Globalization

Respuesta correcta: D) exacerbate

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

Respuesta correcta: B) contract

• A) expand'Expand' means the opposite, to grow larger, and the sentence explicitly counts fewer jobs coming back than going out. Reading it as expansion contradicts both halves of the numerical comparison.
• B) contract'Contract' means to become smaller in number or scope, which is what the evidence describes: fewer jobs returning than leaving. The comparison with 'lower-paid' confirms a reduction in the quantity and quality of work at home.
• C) redistribute'Redistribute' means to move something from one place to another while keeping the total unchanged. The sentence describes a loss of jobs rather than a relocation, and the words 'fewer' make the total itself smaller.
• D) stabilise'Stabilise' means to stop changing, but the sentence describes an active change in the size and quality of employment. Nothing in the clause suggests the market had reached a steady state.

Respuesta correcta: A) marginal

• A) marginal'Marginal' means small or slight in effect, and 'largely' doubles the hedge. This matches the sentence's contrast between a decisive presentation and an impact that has turned out to be slight, which is the point the writer is making.
• B) decisive'Decisive' is the word the presentation used, and repeating it here would leave no contrast at all. The clause 'although in practice' tells the reader the real effect differs from the official description.
• C) protective'Protective' describes the effect as safeguarding something, which would contradict the claim that employment gained little. Nothing in the sentence suggests jobs were shielded from harm.
• D) cumulative'Cumulative' means accumulating over time into a growing total, and the sentence claims the effect was slight. A term for large accumulated change cannot sit in the same clause as 'largely'.

Respuesta correcta: A) stagnate

• A) stagnate'Stagnate' means to stop developing or growing, and the sentence describes a slowdown caused by the absence of alternative demand. The dependence described is precisely what prevents recovery, which is the sense the blank requires.
• B) diversify'Diversify' means to spread activity across a wider range, which is the opposite of what the sentence says happens: there is no second market to spread into, so no diversification takes place.
• C) accelerate'Accelerate' means to grow faster, and the clause states the market slowed down. Nothing in the sentence offers any mechanism for faster growth, so this reading reverses the described direction.
• D) liberalise'Liberalise' means to open up trade or markets to outside participation, which is a policy choice rather than an economic outcome. The sentence is describing what happens to growth when demand falls away.

Respuesta correcta: D) Global connections allow some small farmers to earn more for high-quality coffee.

• A) All coffee farmers in Huila now sell their coffee directly to Japan.Incorrect. The text says the situation is changing "for some of them" and that it only works for certain farmers, so "all" exaggerates.
• B) Local intermediaries in Huila pay more than foreign buyers.Incorrect. The text says intermediaries paid the same price regardless of quality, while foreign buyers "pay more for exceptional quality".
• C) Coffee competitions are bad for Colombian farmers.Incorrect. The text presents competitions as one of the reasons why buyers can discover farms and pay better prices.
• D) Global connections allow some small farmers to earn more for high-quality coffee.Correct. The text explains that the internet and international competitions let foreign buyers find individual farms and pay more for quality, with Doña Marleny as an example, while experts note this does not apply to everyone.

Respuesta correcta: C) The demand for flowers in other countries strongly affects work in Colombian greenhouses.

• A) Most Colombian flowers are sold inside Colombia.Incorrect. The text describes Colombia as an exporter and mentions cargo planes leaving for Miami, which suggests the flowers are mainly sold abroad.
• B) Most flower workers are men from big cities.Incorrect. The text says most workers are "women from rural towns", which contradicts this option.
• C) The demand for flowers in other countries strongly affects work in Colombian greenhouses.Correct. Before Valentine's Day, workers cut "millions of roses every day" and many planes leave for Miami, and in high season they work very long hours, so foreign demand shapes the rhythm of work in Colombia.
• D) Working in the flower industry has no health risks.Incorrect. Workers' organisations say repetitive movements can cause injuries in hands and backs, so the job does carry health risks.

Respuesta correcta: C) Stay legally in Colombia for ten years and access services such as banking and health.

• A) Return to Venezuela and receive money from the Colombian government.Incorrect. The statute is about staying in Colombia; the text does not mention returning or receiving money.
• B) Vote in Colombian presidential elections.Incorrect. The text lists banking, formal jobs and health services; voting rights are not mentioned.
• C) Stay legally in Colombia for ten years and access services such as banking and health.Correct. The text says the statute allows migrants "to stay legally in the country for ten years" and that with the document they can open a bank account, get formal jobs and use the public health system.
• D) Live in Colombia only in Cúcuta and Barranquilla.Incorrect. These cities are examples of where migrants work, along with Bogotá; the statute does not limit where they can live.

Respuesta correcta: D) Chasing the lowest production cost can raise the total cost once transport and lead times are counted.

• A) Foreign suppliers always charge more than domestic ones.The manager moved abroad precisely to cut costs, so the unit price fell. What followed was not a higher supplier price but the added expense of transport and waiting, which the sentence names explicitly.
• B) International logistics have no effect on the final price of a product.The delay in shipping is exactly the effect being described, and it consumed the initial saving. Saying logistics make no difference contradicts the mechanism the manager describes in order to explain the loss.
• C) Local production is more reliable in every respect.This claims that local production is superior across the board, which is a general conclusion the anecdote does not support. The sentence is limited to cost accounting for one shipment, and 'in every respect' goes well beyond it.
• D) Chasing the lowest production cost can raise the total cost once transport and lead times are counted.The saving on the unit price was offset by delays in shipping, so the final outlay rose. The sentence is about costs shifting between stages rather than disappearing, and the manager's 'ended up paying more' confirms the net effect.

Respuesta correcta: C) An expected consequence may simply fail to materialise, so it should not be treated as a reliable prediction.

• A) Hotel prices always rise before an international conference.The writer reports that this year the increase did not happen, which is the opposite of an unconditional rule. The phrase 'never really took off' is there precisely to break the pattern being described.
• B) Conference cities are poor choices for visitors on a budget.Nothing in the passage evaluates the city as a destination for budget travellers. The subject is the behaviour of hotel prices, and the observation concerns whether that behaviour occurred.
• C) An expected consequence may simply fail to materialise, so it should not be treated as a reliable prediction.'Never really took off' denies that the usual effect happened. The writer is telling readers that a trend treated as automatic in one sector may not appear at all, which is the caution the sentence is making.
• D) Conferences should be held outside large cities.The sentence makes no recommendation about where conferences take place. It reports a predicted price rise and notes its absence, and the caution is about prediction rather than about planning.

Respuesta correcta: D) The relationship between foreign investment and local business formation is not a simple one.

• A) Foreign investment always prevents local firms from appearing.The first region supports that claim, but the second received little investment and still produced many new firms. A rule that fails in one of the two cases offered cannot be the writer's conclusion.
• B) Local business formation depends only on the amount of investment received.This inverts the finding. If formation depended only on investment, the region with little investment would show few firms, and the sentence says it showed many.
• C) Regions with little investment are better at producing local businesses.Two regions do not establish a general ranking of regions, and the writer frames the point as something 'I say as a rule of thumb'. The passage describes an irregularity rather than declaring one group superior.
• D) The relationship between foreign investment and local business formation is not a simple one.The two regions go in opposite directions on both measures, so neither amount of investment predicts how many local firms followed. That divergence is exactly what 'not a simple one' states, and the writer attributes it to a rule of thumb rather than to proof.

Respuesta correcta: C) 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) hadCorrect. 'Hardly had...' is a classic C1 inversion structure used for sequential events.
• D) didIncorrect. 'Did' would require the base form of the verb, not the past participle 'been'.

Respuesta correcta: B) did

• A) had'Had' would form a past perfect and need the participle 'started', placing the competing before another past point. The sentence describes the moment competing began, which is a single past event.
• B) did'Not until' is a fronted negative that inverts the main clause, and 'did' carries the simple past: 'not until the tariff was removed did local manufacturers start'. The main verb returns to its base form 'start'.
• C) could'Could' would add a sense of ability or possibility rather than fixing the time of the event. The clause names the condition under which competing started, which is a temporal trigger and not a capability.
• D) were'Were' would form a passive or a copula, and the manufacturers are the ones doing the competing. The inversion needs a finite auxiliary after the subject, and only 'did' provides one.

Respuesta correcta: B) does

• A) do'Do' is the plural auxiliary, but the subject 'a trade negotiation' is singular. Number agreement is decided by that subject, which sits to the right of the auxiliary because of the inversion.
• B) does'Rarely' fronted inverts the clause, and 'does' carries the present with the singular subject 'a trade negotiation'. The main verb 'conclude' stays in its base form, as it must after 'does'.
• C) did'Did' would place the general observation in the past, but the sentence describes what happens within the window in general. A recurring pattern takes the simple present with inversion.
• D) had'Had' would form a past perfect and require the participle 'concluded', placing the conclusion before another past point. Nothing in the sentence supplies that earlier reference point.

Respuesta correcta: C) had

• A) has'Has' would say the data had not begun to be published, which cannot be followed by the commission noticing a discrepancy in it. The first event must be complete before the discovery is possible.
• B) was'Was' would form a passive or a copula, and the publishing is done by an agency rather than undergone by the data. The inverted clause needs a perfect auxiliary before the subject.
• C) had'Scarcely' is a negative adverbial that inverts, and the first half of a 'scarcely...when' construction is always a perfect: 'scarcely had the customs data published'. The second half returns to normal order in the past simple.
• D) did'Did' would describe the publication as a single moment rather than as a completed point preceding another event. In 'scarcely...when', the first clause must be a perfect to mark that completed point.

Respuesta correcta: B) did

• A) had'Had' would form a past perfect and require the participle 'agreed', placing the agreement before another past point. The sentence reports the moment of agreement that followed the publication.
• B) did'Only after' fronted inverts the main clause, and 'did' carries the simple past: 'only after the ruling was published did the two governments agree'. The main verb returns to its base form 'agree'.
• C) could'Could' would suggest the governments were merely able to agree, but the sentence states that they did. The trigger here is timing, and a modal for ability does not express a moment.
• D) were'Were' would form a passive or a copula, and the governments are the ones agreeing rather than being agreed to. The inverted clause requires a finite auxiliary, which 'were' cannot supply.

Respuesta correcta: C) does

• A) do'Do' is the plural auxiliary, but the subject is the singular noun phrase 'a single port authority'. The word 'single' makes the number explicit, and it is the subject that decides the auxiliary.
• B) did'Did' would place the observation in the past simple, but the sentence describes what is generally true of port authorities. A general present pattern takes the simple present under inversion.
• C) does'Seldom' inverts the clause, and 'does' carries the present with the singular subject 'a single port authority'. The main verb 'release' stays in its base form after 'does'.
• D) had'Had' would form a past perfect and need the participle 'released', placing the release before another past point. The claim is about a recurring present fact, not about a change completed earlier.

Respuesta correcta: A) The group is blaming the wrong cause of the problem.

• A) The group is blaming the wrong cause of the problem.Correct. "Barking up the wrong tree" means looking for an answer in the wrong place; Daniela says the real cause was the lack of investment, not imports.
• B) They are literally looking for something in the trees of the city.Incorrect. This reads the idiom literally; the debate is about a factory, and no trees are involved.
• C) The debate has become too noisy and aggressive.Incorrect. "Barking" here does not refer to noise; the idiom is about choosing the wrong target, as her second sentence shows.
• D) The factory should start making products from wood.Incorrect. This takes the image of the tree as a proposal; Daniela talks about investment in machines and online sales.

Respuesta correcta: D) He does not want to follow a trend without thinking about whether it is useful for them.

• A) He wants to buy a new delivery vehicle for the shop.Incorrect. This is a literal reading of "bandwagon"; Héctor is talking about following a trend, not about vehicles.
• B) He wants to open an online store immediately.Incorrect. Héctor says "First, let's find out", which shows he wants to wait and investigate before deciding.
• C) He thinks online stores are always a bad idea.Incorrect. He does not reject the idea completely; he only wants to know if their customers buy online before deciding.
• D) He does not want to follow a trend without thinking about whether it is useful for them.Correct. To "jump on the bandwagon" is to join something because it is popular; Héctor rejects doing it "just because everybody's doing it" and wants to check customers' habits first.

Respuesta correcta: A) The visible problem is only a small part of a much bigger problem.

• A) The visible problem is only a small part of a much bigger problem.Correct. "The tip of the iceberg" refers to the small visible part of a much larger problem; the journalist explains that most of the plastic is in the sea or invisible.
• B) The team found ice on the beaches of Santa Marta.Incorrect. This reads the idiom literally; the conversation is about plastic pollution, not ice.
• C) Two tonnes of plastic is the total amount of pollution.Incorrect. The journalist says the opposite: the two tonnes are "only" a small part, and most of the plastic is elsewhere.
• D) The problem of plastic is already solved.Incorrect. By saying most plastic remains in the sea, the journalist shows the problem is far from solved.

Respuesta correcta: A) She is asserting a general pattern and marking it as an observation rather than proven evidence.

• A) She is asserting a general pattern and marking it as an observation rather than proven evidence.The final clause explicitly separates what she has noticed from what she can demonstrate. Naming a common pattern while refusing to present it as proof is precisely what the two phrases do together, and that is what the item asks.
• B) She is withdrawing a claim she had already proved.Nothing in the sentence withdraws a proven claim; a retraction would say the opposite, that the claim turned out to be false. Here she is qualifying a claim she never presented as proved.
• C) She is demanding that the other speaker provide data.The final clause describes what she is doing with her own statement, not a request aimed at someone else. There is no imperative, no question, and no reference to anyone else's evidence.
• D) She is insisting the plant closures were beneficial.The sentence describes a loss and offers no defence of the closures. Reading it as praise reverses the evaluative direction of the statement, which is plainly negative.