EBAU Practice Examination (Extremadura) : Strange Towns

EBAU Practice Examination (Extremadura)
El alumno deberá escoger una de las dos opciones, A o B, y responder en inglés a todas las
preguntas que se formulan en la opción elegida, sin mezclar preguntas de una y otra. En el caso
de la primera pregunta (la redacción), deberá escribir tan sólo sobre uno de los dos temas
propuestos.
Strange Towns
Every town in the world has something special about it, but some towns are so strange
that it’s hard to believe they really exist.
 The Chinese are skilled at making accurate replicas of entire towns, one of which is the
Austrian village of Hallstatt. Sharing the same name, the church and streets look exactly
like the original ones. This enables Chinese people to live in a European village without
ever leaving the country.
 In Matmata, Tunisia, people have been living underground for centuries – and they like it
that way. Their rooms, which are excavated into the walls of large, circular courtyards dug
in the ground, offer protection from the extremes of summer and winter in the arid desert.
 Neft Dashlari, or Oil Rocks, Azerbaijan, is an entire town built 55 kilometres off the shore
of the Caspian Sea. It consists of a weird network of artificial islands, with residential
buildings and oil drilling platforms, connected by more than 300 kilometres of bridges and
streets.
 In the town of Maharishi Vedic City in Iowa, USA, every resident practises meditation.
The founders designed all structures according to Hindu principles from India, meant to
promote health, happiness and good fortune. Non-organic foods are banned, and almost all
electricity comes from renewable energy.
 The remote town of Whittier in Alaska, USA, is located entirely in one building. Fourteen
stories high, the building hosts all the shops, as well as a playground, hospital, church and
police station. The aim is to save on heating, since the climate there is cold and windy
almost all year round.
 Baarle is a town that doesn’t seem to know which country it’s in. Located in the
Netherlands, 26 separate parts of the town belong to Belgium. Because of the complicated
borders, each house number here has a flag to remind people which country it stands in.
1. Write a composition on one of the following topics. Give your answer in at least
80 words (maximum 3 points):
a. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city compared to a small
town? In your opinion, which is better?
b. Imagine that you live in one of the towns described above. Write an informal e-mail to
a friend, describing what you like / dislike about living there.
2. Answer the following two questions. Provide evidence from the text for your answers
(maximum 1 point per answer):
a. Which towns use ideas from countries that are not their own?
b. In what way are the residents of Whittier protected against the weather?
3. Find in the text just one word for each of the following (maximum 0.5 points per word):
a. An antonym of “approximate”.
b. A synonym of “strange”.
c. An antonym of “allowed”.
d. A synonym of “purpose”.
IH-014-647 1/2
4. You are designing a new town. Write two or three sentences saying what will make the
town a good place to live in. (maximum 1 point)
5. Grammatical transformations (0.5 points each)

a. Write a correct question for this answer. You must begin with the words given.
Almost all electricity comes from renewable energy.
What kind of energy … ?
b. Rewrite the following sentence in indirect style (reported speech), beginning with the
words The resident explained.
Each house number here has a flag to remind people which country it stands in.
The resident explained … .
c. Write the following sentence in the passive voice.
The founders designed all structures according to Hindu principles from India.
d. Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first one. Do not change
the initial four words in any way.
The founders designed all structures according to Hindu principles meant to promote
good fortune.
All structures were designed … .
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5. Grammatical transformations (0.5 points each)

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