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Reading: a false friend and a subjunctive cue in a short article

MATSEC IM Spanish · Put your knowledge to work in context.

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Reading: a false friend and a subjunctive cue in a short article

You are sitting the MATSEC Intermediate Spanish Reading paper: three texts, ten questions, 25 minutes. Text 2 is a short newspaper article about remote working. It contains the sentence: «Actualmente, muchas empresas permiten el teletrabajo, aunque es importante que los empleados desconecten al final del día». Question 6 asks: «¿Qué recomienda el texto a los empleados?» You read actualmente and think it means 'actually', so you choose the option that says employees should actually work in the office. You are also unsure about desconecten and decide it must be a noun. You still have Text 3 and two of its questions to do, and eight minutes left on the clock.

1. Explain the false-friend error with `actualmente` and show how the correct reading changes the answer.

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The false friend

  • English 'actually' = en realidad, de hecho.
  • Spanish actualmente = 'currently', 'nowadays', 'at present'. It is a time marker, not a contrast marker.

Effect on the question

  • The sentence opens with a time frame: currently, many companies allow remote work. That is background information.
  • The recommendation is introduced by aunque es importante que..., not by actualmente.
  • The option saying employees should 'actually work in the office' is built on the mistranslation and also contradicts permiten el teletrabajo.

Correct reading: the text recommends that employees disconnect / switch off at the end of the day. The word actualmente only tells you when the situation is true; it does not express the recommendation.

2. What does `es importante que los empleados desconecten` tell you grammatically about the function of the sentence, and how should that guide your answer?

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The grammatical signal

  • Es importante que + subjunctive is a value judgement / recommendation structure. Desconecten is third-person plural present subjunctive of desconectar.
  • The subjunctive after es importante que marks the clause as desired or recommended, not as a stated fact.

How to use it in the exam

  • When a question asks ¿Qué recomienda el texto...?, scan for triggers: es importante que, es necesario que, recomiendo que, conviene que, lo mejor es que. The answer normally sits in the clause that follows.
  • Do not waste time translating every word. Locate the trigger, then read the subjunctive clause.

Meaning of desconecten: from desconectar, 'to disconnect' - here, to stop working / switch off from work. It is a verb, not a noun; the ending -en after empleados confirms third-person plural.

Model answer: que los empleados desconecten al final del día.

3. With eight minutes left, Text 3 and two questions remaining, what is the most defensible time-management decision?

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Triage, not perfectionism.

  • Do not re-read Text 2. The two answers you have given there cannot be improved enough to justify losing Text 3 entirely; an unanswered question is a guaranteed zero.
  • Move to Text 3 and read the questions before the text. Question-first reading lets you scan for names, numbers and trigger phrases instead of translating every line.
  • Allocate roughly five minutes to Text 3 and its two questions, leaving three minutes to return to any item you flagged.

If you run out of time

  • Answer every item, even by elimination. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, and a plausible option chosen from the remaining two has a real chance of scoring.

Judgement principle: in a timed reading paper, coverage beats depth. A completed paper with some reasoned guesses usually scores higher than a partially completed paper with two perfect answers.