Student´s name: ……………………………………………………….
W: _________/100
O: _________/100
FM: _______
EXAMEN FINAL PRÁCTICAS DISCURSIVAS III -December 2023
PART 1: ESSAY WRITING (20 p)
Topic: Co-education creates a feeling of comradeship. I advocate teaching both genders in the same
institution without showing any discrimination.
PART 2: LISTENING COMPREHENSION ( 6 x 1: 6)
Listen and complete the sentences with between one and three words
1. Professor Manson remembers having lots of exams and assignments at school but didn't
_________ her revision time very well.
2. Revising for an exam the night before can help __________ , but a good night's sleep is even
better.
3. Most students in the class sleep between _________ hours, whereas the recommended amount for
14- to 17-year-olds is more.
4. Sleep helps the body regulate its vital functions and also gives the __________ a chance to
restructure information.
5. Memory __________ is when information passes from our short-term to long-term memories via
the hippocampus.
6. Memory consolidation is improved by ______________ information regularly.
PART 3: READING COMPREHENSION:
- Read the following article about education and do the following activity:
1. Complete with the correct form of the words given. In the case of verbs, put them in
the correct tense. (9x1:9)
remote school approach acquire learn
content catch-up instruct categorize
The global education crisis – even more severe than previously estimated
In our recent The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery report (produced jointly by
UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank), we sounded the alarm: this generation of students now risks
losing $17 trillion in lifetime earnings in present value, or about 14 percent of today’s global GDP,
because of COVID-19-related school closures and economic shocks. This new projection far exceeds the
$10 trillion estimate released in 2020 and reveals that the impact of the pandemic is more severe than
previously thought.
The pandemic and school closures not only jeopardized children’s health and safety with domestic
violence and child labor increasing, but also impacted student ______ substantially. The report indicates
that in low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in Learning Poverty – already above
50 percent before the pandemic – could reach 70 percent largely as a result of the long school closures and
the relative ineffectiveness of remote learning.
Unless action is taken, learning losses may continue to accumulate once children are back in school,
endangering future learning.
Severe learning losses and worsening inequalities in education
Results from global simulations of the effect of school closures on learning are now being corroborated by
country estimates of actual learning losses. Evidence from Brazil, rural Pakistan, rural India, South Africa,
and Mexico, among others, shows substantial losses in math and reading. In some low- and middle-income
countries, on average, learning losses are roughly proportional to the length of the closures—meaning that
each month of school closures led to a full month of learning losses (Figure 1, selected LMICs and HICs
presents an average effect of 100% and 43%, respectively), despite the best efforts of decision makers,
educators, and families to maintain continuity of learning.
However, the extent of learning loss varies substantially across countries and within countries by subject,
students’ socioeconomic status, gender, and age or grade level (Figure 1 illustrates this point, note the
large standard deviation, a measure which shows data are spread out far from the mean). For example,
results from two states in Mexico show significant learning losses in reading and in math for students aged
10-15. The estimated learning losses were greater in math than reading, and they disproportionately
affected younger learners, students from low-income backgrounds, and girls.
How should decision makers and the international community respond to the growing global
education crisis?
Reopening schools and keeping them open must be the top priority, globally. While nearly every country
in the world offered ________ learning opportunities for students, the quality and reach of such initiatives
varied, and in most cases, they offered a poor substitute for in-person instruction. Stemming and reversing
learning losses, especially for the most vulnerable students, requires in-person ________. Decision makers
need to reassure parents and caregivers that with adequate safety measures, such as social distancing,
masking, and improved ventilation, global evidence shows that children can resume in-person schooling
safely.
But just reopening schools with a business-as-usual ________ won’t reverse learning losses. Countries
need to create Learning Recovery Programs. Three lines of action will be crucial:
Consolidating the curriculum – to help teachers prioritize essential material that students have missed
while out of school, even if the _______ is usually covered in earlier grades, to ensure the curriculum is
aligned to students’ learning levels. As an example, Tanzania consolidated its curriculum for grade 1 and 2
in 2015, reducing the number of subjects taught and increasing time on ensuring the ______________ of
foundational numeracy and literacy.
Extending instructional time – by extending the school day, modifying the academic calendar to make the
school year longer, or by offering summer _________ for all students or those in need. In Mexico, the
Ministry of Public Education announced planned extensions to the academic calendar to help recovery. In
Madagascar, the government scaled up an existing two-month summer “catch-up” program for students
who reintegrate into school after having left the system.
Improving the efficiency of learning – by supporting teachers to apply structured pedagogy and targeted
__________. A structured pedagogy intervention in Kenya using teachers guides with lesson plans has
proven to be highly effective. Targeted instruction, or aligning instruction to students’ learning level, has
been successfully implemented at scale in Cote D’Ivoire.
Taken from: https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/global-education-crisis-even-more-severe-previously-
estimated
2.Answer the following questions in a complete way. Justify your opinion in each case. (3 x 2: 6)
1. What different types of modern families can you mention? Describe them briefly.
2. What is complementary vs mainstream medicine?
PART 4. USE OF ENGLISH (59 p)
1. PHRASAL VERBS . Complete the sentences with the correct phrasal verb in the correct
verb tense. (5x4 : 20)
take after pick on patch up swell up look up to tell off fall behind
get on with
1. At school she was a vulnerable little soul and the other girls ________ her
2. When she fell off the bike and cut herself, I __her______before taking her to the hospital.
3. My cousin’s ankle _________after the bee had stung her.
4. When I was young I __________ my parents. They were very good role models for me.
5. Her parents _________her _______ for misbehaving in the Maths class
2. SENTENCE BUILDING: Combine the structures on the left with TWO of the lexical items
on the right so as to form grammatically correct and stylistically appropriate meaningful
sentences. You may not change the words given (Exception: you MUST put all the verbs in their
correct forms). (3 x 5: 15)
Use “Providing” in your sentence
● perks
● weight-maintenance
● to burn calories
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Start your sentence using with “Since”
● biased
● inherent
● rearing
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Use “Little + Inversion structure ”
● burn off
● spikes in blood sugar
● stroke
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. TRANSFORMATIONS: rewrite the following sentences without changing the original
meaning and using the words/structures given. You may not change the words given.
There are many modern families whose tutor is only the mother or father.
BY
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
John will recover from this operation soon.
FEET
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
They have an enjoyable relationship.
FIRE
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
She fell deeply and madly in love with him.
HEELS
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
