PAU Anglès 2006 · Juny · Sèrie 3 · Part 3 · Listening comprehension

PIECES OF AN ANCIENT CULTURE Introduction In the following conversation you are going to hear some new words. Read and listen to them. Make sure you know what they mean. resort: poble turístic / pueblo turístico unearth: desenterrar / desenterrar wear off: gastar / gastar gather: collir / recoger turmoil: confusió, agitació / confusión, agitación undermine: afeblir / socavar, debilitar Ready? Now read the questions on the following page. Read them carefully before listening to the conversation. PIECES OF AN ANCIENT CULTURE Keith and his friend Melissa are students at the University of Maryland. After their summer vacation, they meet at a popular campus cafe and Melissa tells Keith about her trip to Mexico. She spent three months in the Yucatan peninsula participating in an archaeological project conducted by Dr. Hall, their American History professor. During her stay there, Melissa had a chance to travel around the area visiting some of the most important Maya ruins and learning about the scientific achievements of the Maya civilization and their enigmatic writing system. Of course, she also had some time to enjoy the wonderful beaches and seaside resorts of the Caribbean coast before she had to fly back to the United States. [Now listen to the conversation] QUESTIONS Choose the best answer according to the text. Only one answer is correct. Look at number 0 as an example. [0,25 points each correct answer] [Wrong answers will be penalized (-0,08)] 0. Dr. Hall is a professor of... the Maya language. archaeology. American history. X Mexican history. 1. During her stay in Mexico, Melissa learned more about… Maya history than in the last three years. Maya history in three months than if she had attended classes for three years. Maya archaeology than history. the Maya archaeology and history classes she would take in the next three years. 2. In order to get to the archaeological site, Melissa had to travel by… plane, bus, car and truck. plane, bus, car and on foot. bus, truck and taxi. plane, bus, truck and on foot. 3. Maya glyphs were… first discovered in the 20th century. only known by linguists until the 20th century. deciphered in the 20th century. first used as a writing system in the 20th century. 4. The towns of the ancient Maya were… built around a central building used for religious ceremonies. organized according to their calendar. designed taking into consideration their knowledge of astronomy. made up of pyramids used mostly for religious purposes. 5. The end of the Maya civilization may have been precipitated by the… fact that they abandoned their fabulous cities, their ceremonies, and their lifestyle. disintegration of their social organization caused by war and turmoil. many centuries of splendor. disintegration of the different Maya groups. 6. While she was in Mexico, Melissa… taught Castilian Spanish to Ignacio. taught Ignacio a few words and phrases in Mayan. discovered that the Maya language is still spoken in Mexico. was able to communicate with most people from the very beginning. 7. In Cancun Melissa… lay on the beach and tried to forget her time in the forest. was shocked by all the lights and the noise of the big resort. spent a few days surrounded by nothing but trees and ancient ruins. couldn’t lie on the beach because of all the lights and the noise of the big resort. 8. According to Mellissa, next year, Keith could… register for a course in ceramics at the University of Maryland. spend the course cleaning ceramics in Dr. Hall’s class. study the classification of ceramics in American history. spend the summer in Yucatan working at Dr. Hall’s archaeological site.