A revolution in communication

When cell phones first became available in the 1980s, they were considered to be expensive playthings for business people. No one thought that they were going to change the world. People knew that the internet had the power to transform lives, but the expectation was that this would happen through the dissemination of personal computers. However, it is now predicted that by 2020, cell phones will have replaced laptops as the main point of access to the internet worldwide. So, why will more people be using cell phones than laptop computers in the future? One reason is that the price of even a fairly cheap laptop makes it inaccessible for a lot of people in developing countries. Computers rely on a regular power supply, which is a problem in many developing countries where outages are frequent, and internet connections unreliable. Cell phones, on the other hand, are cheap to buy (especially recycled ones), require little electricity for recharging, and have good access to the internet in most parts of the world via cell phone networks. It is therefore cell phones, rather than computers, which are revolutionizing life and communication in many developing countries.

How cell phones are transforming the developing world

NextDrop is an app which is now being used in rural parts of India. In many parts of the country, people rely on weekly or twice weekly deliveries of clean water. The problem is that villagers never know exactly when deliveries will take place, meaning that they waste time waiting by their village well for the water tanker to turn up. NextDrop is a simple app that sends automatic text messages to people notifying them when their next water delivery will be. It’s a simple idea which greatly improves people’s lives.

Transferring money between countries can be tricky, and this causes problems for the thousands of people who work abroad and need to send money to their families back home. A piece of software called Boom allows Mexicans who work in the US to send money back to family members in Mexico through their cell phones. Once the link is established and the software is installed on both phones, money can be transferred using a simple text message.

Cell phones are also bringing health benefits to developing countries. A project called TulaSalud in Guatemala uses cell phone technology to communicate with nurses in remote areas of the country, who are working to reduce the infant mortality rate. The software allows nurses access to their patients’ medical records wherever they are. The service provides free phone numbers that both nurses and patients can call to ask questions about health.

Maria Neander is a nurse who works on the TulaSalud project.

Before we had TulaSalud, patients’ medical records were only available........ the health center. When I went..........into the villages, I couldn’t take the records with me, so I didn’t know if a woman I was visiting had any health problems. Now I have all.........information I need.............my cell phone. It helps me monitor women during pregnancy, giving them a better chance of having a healthy baby. When I’m with a woman who is giving birth, I have phone numbers that I can use if there are any problems, so I can get help and advice about what to do. TulaSalud has definitely saved lives.

A revolution in communication

When cell phones first became available in the 1980s, they were considered to be expensive playthings for business people. No one thought that they were going to change the world. People knew that the internet had the power to transform lives, but the expectation was that this would happen through the dissemination of personal computers. However, it is now predicted that by 2020, cell phones will have replaced laptops as the main point of access to the internet worldwide. So, why will more people be using cell phones than laptop computers in the future? One reason is that the price of even a fairly cheap laptop makes it inaccessible for a lot of people in developing countries. Computers rely on a regular power supply, which is a problem in many developing countries where outages are frequent, and internet connections unreliable. Cell phones, on the other hand, are cheap to buy (especially recycled ones), require little electricity for recharging, and have good access to the internet in most parts of the world via cell phone networks. It is therefore cell phones, rather than computers, which are revolutionizing life and communication in many developing countries.

How cell phones are transforming the developing world

NextDrop is an app which is now being used in rural parts of India. In many parts of the country, people rely on weekly or twice weekly deliveries of clean water. The problem is that villagers never know exactly when deliveries will take place, meaning that they waste time waiting by their village well for the water tanker to turn up. NextDrop is a simple app that sends automatic text messages to people notifying them when their next water delivery will be. It’s a simple idea which greatly improves people’s lives.

Transferring money between countries can be tricky, and this causes problems for the thousands of people who work abroad and need to send money to their families back home. A piece of software called Boom allows Mexicans who work in the US to send money back to family members in Mexico through their cell phones. Once the link is established and the software is installed on both phones, money can be transferred using a simple text message.

Cell phones are also bringing health benefits to developing countries. A project called TulaSalud in Guatemala uses cell phone technology to communicate with nurses in remote areas of the country, who are working to reduce the infant mortality rate. The software allows nurses access to their patients’ medical records wherever they are. The service provides free phone numbers that both nurses and patients can call to ask questions about health.

Maria Neander is a nurse who works on the TulaSalud project.

Before we had TulaSalud, patients’ medical records were only available........ the health center. When I went..........into the villages, I couldn’t take the records with me, so I didn’t know if a woman I was visiting had any health problems. Now I have all.........information I need.............my cell phone. It helps me monitor women during pregnancy, giving them a better chance of having a healthy baby. When I’m with a woman who is giving birth, I have phone numbers that I can use if there are any problems, so I can get help and advice about what to do. TulaSalud has definitely saved lives.

A revolution in communication

When cell phones first became available in the 1980s, they were considered to be expensive playthings for business people. No one thought that they were going to change the world. People knew that the internet had the power to transform lives, but the expectation was that this would happen through the dissemination of personal computers. However, it is now predicted that by 2020, cell phones will have replaced laptops as the main point of access to the internet worldwide. So, why will more people be using cell phones than laptop computers in the future? One reason is that the price of even a fairly cheap laptop makes it inaccessible for a lot of people in developing countries. Computers rely on a regular power supply, which is a problem in many developing countries where outages are frequent, and internet connections unreliable. Cell phones, on the other hand, are cheap to buy (especially recycled ones), require little electricity for recharging, and have good access to the internet in most parts of the world via cell phone networks. It is therefore cell phones, rather than computers, which are revolutionizing life and communication in many developing countries.

How cell phones are transforming the developing world

NextDrop is an app which is now being used in rural parts of India. In many parts of the country, people rely on weekly or twice weekly deliveries of clean water. The problem is that villagers never know exactly when deliveries will take place, meaning that they waste time waiting by their village well for the water tanker to turn up. NextDrop is a simple app that sends automatic text messages to people notifying them when their next water delivery will be. It’s a simple idea which greatly improves people’s lives.

Transferring money between countries can be tricky, and this causes problems for the thousands of people who work abroad and need to send money to their families back home. A piece of software called Boom allows Mexicans who work in the US to send money back to family members in Mexico through their cell phones. Once the link is established and the software is installed on both phones, money can be transferred using a simple text message.

Cell phones are also bringing health benefits to developing countries. A project called TulaSalud in Guatemala uses cell phone technology to communicate with nurses in remote areas of the country, who are working to reduce the infant mortality rate. The software allows nurses access to their patients’ medical records wherever they are. The service provides free phone numbers that both nurses and patients can call to ask questions about health.

Maria Neander is a nurse who works on the TulaSalud project.

Before we had TulaSalud, patients’ medical records were only available........ the health center. When I went..........into the villages, I couldn’t take the records with me, so I didn’t know if a woman I was visiting had any health problems. Now I have all.........information I need.............my cell phone. It helps me monitor women during pregnancy, giving them a better chance of having a healthy baby. When I’m with a woman who is giving birth, I have phone numbers that I can use if there are any problems, so I can get help and advice about what to do. TulaSalud has definitely saved lives.

Read the text to answer 39 and 40.

One day an Indian gentleman, a snake charmer, arrived in England by plane. He was coming from Bombay with two pieces of luggage. The big of them contained a snake. A man and a little boy was watching him at the customs area. The man said to the little boy “Go and speak to the gentleman”. When the little boy was speaking with the traveller, the thief took the big suitcase and went out quickly. When the victim saw that he cried, “Help me! Help me! A thief!” A police officer was in this corner whistle but it was too late. The thieves escaped with the big suitcase, took their car and went in the traffic. Later they had a big surprise because the suitcase contain a snake.

(ELLIS, Rod. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press. Pag. 15-16.)

Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.

1. The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
2. history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
3. recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
4. refused to accept it on any terms.
5. At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
6. would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
7. Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
8. the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
9. nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
10. such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
11. acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
12. residence.
13. He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
14. support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
15. influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
16. future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
17. headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
18. scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
19. critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
20. the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
21. many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
22. it away.
23. Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
24. northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
25. other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
26. castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
27. condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
28. But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
29. Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
30. of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
31. valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
32. in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
33. purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
34. Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
35. the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
36. in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
37. Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
38. suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
39. until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
40. achieved.
41. One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
42. 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
43. didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
44. us.'

Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.

Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.

1. The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
2. history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
3. recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
4. refused to accept it on any terms.
5. At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
6. would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
7. Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
8. the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
9. nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
10. such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
11. acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
12. residence.
13. He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
14. support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
15. influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
16. future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
17. headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
18. scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
19. critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
20. the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
21. many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
22. it away.
23. Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
24. northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
25. other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
26. castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
27. condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
28. But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
29. Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
30. of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
31. valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
32. in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
33. purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
34. Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
35. the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
36. in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
37. Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
38. suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
39. until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
40. achieved.
41. One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
42. 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
43. didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
44. us.'

Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.

Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.

1. The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
2. history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
3. recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
4. refused to accept it on any terms.
5. At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
6. would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
7. Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
8. the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
9. nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
10. such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
11. acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
12. residence.
13. He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
14. support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
15. influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
16. future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
17. headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
18. scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
19. critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
20. the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
21. many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
22. it away.
23. Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
24. northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
25. other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
26. castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
27. condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
28. But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
29. Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
30. of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
31. valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
32. in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
33. purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
34. Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
35. the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
36. in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
37. Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
38. suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
39. until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
40. achieved.
41. One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
42. 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
43. didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
44. us.'

Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.

Choose the correct alternative to fill out the dialogues from 30 to 33.

Choose the correct alternative to fill out the dialogues from 30 to 33.