Lengua Extranjera: Inglés - Aragón PAU
The domain and what the exam tests
The Aragón PAU paper for Lengua Extranjera: Inglés is a written-only exam built around a short authentic-style text, usually 250–350 words. You normally choose between two options (A and B) and answer only one. Because listening and speaking are certified during the Bachillerato course and not tested in the sitting, every mark in the paper comes from three blocks: reading comprehension, controlled use of English, and written expression. The exam therefore rewards precision with the text and control of a small set of grammar transformations far more than general fluency.
What each block rewards
- Comprehension: true/false items with justification, short-answer questions, and reference questions (what does "it" refer to?). Marks come from locating the exact line, not from plausible general knowledge.
- Use of English: word formation from a root (PERFORM → performance), synonym or antonym matching, and sentence transformation - passive, reported speech, conditionals, relative clauses, modal rephrasing - always preserving meaning.
- Writing: an opinion/argument or narrative/descriptive piece of roughly 120–150 words, assessed for task achievement, organisation, cohesion, lexical range and grammatical accuracy.
Worked example
Item: Rewrite without changing the meaning: "I didn't know the answer, so I failed the test." Begin with If.
Step 1 - fix the time frame: both verbs are past and the result really happened, so this is a third conditional. Step 2 - invert the cause: the real past is didn't know, so the unreal past is had known. Step 3 - flip the result as well: failed becomes wouldn't have failed. Answer: If I had known the answer, I wouldn't have failed the test. Note what loses the mark: wouldn't fail (second/mixed conditional) changes the time reference; If I would have known is a classic interference error.
Traps that cost marks
- Justifying a true/false item by copying a whole paragraph instead of the single relevant clause.
- Answering in Spanish, or in note form, when full English sentences are required.
- Producing a grammatically tidy rewrite that changes the truth conditions - check meaning, not just tense.
- Ignoring the word limit, or writing a memorised essay that never actually addresses the prompt.
- False friends: actually is not "actualmente", sensible is not "sensible", library is not "librería".