Further Links Contact Us Search Help

Syllabus | Exams | Resources | What's on? | What Next? | Dictionary

Spanish

Home > Spanish > Continuers Course > The Changing World > Current issues > Tasks and sample questions

Text 1: Suggested Answers

1. Where do the events in this article take place?
   The events take place in the tropical forests of Equatorial Guinea.
   
   
2. Explain the reasons why farmers need to sell their grain at reduced prices.
   The farmers need to sell their grain because they need the money to pay for their children’s education, to buy zinc in order to cover their houses during the “dry” season and to buy medicines.
   
   
3. How are the farmers being exploited?
   The farmers are being exploited, because they have to sell their grain for very little money when there is a large amount of produce (grain) available. Then, when the rains come and they don’t have enough to eat, the people who bought their grain resell it to the farmers at double the price.
   
   
4. Explain what measures the farmers undertook to try and rectify their situation.
   Last year the writer, together with some farmers, organised / formed a harvest bank. They built a grain warehouse and borrowed money to buy the grain at the market price. When the rains came and the farmers needed to buy food, the people who had grown the grain were able to buy it for a very reasonable price, a price which was half the amount of what they would have paid had they bought it from the old speculators. The farmers themselves took control of their own product.
   
   
5. How do we know this project has been successful?
   We know the project has been successful as the farmers were able to afford to buy the grain. They made enough profit to allow them to extend the program to other villages. Despite the fact that most of the farmers could not read or write, they were able to organise the borrowing terms for the loan and the appropriate prices and method for the resale of their grain. Their accounts were crystal clear, they were happy, and they celebrated their success.
   
   
6. From this article, what do we learn about the writer’s personality?
   The writer is an educated person, he can write very well – he can even write poetry to express how he feels and to describe his environment, he writes, “escribo poemas de mi puño y letra” and “cuando las lluvias enrojan el aire y el hambre debora las bocas”. He can also play with words “un blanco sin blanca” indicating that he is a white man among the natives and that he does not have any money “sin blanca”.
   
   He is sensitive, he feels for the plight of the farmers, “fatigado y triste de ver que…”
   
   He is “humble”, he relates well to the farmers and lives like them “comparto un cuenco de vino, ceno algo” “converso con los aldeanos”.
   
   He demonstrates that he is resourceful by his search for solutions to the situation of the farmers and ultimate establishment of a co-operative. He also has a sense of justice and vision, indicated by his suggestion that the global food market ought to be run by the less fortunate people.

Back

 

Text 2: Suggested Answers

1. Why are the older generations described as digital immigrants?
   The older generations are described as “digital immigrants” because they are people who are not familiar with technology, unlike the new generation. They don’t dominate technology.
   
   
2. According to the text, what advantages do the youth of today have?
   The youth were born into a world with advanced technology and they have been using it their whole lives; for that reason, they think and process information in a different way. They have developed a capacity to take risks and also have a greater commitment to their work team and their company.
   
   
3. A digital native is a person who:
   b. dominates technology
   
   
4. Explain how this article underlines the generation gap between young people and the older generations.
   This article underlines the generation gap by offering different opinions. An educational consultant said that rapid technological advances lead to a generation gap between young people and their past generations. He also gives an analogy between technology and language learning by saying that old generations talk with accents making it hard for the new generation to understand them. This lack of understanding results in a loss of valuable human resources by underestimating young people’s skills and their commitment in the work force.

Back