Cuatro textos breves sobre un mismo tema: ¿quién coincide o discrepa con quién?
Claves
Cada pregunta trata un aspecto concreto (coste, riesgo, efecto…).
Un escritor puede no opinar sobre un aspecto: entonces no puede ser la respuesta.
Estrategia paso a paso
Haz una tabla: aspectos en filas, escritores en columnas, + / – / ?.
Localiza primero la opinión del escritor citado en la pregunta.
Trampas habituales
Confundir 'menciona el tema' con 'tiene la misma opinión'.
Ignorar matices: 'no convencido' ≠ 'totalmente en contra'.
Ejemplo resuelto
A: prices will fall · B, C: prices will fall · D: only for the rich → D has a different view.
Preguntas de ejemplo
Intenta responder antes de abrir la solución. Las preguntas están en el idioma del examen.
Pregunta 1
Dificultad fácil≈ 3 min
Part 6 · Competitive sport in schools
Writer A
Much of the current hostility towards competitive sport in schools rests on the assumption that losing is harmful to children who are less gifted athletically. In my experience, this is simply not the case. Children are far more resilient than we give them credit for, and those who come last in a race are usually more upset by the fuss adults make than by the result itself. Learning to lose with good grace, and to try again, is precisely the kind of experience that equips young people for working life, where setbacks are inevitable. Nor do I accept that parents are the problem; the vast majority who turn up to watch are encouraging rather than aggressive. Competitive games should remain at the heart of physical education, although there is no harm in offering other activities as well.
Writer B
Advocates of competitive sport often claim that it teaches children how to function in the adult world. I am not convinced. Most workplaces now reward the ability to collaborate, not the drive to defeat one's colleagues, and the lessons of the football pitch translate poorly to an office or a laboratory. More troubling is the effect on children who lack natural sporting ability. Repeatedly being picked last, or losing in front of their classmates, leads many of them to conclude that physical activity is simply 'not for them' – a belief that can last a lifetime. For that reason I would go further than most of my colleagues: competitive games should be removed from compulsory PE altogether and replaced with activities in which children measure progress only against themselves.
Writer C
There is no doubt that competition can be a powerful motivator, and I would argue that it prepares children well for later life, in which they will have to compete for university places, jobs and promotions. But we should be honest about the cost. For children who struggle with coordination or fitness, a steady diet of competitive games can be humiliating and can put them off exercise for good. Part of the problem lies not with the children at all but with the adults on the touchline, whose shouting and obvious disappointment turn a school match into something far more stressful than it needs to be. The answer is not to abolish competition, but to make sure that it sits alongside activities in which everyone can succeed.
Writer D
The idea that school sport should mirror the competitive world of adult work seems to me misguided. Adult life involves competition, certainly, but the qualities that help people thrive – cooperation, persistence, the ability to learn from others – are not best developed by dividing children into winners and losers. The less athletic children, in particular, too often learn only that they are failures. I have also been struck, when observing school fixtures, by how much of the pressure comes from parents. Some behave as though their child's future depended on the result, and the children notice. Even so, I would not remove competitive games entirely; many children enjoy them, and they deserve a place in a balanced programme.
You are going to read four extracts in which educational psychologists discuss competitive sport in schools. Which writer has a different opinion from the others about whether competitive games should remain part of school physical education?
AA. Writer A
BB. Writer B
CC. Writer C
DD. Writer D
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: B. Writer B
Explicación
B wants competitive games 'removed from compulsory PE altogether'. A wants them to stay 'at the heart of' PE, C says the answer 'is not to abolish competition', and D 'would not remove competitive games entirely'.
Pregunta 2
Dificultad media≈ 3 min
Part 6 · Tourist taxes
Writer A
Tourist taxes have become fashionable among city authorities, but anyone who imagines they will thin the crowds is likely to be disappointed. A charge of a few euros a night barely registers for most visitors, who have already spent far more on flights and hotels. That does not make the tax pointless, provided the revenue goes where it is most needed: to the residents whose rents have soared and whose streets now need cleaning twice as often. My real objection is that a flat charge falls hardest on those least able to pay. For a student backpacker staying a fortnight, a levy added to every night is anything but trivial, and it is the young and the less well-off who are most likely to be priced out. A daily limit on visitors, enforced through advance booking, would be a fairer way of protecting the places we love.
Writer B
There is little evidence that modest tourist taxes reduce visitor numbers; cities that have introduced them have generally seen tourism continue to grow. Nor should we pretend that they shut out travellers of limited means. The sums involved are small, and anyone who can afford the train fare to Venice can afford a couple of euros a night. Where I part company with many supporters of the tax is over what the money is for. It should be ring-fenced for the restoration of the monuments and historic buildings that draw visitors in the first place, rather than disappearing into the general budget. As for capping visitor numbers, it sounds attractive but would be almost impossible to enforce in a city with dozens of entry points and millions of day-trippers.
Writer C
It would be naive to expect a tourist tax to keep people away. Demand for the most famous cities is so strong that a small charge makes no measurable difference, and the complaint that it discriminates against poorer travellers seems to me overstated: room prices fluctuate by far more than the tax from one week to the next. The strongest argument for the levy is that it allows local people to share in the wealth that tourism generates. The revenue should fund affordable housing, public transport and the everyday services that residents rely on and that visitors place under strain. Ultimately, though, the only measure that tackles overcrowding directly is a limit on how many people can visit at once, and several smaller destinations have already shown that this can be done.
Writer D
Critics who claim that tourist taxes have no effect on visitor numbers are looking at the wrong figures. Overnight stays may be stable, but the evidence from several cities suggests that a well-designed charge, particularly one aimed at day-trippers and cruise passengers, does thin the crowds at peak times. Nor is it unjust: a small charge is hardly going to keep at home anyone who was set on going. The revenue, in my view, would be best spent on improving the experience of visitors themselves – clearer signs, more public toilets, walking routes that lead people away from the most congested streets. What I am certain will not work is a fixed cap on numbers; however good it sounds on paper, policing it would require a bureaucracy that few cities could afford.
You are going to read four extracts in which commentators discuss taxes on tourists in popular cities. Which writer shares Writer A's opinion on how the money raised by the tax should be spent?
AA. Writer A
BB. Writer B
CC. Writer C
DD. Writer D
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: C. Writer C
Explicación
A wants the revenue to go to 'the residents' (rents, street cleaning); C agrees that it should fund 'affordable housing, public transport and… services that residents rely on'. B wants it spent on monuments, and D on improving the visitors' experience.
Pregunta 3
Dificultad difícil≈ 3 min
Part 6 · Working from home
Writer A
The rapid shift to home working was supposed to be a disaster for output, yet the data that has emerged since tells a different story: freed from the commute and the constant interruptions of open-plan offices, most staff appear to get more done, not less. My concern lies elsewhere. Graduates who join a company remotely miss out on the countless informal exchanges – overhearing how a senior colleague handles a difficult client, say – through which professional know-how has always been passed on. Nor am I persuaded that home working has given people their evenings back; if anything, the laptop on the kitchen table makes it harder than ever to switch off. As for the office itself, I expect it to survive in a much reduced form, as somewhere people visit occasionally rather than a daily destination.
Writer B
Few predictions about remote work have aged as badly as the claim that productivity would collapse. Study after study has found that people working from home perform at least as well as their office-based counterparts, and often better. Those who fear for the development of new recruits underestimate both the young and the tools now available: a well-run mentoring scheme can operate perfectly well over video, and many junior staff say they find it easier to ask a question in a private message than in front of a crowded room. What strikes me most, however, is how many employees report having more time for family and exercise. None of this spells the end of the city-centre office. Businesses will always need a physical hub, and I suspect most will be back at something close to full occupancy within a decade.
Writer C
Enthusiasts for home working point to surveys in which employees claim to be more efficient, but self-reported productivity is a notoriously unreliable measure. When output is assessed objectively, the picture is far less flattering, particularly for work that depends on teamwork and the rapid exchange of ideas. The cost is greatest for those at the start of their careers, who cannot learn by watching experienced colleagues if those colleagues are never in the room. And the supposed improvement in quality of life is, I think, largely illusory: when home becomes the workplace, the working day has a habit of expanding to fill the evening. Still, I do not expect employers to reverse the trend. Many will conclude that they can manage with considerably less office space, and city centres will have to adapt accordingly.
Writer D
Whatever its drawbacks, remote working has not damaged output; the most careful studies suggest a modest gain, largely because employees lose less time to travel and distraction. Much has been made of the risk to younger workers, but in my own research, graduates who were given clear structures and regular contact with a mentor developed just as quickly online as their predecessors did in person. The greater benefit, in my view, is personal: parents in particular describe being able to fit work around family life in a way that would once have been unthinkable. The consequences for cities are harder to predict, but it seems unlikely that companies will go on paying for floors of desks that stand empty for most of the week, and a great deal of office space will eventually be converted to other uses.
You are going to read four extracts in which experts discuss working from home. Which writer expresses a similar view to Writer C on the effect of home working on people's personal lives?
AA. Writer A
BB. Writer B
CC. Writer C
DD. Writer D
Ver respuesta y explicación
Respuesta correcta: A. Writer A
Explicación
C calls the improvement in quality of life 'largely illusory' because work expands 'to fill the evening'; A agrees that the laptop on the kitchen table 'makes it harder than ever to switch off'. B (more time for family and exercise) and D (parents can fit work around family life) both see a personal benefit.