Global Issues

Respuesta correcta: B) exacerbate

• A) alleviateIncorrect. 'Alleviate' means to make something less severe, which is the opposite of what's needed.
• B) exacerbateCorrect. 'Exacerbate' means to make a problem or bad situation worse, which fits perfectly here.
• C) mitigateIncorrect. 'Mitigate' means to make something less severe, which doesn't fit the negative consequence implied.
• D) facilitateIncorrect. 'Facilitate' means to make an action or process easy or easier, which is not appropriate for a social divide.

Respuesta correcta: D) exacerbate

• A) alleviate'Alleviate' means to make something less severe, and nothing in the sentence indicates the shortage eased. The final clause describes consumption of scarce fuel, which works against relief.
• B) mitigate'Mitigate' means to soften a problem without removing it, and the sentence presents no softening at all. It states the opposite, that the shortage grew worse because of the delivery itself.
• C) facilitate'Facilitate' means to make an action easier, which would describe a delivery working well. Here the delivery drained fuel the region had lost the means to obtain, so no facilitation is described.
• D) exacerbate'Exacerbate' means to make a problem worse, and the sentence describes a well-meant intervention that deepened the very shortage it addressed. The clause about fuel and lost imports supplies the mechanism, which is the reasoning the item asks for.

Respuesta correcta: D) sidelined

• A) ratified'Ratified' means formally approved, and stalled talks have not reached approval. A country afraid of being sidelined is worried about exclusion from the process, not about a document being signed too late.
• B) accelerated'Accelerated' means made faster, which contradicts the opening clause about the talks stalling. The sentence describes delay as the problem, so a word for increased speed cannot fit the gap.
• C) delegated'Delegated' means handed over to others, and the countries in question are the ones who would be losing influence rather than handing their role away. Being removed from consideration is not the same as passing a responsibility along.
• D) sidelined'Sidelined' means moved to a position of lesser importance, which is what countries fear when negotiations are delayed: that their concerns have been taken off the table. The phrase 'began to fear' is what makes this a fear about status rather than a stated fact.

Respuesta correcta: A) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions or strengthening their removal from the atmosphere.

• A) Reducing greenhouse gas emissions or strengthening their removal from the atmosphere.Mitigation limits climate change by reducing greenhouse gas sources or increasing sinks that remove those gases.
• B) Adjusting infrastructure to cope with impacts that occur.Adjusting to climate impacts describes adaptation, whereas mitigation addresses the causes of climate change.
• C) Measuring a single day's temperature without taking further action.Temperature measurement is observation; it does not itself reduce emissions or strengthen greenhouse gas removal.
• D) Relocating residents after a flood has already damaged their homes.Post-flood relocation responds to impacts rather than directly limiting the greenhouse gases that drive climate change.

Respuesta correcta: C) A small solar project helped some communities, but much more is needed.

• A) Wayuu families prefer diesel pumps because they are cheaper.The text says the opposite: the solar pumps are useful precisely because families no longer have to buy expensive diesel fuel.
• B) Engineering students have solved the water problem in La Guajira.This overstates the text. The students themselves admit the project is small, because hundreds of other communities still have the same problem.
• C) A small solar project helped some communities, but much more is needed.The text describes a real benefit at three wells and then, with 'However', explains that the problem is much bigger, so this option covers both halves of the text.
• D) The local government built hundreds of solar pumps last year.The students built pumps at three wells. The government is only mentioned as something they hope will act in the future, and 'hundreds' refers to communities, not pumps.

Respuesta correcta: C) The clubs had a positive social effect that the school did not expect.

• A) The reading clubs failed to improve students' reading.The principal never says the clubs failed at reading. 'But' adds a second, unexpected result; it does not deny the first goal.
• B) The teachers organised the lunches to mix the children.The teachers only 'noticed' the children sitting together. Nothing says the lunches were organised, and the principal calls the friendships unplanned.
• C) The clubs had a positive social effect that the school did not expect.'The result we did not plan' means the friendships were an unexpected benefit of clubs that were designed only for reading.
• D) Venezuelan students refused to attend the Saturday clubs.This contradicts the text: Venezuelan and Colombian children became friends through the clubs, which means they took part in them.

Respuesta correcta: D) reduce the force of

• A) increase'Increase' would mean the trees make the damage bigger, but the text says they protect the plants and the soil, so the effect is smaller, not bigger.
• B) measureMeasuring an impact means calculating its size. The trees do something physical to the rain and soil; they do not calculate anything.
• C) ignoreTo ignore something means to pay no attention to it. The farmers plant trees because they are paying attention to the problem, so this meaning does not fit.
• D) reduce the force ofA cushion softens a blow, and the previous sentence explains how: the trees protect plants from strong rain. They make the impact weaker without stopping climate change.

Respuesta correcta: B) To invite young people to volunteer at the food bank.

• A) To complain about supermarkets wasting food.The supermarkets are presented as partners that donate food, not as a problem. There is no criticism of them anywhere in the notice.
• B) To invite young people to volunteer at the food bank.The text opens with 'Volunteers wanted!', gives the schedule, says no experience is needed and ends with an instruction to write before a date: all features of an invitation.
• C) To sell fruit and vegetables at a lower price.The food is donated and delivered to community kitchens. Nothing in the notice offers food for sale to the reader.
• D) To explain how community kitchens prepare meals.Community kitchens are only mentioned as the place where food is delivered. The text gives no information about cooking or preparing meals.

Respuesta correcta: C) From the city, carried by rivers and drains.

• A) From fishing boats that work near Taganga.Fishing lines are mentioned in the list of waste, but Camila does not say boats are the main source; she points to the city.
• B) From tourists who travel by boat.Camila directly rejects this idea with 'not from tourists on boats'.
• C) From the city, carried by rivers and drains.She says the plastic 'comes from the city', and the last sentence explains the route: rubbish in the streets reaches the sea through rivers and drains.
• D) From other countries in the Caribbean.No other countries are mentioned in the text. This answer adds information that the reader cannot find.

Respuesta correcta: C) Small local actions are valuable, even if they do not solve global problems.

• A) Individual actions can replace government policies.The writer explicitly says that small actions 'are not a replacement for good governments', so this is the opposite of the opinion.
• B) Teenagers cannot do anything about global problems.'I used to think' shows this was the writer's old opinion, which changed after the chair project.
• C) Small local actions are valuable, even if they do not solve global problems.The writer admits the project 'did not change the world' but calls small actions 'a place to start', which is a positive but limited view.
• D) Schools should buy new chairs instead of repairing them.The project repaired chairs to save money for books, so the writer supports repairing, not buying new chairs.

Respuesta correcta: D) had

• A) hasIncorrect. The sentence refers to a past sequence, requiring the past perfect in inversion.
• B) wasIncorrect. 'Was' does not fit the past perfect structure required by 'Hardly'.
• C) didIncorrect. 'Did' would require the base form of the verb, not the past participle 'been'.
• D) hadCorrect. 'Hardly had...' is a classic C1 inversion structure used for sequential events.

Respuesta correcta: C) did

• A) had'Had' would form a past perfect and need the participle 'resumed', placing the vaccination rounds before another past point. The sentence reports the moment work restarted, which is a single past event.
• B) were'Were' would form a passive or a copula, and the agencies are the ones carrying out the rounds. The inverted clause needs a finite auxiliary, and only 'did' supplies one here.
• C) did'Not until' is a fronted negative that inverts the main clause, and 'did' carries the simple past: 'not until the ceasefire was signed did the agencies resume'. The main verb returns to its base form 'resume'.
• D) could'Could' would add a sense of ability rather than marking the time the work began. The trigger is the signing of the ceasefire, and a modal for capability does not express that moment.

Respuesta correcta: D) does

• A) do'Do' is the plural auxiliary, but the subject 'a global summit' is singular. The inversion has moved that subject to the right of the auxiliary without changing its number.
• B) did'Did' would place the observation in the past simple, but the sentence describes what summits in general do. A general present pattern takes the simple present under inversion.
• C) had'Had' would form a past perfect and require the participle 'reached', placing the agreement before another past point. Nothing in the sentence supplies that earlier reference time.
• D) does'Rarely' fronted inverts the clause, and 'does' carries the present with the singular subject 'a global summit'. The main verb 'reach' stays in its base form, as it must after 'does'.

Respuesta correcta: A) The fronted 'Only when' expression triggers 'can they' in the main clause and presents cooperation as a necessary condition.

• A) The fronted 'Only when' expression triggers 'can they' in the main clause and presents cooperation as a necessary condition.A fronted restrictive 'Only when' clause triggers auxiliary-subject inversion in the main clause and limits when the action is possible.
• B) The auxiliary moves before 'countries' inside the when-clause, making cooperation optional.The when-clause retains normal order, 'countries cooperate'; inversion occurs in 'can they', and 'only' makes cooperation necessary.
• C) The sentence guarantees that cooperation will completely eliminate all pollution.The sentence presents cooperation as necessary for addressing the problem, not as a guarantee of total elimination.
• D) 'Can they' is a direct question asking whether pollution exists.The inverted order follows the restrictive opening in a declarative sentence; it does not ask whether pollution exists.

Respuesta correcta: B) did

• A) had'Had' would form a past perfect and need the participle 'rejoined', placing the return before another past point. The sentence describes the moment the country came back.
• B) did'Only when' fronted inverts the main clause, and 'did' carries the simple past: 'only when the sanctions were lifted did the country rejoin'. The main verb returns to its base form 'rejoin'.
• C) was'Was' would form a passive or a copula, and the country is the one rejoining rather than being rejoined. The inverted clause needs a finite auxiliary after the subject.
• D) could'Could' would suggest the country was merely able to rejoin, but the sentence asserts that it did. The trigger here is the lifting of sanctions, which is about timing rather than ability.

Respuesta correcta: B) does

• A) do'Do' is the plural auxiliary, but the subject is the singular noun phrase 'an aid agency'. Number agreement is decided by that subject, which the inversion has moved to the right.
• B) does'Seldom' inverts the clause, and 'does' carries the present with the singular subject 'an aid agency'. The main verb 'publish' stays in its base form after 'does'.
• C) did'Did' would put the observation in the past simple, but the sentence describes what agencies in general do. A recurring present pattern takes the simple present under inversion.
• D) had'Had' would form a past perfect and require the participle 'published', placing the publication before another past point. The claim is about a general present fact, not about an earlier completed action.

Respuesta correcta: A) The current strategy is directed towards the wrong objective.

• A) The current strategy is directed towards the wrong objective.Correct. This idiom means to follow a wrong line of thought or course of action.
• B) They are literally looking for something in the trees of Cali.Incorrect. This is a literal and incorrect interpretation of the idiom.
• C) The approach is too noisy and aggressive.Incorrect. The idiom relates to direction/objective, not volume or attitude.
• D) A new environmental project involving trees should be started.Incorrect. This misinterprets the figurative meaning of the phrase.

Respuesta correcta: A) The donation is helpful but very small compared with the size of the problem.

• A) The donation is helpful but very small compared with the size of the problem.'A drop in the ocean' means an amount that is too small to make a real difference; Andrés supports it ('That's great') but compares 500 trees with thousands of burned hectares.
• B) The trees will be planted near the ocean instead of the hills.This reads the idiom literally. The conversation is about hills near Bogotá, and 'ocean' is only part of the fixed expression.
• C) The donation is too large for the city to afford.Andrés thinks the donation is too small, not too large, as the comparison with 'thousands of hectares' shows.
• D) The trees will die because there is too much water.Nothing in the idiom refers to real water or to the trees dying; it is a comparison of size.

Respuesta correcta: B) To do their fair share of the work.

• A) To carry heavy boxes of documents to the conference.This is a literal reading of 'weight'. Sofía is talking about finishing a written resolution, not about physical work.
• B) To do their fair share of the work.'Pull your weight' means to do your part of a shared task; Sofía connects it to finishing the resolution on time, which depends on everyone contributing.
• C) To speak louder than the other delegations.'Weight' here is not about influence or volume. The consequence Sofía mentions is about time and work, not about winning debates.
• D) To let the strongest student make all the decisions.This is the opposite of the idiom, which asks every member to contribute instead of depending on one person.

Respuesta correcta: B) He is stating a general pattern while marking it as an observation rather than proven evidence.

• A) He is retracting a claim he had already proved.Nothing here withdraws a proven claim; a retraction would say the claim proved false. He is qualifying a claim he never presented as established, so the direction of the statement is not reversed.
• B) He is stating a general pattern while marking it as an observation rather than proven evidence.The final clause draws a clear line between a rule he has noticed and a finding he can demonstrate. He asserts the pattern and simultaneously limits its authority, which is exactly what the two phrases together do.
• C) He is insisting that aid always arrives faster in capitals.The sentence contrasts two speeds and marks the contrast as a rough rule, not as an absolute. 'As a rule of thumb' explicitly limits how far the generalisation can be pushed.
• D) He is asking the other speaker to produce figures.The final clause describes what he is doing with his own statement. There is no question, no imperative and no reference to anyone else's evidence anywhere in the quotation.