Among the saddest aspects of old time mining were the accidents suffered by boys -some of quite tender years- and by the young girls employed in surface operations. Before the invention of automatic machinery to carry out the various refining processes, every mine required a large amount of this kind of poorly-paid, unskilled labour; and the general poverty prevailing at the time compelled parents to send children into this kind of employment to raise the family income.Many of the resulting accidents to children were caused by their disobedience or playfulness. A grim example of this occurred at Dolcoath in Wales, in April 1869. During the previous summer, the boys had begun the practice of climbing on to the wooden roofs of the houses in the mine to eat their dinner. They preferred this airy and elevated place to the room provided for them; but as this open-air dining injured the roofs and put the kids in danger, they were scolded and fined for this offence by the owners.One day a little boy of eight was released at twelve for his dinner. Half an hour later he was found crying for help from the top of a cottage: the roof was so damaged that it could not stand the weight of his body.
Thursday
Children on the mines
Among the saddest aspects of old time mining were the accidents suffered by boys -some of quite tender years- and by the young girls employed in surface operations. Before the invention of automatic machinery to carry out the various refining processes, every mine required a large amount of this kind of poorly-paid, unskilled labour; and the general poverty prevailing at the time compelled parents to send children into this kind of employment to raise the family income.Many of the resulting accidents to children were caused by their disobedience or playfulness. A grim example of this occurred at Dolcoath in Wales, in April 1869. During the previous summer, the boys had begun the practice of climbing on to the wooden roofs of the houses in the mine to eat their dinner. They preferred this airy and elevated place to the room provided for them; but as this open-air dining injured the roofs and put the kids in danger, they were scolded and fined for this offence by the owners.One day a little boy of eight was released at twelve for his dinner. Half an hour later he was found crying for help from the top of a cottage: the roof was so damaged that it could not stand the weight of his body.
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A. In your own words and based on the ideas from the text answer these questions. Be careful with the grammar. Write precise answers. (Puntuación máxima: 2)
1. Why was child labour common in mines?
2. Why was the practice of eating on the roofs disapproved of by the mine owners?
B. Are the following statements TRUE of FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No mark are given for only True or False. (Puntuación máxima: 2)
1. All accidents in the mine were due to the danger of the work carried out by the children.
2. Children ate on the roofs because they did not have a proper place for dinner.
C. Find the words or phrases in the text that mean: (Puntuación máxima: 1)
1. not specialized (paragraph 1):
2. forced (paragraph 1):
3. sad (paragraph 2):
4. reproved (paragraph 1):
D. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the words in brackets when given. (Puntuación máxima: 2)
1.(the) 5th April 1869, only three men were work when the accident happened.
2. Did (you see) the documentary about child labour TV yesterday? It was very shocking.
3. Put in the passive:
The workers immediately organised a search party to find the missing miners.
4. Put in order these words to make a meaningful sentence: / enough to eat/ do/ the/ children/ many/ world/ have/ not/ in/
5. Write about 60 to 100 words on ONE of the following topics. Do not copy from the text. (Puntuación máxima: 3)
5.a. What can be done today to fight against child labour in developing countries?
5.b. What are the main problems of children in Spain?
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