Survey of geopolitics

Geopolitics is a product of its time, and its definitions have evolved accordingly. Rudolphh Kjellén, who coined the term in 1899, described geopolitics as "the theory of the state as a geographical organism or phenomenon in space." For Karl Haushofer, the father of German geopolotik, "Geopolitics is the new national science of the state,(…) a doctrine on the spatial determinism of all political processes, based on the broad foundations of geography, especially of political geography". On the eve of World War II, Derwent Whittlesey, the American political geographer, considered geopolitics "a dogma*... the faith that the state is inherently entitled to its place in the sun". Richard Hartshorne defined it as "geography utilized for particular purposes that lie beyond the pursuit of scientific knowledge".

Read the comic strip and answer theQuestion.

TEXT

The Giant African snail (Achatina fulica) is a major pest in tropical countries. Current control methods involve the use of slug pellets (metaldehyde) but they are ineffective, therefore new methods of control are needed. We investigated whether A. fulica is susceptible to the gastropod parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, which has been developed as a biological control agent for slugs and snails in northern Europe. We exposed A. fulica to P. hermaphrodita applied at 30 and 150 nematodes per cm2 for 70 days and also assessed feeding inhibition and changes in snail weight. We show that unlike the susceptible slug species Deroceras panormitanum, which is killed less than 30 days of exposure to P. hermaphrodita, A. fulica is remarkably resistant to the nematode at both doses. Also P. hermaphrodita does not reduce feeding in A. fulica nor did it have any effect on weight gain over 70 days. Upon dissection of infected A. fulica we found that hundreds of P. hermaphrodita had been encapsulated, trapped and killed in the snail’s shell. We found that A. fulica is able to begin encapsulating P. hermaphrodita after just 3 days of exposure and the numbers of nematodes encapsulated increased over time. Taken together, we have shown that A. fulica is highly resistant to P. hermaphrodita, whichcould be due to an immune response dependent on the snail shell to encapsulate and kill invading parasitic nematodes.

Mark the correct option to complete the sentence below.

TEXTO:

Genealogy
Genealogy — finding out about your family
history — is one of the most popular hobbies in Europe.
There seems to have been strong interest in tracing our
ancestry recently, and across the continent people are
[5] discovering their roots. Some of these people were
adopted and are now trying to find their biological parents,
but many are driven by a chance to learn more about
where they fit in to their family’s past.
It is not surprising that the rise in popularity of
[10] genealogy is closely linked to the technological
revolution — there are hundreds, probably thousands of
websites offering to help make the work easier for you.
Society has changed too. We no longer live in close
communities because many people have had to move far
[15] from their hometowns in search of work. After the initial
excitement of moving to a new town or city, people have
a tendency to want to rediscover their identity.
So how do you do it? It might seem obvious, but
many people forget that they can find out a lot by speaking
[20] to older family members. Call up an old aunt — or pay
her a visit. Older relatives are usually more than willing to
talk about the past. Many families have a Bible or a
photograph album with important names and dates written
in it. Keep a careful record of all the information you find.
[25] When you have learned all you can, the next step
is to search official records. You can often do this at your
local town hall, courthouse, or church. The websites
mentioned earlier might be able to do this for you, but
you will probably have to pay to access their databases.

[30] Researching your ancestry is not easy. If you’re
planning to look back more than three generations, you
need to be prepared. There will be many hours searching
on a computer, on microfilm, or in public offices. You
might have to go long periods of time without making any
[35] significant discoveries, or it could be worse — you might
find that your ancestors were not very nice people at all!
(Adapted from “Q Skills For Success Level 2 Unit 5”, Oxford University Press)

California awaits “The Big One”

Back in the 1980s, scientists completed a ten-year survey on the earthquake risk in California; and they came up with an alarming prediction. The next "Big One", that massive earthquake that Californians know is coming, could well strike by or shortly after the year 2018. And Californians know that this prediction could be right. California often experiences earthquakes, and a "big one" is sure to hit the state again sometime soon. Larry Wood, who lives virtually on top of the "Hayward fault", knows what it is like to be in an earthquake.

California is known for its size, its sun, and its surf, its glamour and its optimism. But it is known too as "Earthquake Country" — a truly vulnerable region where big devastating quakes have occurred in the past and could happen again. It is unlikely that a disaster on the scale of recent disasters in Italy or Japan could occur in California; California has learnt from its past disasters, and most buildings are designed to withstand major quakes. Nevertheless, Californians are worried. When will the next big quake strike the state, and where will all the shaking and crumbling and rocking begin?

Nobody knows for sure, but at all times California is on the alert. The earth has been monitored with high-tech seismographs situated in universities and government research stations; they are constantly watched by highly-trained employees and volunteers from the California Office of Emergency Services; and students are given training in what to do in the event of an earthquake.

Working at Menlo Park, near Stanford University, in the middle of "Earthquake Country", scientists from the United States Geological Survey are always monitoring and studying fault systems, and trying to predict where earthquakes are going to take place next. […]

TEXTO:

More than 300 years after sinking with a cargo of

200 tons of gold, silver and precious stones (which would

amount to some US$ 10 billion in current values), the

Spanish ship San José has just been located off the coast

[5] of Colombia and has become the target of a diplomatic

dispute between Colombia and Spain.

The fortune which has been at the bottom of the

ocean since 1708 came from the mines that the Spanish

Empire exploited in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. Along with

[10] the treasure, the bodies of 600 sailors are likely to be in

the ship. “It is Colombian patrimony and it belongs to the

Colombian people. Now many people will say that they

are the owners of the ship, but it belongs to Colombia,”

says President Juan Manuel Santos, who has announced

[15] the plan of a museum in Cartagena to exhibit the objects

found in the ship as soon as they are recovered.

The Colombian government says the shipwreck is

in “very deep waters.” It has not estimated how long it

will take to recover its contents. The Spanish government,

[20] however, says it will not give up recovering the ship. “The

ship belongs to the Spanish government – it is not a

private vessel. There is government ownership wherever

it is,” says Spanish Chancellor José Manuel García

Margallo.

[25] The San José galleon was sunk after an ambush

by the English Navy to stop the shipment from reaching

and serving Philip V of Spain in Bourbon in a war for the

succession of the Spanish throne. The ship was loaded

at a port in Panama and was approaching Cartagena for

[30] a stopover. From there it would leave for Havana, Cuba

and later sail to its final destination, Cádiz, Spain. Near

Cartagena, however, the San José was ambushed by

ships under the command of Captain Charles Wager.

Eventually the Spanish were defeated after a two-day

[35] naval battle and the San José sank on June 8, 1708.

Fill in the parentheses with T (True) or F (False).

About the sunken ship, it’s correct to say:

( ) It is in relatively shallow waters.

( ) It was on its way back to Spain when it sank.

( ) It’s not yet known the amount of time needed to get back the things inside ship.

( ) The ship was attacked by the English Navy as soon as it left Havana.