growth Grow Biggest

TASK 3. Working with Words. Find synonyms in the text above for these expressions. The numbers indicate the
paragraph where the words are.

Very small Tiny Illnesses Diseases Despite Inspite of

For instance For example Priest Mouk Risk Danger
Intricate Complex Present Current Clients Customs
Previous Last Sort Type Joining Mixed
Et cetera And scom quantity Amount Definite Certain

TASK 4. Understanding ideas. Find answer to these questions in the article above. Answer them with no more than
five words.
1. Clones
2. The cells identity
3. Genome
4. Gregor Johann Mendel
5. Fertilizers and pesticide
6. Vacuums medicinal and even fuel
7. vitomina
8. the third world countries
9. geep
10. yes illnesses

TASK 5.

1. It has a negative point of view

2. If refers to genetically engineered organism that can reproduce as interest whit natural organism dispersing then solves to
was

3. Because genetically engineered organism cannot be recollected once realest

4. His on international regulations whide consider that genetically engineered organism should not be realced because