Aptis ESOL General — Nivel B2

Elige la opción correcta para completar la frase.

By next year, she ___ here for a decade.

Elige la opción correcta para completar la frase.

___ the bad weather, the event went ahead as planned.

Elige la opción correcta para completar la frase.

The report needs to be ___ before Friday.

Lee el artículo de opinión y responde. «Five years after the pandemic forced offices to empty out overnight, the debate over remote work shows no sign of settling. Advocates point to productivity studies showing that many employees get more done at home, free from the interruptions of open-plan offices, while also saving hours once lost to commuting. Critics counter that something less measurable is being lost: the casual conversations that spark ideas, the mentoring that happens almost by accident when a junior colleague overhears a senior one on the phone. Some companies have tried to split the difference with hybrid schedules, only to find that coordinating which days everyone comes in creates its own headaches. What both sides increasingly agree on is that a one-size-fits-all policy rarely works; the right balance seems to depend heavily on the type of work, the team, and even individual personality, rather than on any general rule about offices being inherently better or worse than homes.»

What do both supporters and critics of remote work agree on, according to the text?

Lee el texto divulgativo y responde. «Cities are, on average, several degrees warmer than the countryside surrounding them, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. Concrete and asphalt absorb heat during the day and release it slowly at night, while the lack of vegetation removes a natural cooling mechanism that forests and fields provide through evaporation. For years, this was treated mainly as a comfort issue — an unpleasant but manageable side effect of urban life. That view is changing as heatwaves become more frequent and more severe, turning what used to be an inconvenience into a genuine public health risk, particularly for elderly residents in poorly ventilated buildings. Some cities have begun responding with green roofs, lighter-coloured pavements that reflect rather than absorb sunlight, and ambitious tree-planting programmes. Whether these measures can keep pace with rising temperatures, however, remains an open question.»

How has the perception of the urban heat island effect changed, according to the text?