Theme 2.2: Healthy living and lifestyle - Reading comprehension
Theme 2.2 reading comprehension, on healthy living and lifestyle, covers texts about diet, exercise, sleep and habits linked to health, including giving up harmful habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol or an unhealthy diet. The examiner is testing whether a student can extract precise frequency and quantity information (todos los días, dos veces por semana, nunca), recognise obligation and advice structures (hay que, deberias, es importante) as distinct from statements of current fact, and follow a contrast between how someone used to live and how they live now, usually signalled by a shift from the imperfect tense to the present tense. Texts range from personal accounts of lifestyle change to magazine-style advice articles and interviews with athletes.
Before you start
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Method
- Decide first whether the text is informative (facts or statistics about teenage health) or a personal account (a first-person description of habits), since this affects what kind of detail the questions will target.
- Underline frequency and quantity adverbs (todos los días, dos veces a la semana, nunca, casi nunca) attached to health-related verbs (como, hago ejercicio, fumo, bebo alcohol, duermo) to answer how often or how much questions precisely.
- Watch negation carefully: ya no fumo (I no longer smoke) is not the same as nunca he fumado (I have never smoked) - the first admits a past habit that has stopped, the second denies the habit ever existed, and this distinction is a common true/false trap.
- Spot comparative and superlative health claims (más sano que, el hábito más peligroso) and identify exactly which two things are being compared.
- Note obligation and advice structures (hay que, deberiamos, es importante, es necesario) as recommended action rather than a statement of what someone actually does.
- Track cause-and-effect connectives (por eso, ya que, debido a) that link a habit directly to a health outcome, since questions often ask for the stated cause of a problem.
- For any numerical health data, such as hours of sleep or exercise, read carefully for the precise figure and unit being asked for, not just the nearest number in the sentence.
Worked example
Read this extract and decide whether the statement that follows is true, false or not mentioned. Texto: Antes comía muchas patatas fritas y nunca hacía ejercicio, pero desde el año pasado como más fruta y verdura y voy al gimnasio tres veces por semana. Afirmación: El chico ha cambiado sus hábitos alimenticios pero todavía no hace ejercicio.
- Identify the imperfect-tense verbs describing the past habit: comía (used to eat) and nunca hacía ejercicio (never used to exercise).
- Identify the present-tense verbs describing the current habit: como más fruta y verdura (I eat more fruit and vegetables) and voy al gimnasio (I go to the gym).
- Note the time marker desde el año pasado (since last year), which confirms both changes happened together, not just the diet.
- Compare this to the statement, which claims he still does not exercise. Since the text says he now goes to the gym three times a week, the statement is false.
Practice questions
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Q1What is the difference in meaning between 'ya no fumo' and 'nunca he fumado'?Show answer
Answer: 'Ya no fumo' means I no longer smoke (I used to but stopped); 'nunca he fumado' means I have never smoked at all.
Q2Translate into English: 'Deberia dormir ocho horas cada noche, pero normalmente solo duermo seis.'Show answer
Answer: I should sleep eight hours every night, but I normally only sleep six.
Q3In 'Hago ejercicio tres veces por semana', how often does the person exercise?Show answer
Answer: Three times a week.
Q4What does 'llevar una vida sana' mean in English?Show answer
Answer: To lead a healthy life/lifestyle.
Q5True or false: 'Es importante comer bien' describes what someone actually does, rather than advice.Show answer
Answer: False - it is advice/a recommendation (it is important to...), not a statement of fact about behaviour.
Q6A text says 'Como consecuencia de fumar tanto, mi abuelo tiene problemas de salud.' What is identified as the cause of the health problems?Show answer
Answer: Smoking a lot/heavy smoking.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Lee el texto y contesta a las preguntas en inglés. Me llamo Adrián y soy futbolista semiprofesional. Para rendir bien en los partidos, sigo una dieta muy estricta: como muchas proteinas, verduras y cereales integrales, y evito la comida basura casi por completo. Antes tomaba muchos refrescos con azucar, pero ahora solo bebo agua y zumo natural. Entreno cinco días a la semana y también hago yoga los domingos para relajarme, ya que el estres antes de un partido importante puede afectar mi rendimiento. Duermo al menos ocho horas cada noche porque el descanso es tan importante como el entrenamiento mismo. Sin embargo, admito que a veces me cuesta resistirme a un trozo de tarta de cumpleaños. (a) Name two types of food Adrián eats as part of his strict diet. (b) What has changed about what Adrián drinks? (c) How many days a week does Adrián train? (d) Why does Adrián do yoga on Sundays? (e) According to Adrián, how important is sleep compared to training? (f) What does Adrián admit at the end of the text?
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Lee el texto y contesta a las preguntas. Un instituto de Madrid ha decidido prohibir la venta de refrescos y chucherias en la cafeteria del centro. Según la directora, uno de cada tres alumnos comía algo poco saludable cada día antes de las clases. Ahora la cafeteria solo vende agua, zumos naturales, fruta y bocadillos caseros. Algunos estudiantes están de acuerdo con la medida porque creen que les ayudara a concentrarse mejor, sin embargo, otros piensan que el instituto no deberia decidir lo que comen fuera de casa. A pesar de las quejas, la directora afirma que no va a cambiar de opinion, ya que la salud de los alumnos es la prioridad principal del centro. ¿Verdadero, falso o no se menciona? (a) La cafeteria vende ahora más chucherias que antes. (b) Según la directora, uno de cada tres alumnos comía algo poco saludable. (c) Todos los estudiantes están completamente de acuerdo con la nueva medida. (d) La cafeteria ha cerrado por completo. (e) La directora piensa cambiar de opinion pronto. Elige la opción correcta para (f): Según la directora, la prioridad principal del instituto es (i) ganar más dinero, (ii) la salud de los alumnos, (iii) tener más alumnos.
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