FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES

PRUEBA DE ADMISIÓN A TRADUCTORADO 2010

“El Otro”
Por Jorge Luis Borges

El hecho ocurrió el mes de febrero de 1969, al norte de Boston, en Cambridge. No lo escribí

inmediatamente porque mi primer propósito fue olvidarlo, para no perder la razón. Ahora, en 1972, pienso
que si lo escribo, los otros lo leerán como un cuento y, con los años, lo será tal vez para mí. Sé que fue
casi atroz mientras duró y más aún durante las desveladas noches que lo siguieron. Ello no significa que
su relato pueda conmover a un tercero.

Serían las diez de la mañana. Yo estaba recostado en un banco, frente al río Charles. A unos quinientos
metros a mi derecha había un alto edificio, cuyo nombre no supe nunca. El agua gris acarreaba largos
trozos de hielo. Inevitablemente, el río hizo que yo pensara en el tiempo. La milenaria imagen de Heráclito.
Yo había dormido bien; mi clase de la tarde anterior había logrado, creo, interesar a los alumnos. No había
un alma a la vista.

Sentí de golpe la impresión (que según los psicólogos corresponde a los estados de fatiga) de haber vivido
ya aquel momento. En la otra punta de mi banco alguien se había sentado. Yo hubiera preferido estar solo,
pero no quise levantarme en seguida, para no mostrarme incivil. El otro se había puesto a silbar. Fue
entonces cuando ocurrió la primera de las muchas zozobras de esa mañana. Lo que silbaba, lo que
trataba de silbar (nunca he sido muy entonado), era el estilo criollo de La tapera de Elías Regules. El estilo
me retrajo a un patio, que ha desaparecido, y la memoria de Álvaro Melián Lafinur, que hace tantos años
ha muerto. Luego vinieron las palabras. Eran las de la décima del principio. La voz no era la de Álvaro,
pero quería parecerse a la de Álvaro. La reconocí con horror.
Me le acerqué y le dije:
-Señor, ¿usted es oriental o argentino?
-Argentino, pero desde el catorce vivo en Ginebra -fue la contestación.
Hubo un silencio largo. Le pregunté:
-¿En el número diecisiete de Malagnou, frente a la iglesia rusa?
Me contestó que sí.
-En tal caso -le dije resueltamente- usted se llama Jorge Luis Borges. Yo también soy Jorge Luis Borges.
Estamos en 1969, en la ciudad de Cambridge.
-No -me respondió con mi propia voz un poco lejana.
Al cabo de un tiempo insistió:
-Yo estoy aquí en Ginebra, en un banco, a unos pasos del Ródano. Lo raro es que nos parecemos, pero
usted es mucho mayor, con la cabeza gris.
Yo le contesté:
-Puedo probarte que no miento. Voy a decirte cosas que no puede saber un desconocido. En casa hay un
mate de plata con un pie de serpientes, que trajo de Perú nuestro bisabuelo. También hay una palangana
de plata, que pendía del arzón. En el armario de tu cuarto hay dos filas de libros. Los tres de volúmenes de
Las mil y una noches de Lane, con grabados en acero y notas en cuerpo menor entre capítulo, el
diccionario latino de Quicherat, la Germania de Tácito en latín y en la versión de Gordon, un Don Quijote
de la casa Garnier, las Tablas de Sangre de Rivera Indarte, con la dedicatoria del autor, el Sartor Resartus
de Carlyle, una biografía de Amiel y, escondido detrás de los demás, un libro en rústica sobre las
costumbres sexuales de los pueblos balkánicos. No he olvidado tampoco un atardecer en un primer piso
en la plaza Dubourg.
-Dufour -corrigió.
-Está bien. Dufour. ¿Te basta con todo eso?
-No -respondió-. Esas pruebas no prueban nada. Si yo lo estoy soñando, es natural que sepa lo que yo sé.
Su catálogo prolijo es del todo vano.
La objeción era justa. Le contesté:
-Si esta mañana y este encuentro son sueños, cada uno de los dos tiene que pensar que el soñador es él.
Tal vez dejemos de soñar, tal vez no. Nuestra evidente obligación, mientras tanto, es aceptar el sueño,
como hemos aceptado el universo y haber sido engendrados y mirar con los ojos y respirar.
-¿Y si el sueño durara? -dijo con ansiedad.
Para tranquilizarlo y tranquilizarme, fingí un aplomo que ciertamente no sentía. Le dije:
-Mi sueño ha durado ya setenta años. Al fin y al cabo, al recordarse, no hay persona que no se encuentre
consigo misma. Es lo que nos está pasando ahora, salvo que somos dos. ¿No querés saber algo de mi
pasado, que es el porvenir que te espera?
Parte A - Comprensión lectora

En cada numeral, señale la respuesta correcta. Debe indicar solamente una.

1) En este texto predomina

a) la narración de hechos. c) la crítica al país.
b) la información sobre objetos de su casa. d) la descripción de un tiempo ido.

2) El asunto central del texto es

a) la reencarnación del alma. c) un sueño hecho realidad.
b) un encuentro consigo mismo. d) una comparación sueño-realidad.

3) En el enunciado “Inevitablemente, el río hizo que yo pensara en el tiempo. La milenaria imagen de

Heráclito.” la expresión subrayada alude a la teoría de:
a) que con el pensamiento se llega a la verdad.
b) que todos somos uno.
c) que todo cambia y nada permanece igual.
d) que el sueño es una imagen de la realidad.

4) En el enunciado

“Yo hubiera preferido estar solo, pero no quise levantarme en seguida, para no mostrarme incivil.”

la palabra subrayada significa:

a) culturoso o altanero. c) poco urbano y ciudadano .

b) airoso o soberbio. d) mal educado, grosero.

5) En el fragmento de Borges presentado en este examen aparece muy claramente una

manifestación de lo que Gérard Genette entiende por intertextualidad: “la relación de
copresencia entre dos o más textos” o “presencia de un texto dentro de otro”. Cite al menos tres
ejemplos que ilustren este concepto de intertextualidad que aparezcan en dicho fragmento.

a)

b)

c)
Parte B - Expresión escrita

6) ¿Por qué motivo el “otro Borges” no aceptó las razones de Borges? ¿Qué argumentó al
respecto?

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7) ¿Qué beneficios obtuvo Borges al escribir este cuento?

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8) Transformar este pasaje al estilo indirecto
Le dije:
-Mi sueño ha durado ya setenta años. Al fin y al cabo, al recordarse, no hay persona que no se encuentre
consigo misma. Es lo que nos está pasando ahora, salvo que somos dos. ¿No querés saber algo de mi
pasado, que es el porvenir que te espera?

Le dije que ____________________________________________________________________________

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9) Sintetice el contenido del texto de Borges en dos párrafos, utilizando sus propias palabras
(extensión mínima: 90 palabras; extensión máxima: 140 palabras).

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 10) En un mínimo de 300 palabras, explique cuáles son las características que usted cree poseer y
que considera esenciales en un traductor o una traductora.

Parte B - CORRECCIÓN DE ERRORES

11) Cada uno de los siguientes enunciados presenta un error léxico, sintáctico, ortográfico o
cultural.
a) Subráyelo.
b) Corríjalo. Introduzca la menor cantidad de modificaciones posible.

1) El mundo está plagado de oportunidades para hacer negocios.

2) Mientras se realizan las pericias policiales, el acusado permanecerá detenido.

3) Los puertos de ambos márgenes del Río Uruguay están cerrados por la tormenta.

4) El vuelo de Air France llega a Carrasco en aproximadamente unos 35 minutos.

5) Sino hubiese intervenido la jueza, hoy continuaría preso.

6) Me compré un candado para que no me roben más la bicicleta.

7) Cuando estuvo en Gran Bretaña, recorrió el País de Gales, Escocia e Irlanda del Norte.

8) Son buenas las intenciones del presidente Mujica, pero aún hace falta mucho por hacer.

9) Mis amigos judíos festejarán estas navidades con sus respectivas familias.

10) Los estudiantes que hallan aprobado el ingreso deberán presentarse cuanto antes en

bedelía.

11) Te pidió que ordenes tu cuarto.

12) En Roma, ¿en qué hotel te quedastes?

 FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
LICENCIATURA EN TRADUCCIÓN

PRUEBA DE ADMISIÓN DE LENGUA INGLESA

SEPTIEMBRE DE 2010

PART I
The Rosetta Stone
1 Things were not going well for Ptolemy V, king of Egypt in the second century B.C. He was not
one of the all-powerful Egyptian pharaohs who had ruled for many centuries. The young king was
one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs who were of Greek heritage, descendants of a ruler put in place by
Alexander the Great when he conquered Egypt in the fourth century B.C. The reign of Ptolemy V
was a time of civil unrest and foreign incursions, and the king was unpopular. It was time for a
public-relations campaign. The priests of the king wrote a short history of the king’s family,
described his accomplishments, and explained his future plans. This message was written on stone
tablets in demotic Egyptian for the common people, in Egyptian hieroglyphs for the priests, and in
Greek for the ruling class. Thus, it was written in two languages but in three scripts. These tablets
were posted all over Egypt.
2 Almost two thousand years later, in 1799, the French army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, was
occupying Egypt. Several years earlier, Napoleon’s army had defeated the British army near Cairo
and had taken over the country. However, the British fleet had destroyed the French navy and
there was no way for the French soldiers to return home. During this “extended vacation,” French
military engineers strengthened existing defensive positions. In the port town of Rosetta (now
known as El-Rashid), the French were rebuilding an old fort when Captain Pierre-François Bouchard
discovered an irregularly shaped slab made of dark granite (often misidentified as basalt) with
three types of writings on it in three distinct bands. Besides military forces, Napoleon had also
brought scientists and scholars with him. The Rosetta Stone, as it became known, was turned over
to them. They quickly realized that the three scripts contained the same message. They translated
the Greek quickly but could not understand the other two scripts.
3 In 1801, the French were forced to surrender. Under the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria, the
British claimed the artifacts that the French had found during their occupation. The French tried to
smuggle the Rosetta Stone out of Egypt in a small boat but failed. The stone was brought to London
and presented to the British Museum. On the back of the stone is the painted message, “Captured
by the British Army in Egypt in 1801.”
4 It was through the Rosetta Stone that scholars learned how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. The
hieroglyphic alphabet, one of the earliest writing systems ever developed, had been used by the
Egyptians for 3,500 years. However, it is far more complex than simple picture writing and contains
thousands of symbols. After Egypt was conquered by the Romans, Latin became the dominant
language, and by the fourth century A.D., no one could understand the symbols. Before the Rosetta
Stone was discovered, some scholars even believed that hieroglyphs were not really an alphabet at
all but were merely decorations.
5 Copies of the Rosetta Stone were sent by the British Museum to linguists all over Europe, but
learning which Greek word represented which hieroglyph proved difficult. It was the brilliant
French linguist Jean François Champollion who finally unlocked the mystery. He began studying the
Rosetta Stone at the age of 18. After fourteen years, he deciphered the code. In a letter to the
French Royal Academy of Inscriptions, he explained the three basic assumptions that led to a
translation: (1) The Coptic Egyptian language, still spoken by a small group of Egyptians, was the
final stage of the ancient Egyptian language. Champollion could consult with experts on Coptic
Egyptian to learn about Ptolemaic Egyptian. (2) Hieroglyphs served not only as symbols of words
and ideas (ideograms) but also as symbols of spoken sounds (phonograms). (3) Certain hieroglyphs
enclosed in ovals were phonetic transcriptions of pharaohs’ names. Once these hieroglyphs were
understood, it was easier to decipher the rest. Armed with Champollion’s translation, scholars all
over the world took a new interest in Egypt and laid the foundation for our understanding of this
6 ancient civilization.
The Rosetta Stone is still displayed at the British Museum and is one of the most popular
exhibits there, but the Egyptian government wants it back. In 2003, Dr. Zahi Hawass, director of the
Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo and a noted archaeologist himself, formally requested its
return, saying, “The British…should volunteer to return the stone because it is the icon of our
Egyptian identity.”

Note:
demotic: describing a form of a language that is spoken by ordinary people

1) What was the original purpose of the Rosetta Stone?

a. To preserve the writing systems that were once used in ancient Egypt.
b. To record the history of the all-powerful pharaohs of Egypt.
c. To announce that a new king had been crowned.
d. To present information about the then current ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy V.

2) The word incursions in the passage is closest in meaning to

a. influences.
b. travelers.
c. invasions.
d. adventures.

3) It can be inferred from the information in paragraph 1 that the author believes that
a. demotic Egyptian and the form of Egyptian used by the priests were the same language.
b. the priests of ancient Egypt were all members of the ruling class.
c. demotic Egyptian was a spoken language that did not have a written form.
d. ancient Greek and demotic Egyptian were different languages but used the same script.

4) Why do you think the author put quotation marks (“ ”) around the phrase extended vacation in
paragraph 2?
a. The French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte used this exact phrase to refer to the time his
army spent in Egypt.
 b. The French Army was in Egypt because their fleet had been destroyed, not because they
were on vacation there.
c. The French were not really in Egypt for an extended period, but rather for a very short
time.
d. Unlike the soldiers, the scientists and scholars who came with Napoleon’s army were
enjoying their time in Egypt.

5) What was Pierre-François Bouchard’s probable occupation?

a. Captain of a warship.
b. Archaeologist.
c. Military engineer.
d. Linguist.

6) When writing about the Rosetta Stone, authors are sometimes mistaken about
a. the significance of the writing on it.
b. its true shape.
c. the name of the place where it was discovered.
d. the material it is made of.

7) The word bands in the passage is closest in meaning to

a. lines.
b. areas.
c. symbols.
d. pieces.

8) We can infer from the passage that the scholars mentioned in paragraph 4
a. did not think that the hieroglyphic alphabet could ever be translated.
b. were experts on the decorations used by the ancient Egyptians.
c. played an important role in deciphering the Rosetta Stone.
d. did not believe that Latin was ever the dominant language in Egypt.

9) Which of the following is NOT one of the assumptions that helped Champollion to translate the
Rosetta Stone?
a. That hieroglyphs represented not only words and ideas but also sounds.
b. That the three messages written on the stone did not have exactly the same meanings.
c. That some of the hieroglyphs set off from the others represented the names of
pharaohs.
d. That one form of modern Egyptian was related to the ancient Egyptian language.

10) The phrase the rest in paragraph 5 refers to

a. pharaoh’s names.
b. ovals.
 c. scholars.
d. hieroglyphs.

11) How does the author emphasize the point that is made in paragraph 6?
a. By making a comparison.
b. By asking the reader a question.
c. By quoting an expert.
d. By summarizing the previous paragraph.

PART II

Equal at work?

In the early seventies, when the Department of Employment and EEC alike said the answer to
women’s low pay –and perhaps to poverty in general– was for women ‘to break through the ring-
fence of special women’s employment’, it seemed improbable this social transformation would
ever be achieved.
5 Hedged about by our own self-images, as much as by the opposition of employers, unions and
husbands, it looked as if it would be impossible for us to grasp that the roles of Pamela the Great
Man’s Handmaiden and Dora the tea-lady were roles, imposed from outside, and not the limits of
our capacities.
Events since have demonstrated the untruth of these impressions. Women of all types have
10 blazed trails in new areas, so that in a matter of a few years the impossible has happened. There
are women piloting British airliners, women as navigating and radio officers on ships, women
detective superintendents leading murder enquiries, women military officers performing strenuous
training exercises –all on equal terms.
The change has not been one of revolutionary speed but it has spread through a wide range of
15 jobs. It is no longer only university graduates and the like who are breaking the boundaries of
tradition. The late seventies was the time when June Wilson, a cleaning lady, Alison Crompton, a
nightclub hostess, and Rosalba Turi, a clothing factory presser, left their ‘traditional’ jobs and
became crane drivers. It was the time when Colette Clark and Margaret Chairman resisted all their
schools’ pressure for them to become shopgirls, clerks and seamstresses, to take up electrical
20 trades apprenticeships. When Maureen Marshall gave up assembly work for skilled joinery. When
Cristina Stuart, who abandoned her secretarial work to travel the roads of Europe as a rep, became
Sales Manager of her Publishing House.
Even without high-flying ambitions, work of a more masculine cast has strong advantages. At
Maureen Marshall’s factory in Doncaster, work had been traditionally segregated –even though,
25 ironically, all the work involved was of a ‘masculine’ character in a joinery factory making doors,
window-frames and even housefronts. The bulk of the labour, however, was female and it was the
women who supplied the joinery work which was frequently very heavy. Meanwhile the men
minded cutting machines and drove fork-lift trucks at higher rates of pay.
The men were allowed day-release to become skilled apprentices; the women remained, in
30 paper terms, uneducated even after 28 years in the same factory, and even when they were
privately skilled in advanced cabinet-making. The men, as qualified machinists, had the option of
moving elsewhere if better jobs presented themselves. And they progressed up the firm to become
foremen and managers. The women, technically unqualified, were considered good only for the
 exact job they were in, however skilled they might individually be. When equal pay legislation came
35 into force, the work done by the women, which in the pre-war past had been done by recognized
qualified joiners, was downgraded by the employer to unskilled, and continued at unequal rate to
the men’s. Maureen, whose foreman had encouraged her to move into the male area, was one of
the few who got equal pay, and has a foot on the ladder towards supervisory work, or work options
elsewhere.
40 Another problem for women, according to an industrial psychologist, is that ‘they consistently
undervalue themselves’, taking a humble viewpoint. Cristina Stuart, in fact, has learned the male
technique of making her own chances. ‘There really are things you have to grow out of once you’re
moving, that sort of feeling you have at first of just being grateful for having a place on the bench
alongside the big boys, that initial wondering when you’re talking to directors and managers in
45 other companies of whether it will come over as what you intend, or whether they’ll take what you
say as female chatter. You have to train yourself out of that female lack of assertiveness. At least, I
don’t think it is specifically female – you see it in men too – they have to make an effort when they
move into management from another job, to get the style – though I think it’s harder for women
because it goes against a lifetime’s training. And you’ve also got to counter that female tendency to
50 be overhelpful, insufficiently competitive and wary.
‘And it is possible. Bit by bit, when you find things work, that you are effective, that you are
indubitably really there as far as work results are concerned, any feeling that you are wearing a
disguise gradually melts away. Suddenly you wake up one morning and you are a manager in the
whole way you react and act and think, and it is second nature. There are an awful lot of girls in
55 jobs below their capacities simply because of the way they think about themselves. In the end it all
boils down to a matter of attitude.’
It is evident that women can, and are, adapting themselves to male professions. But for true
equality, why can there not be a further stage – unmentioned as yet – valuing women’s jobs
properly. Why should not a nurse or a home help be considered as valuable and paid as well as a
carpenter or plumber? When this equation is solved, equality will be here.

from ‘Driver, banker, carpenter, sailor’ by Lyn Owen in the Observer, London

Now answer the following questions.

1) What do you understand by the phrase ‘the ring-fence of special women’s employment’ (lines 2-
3)?
2) In what way is it suggested that women themselves have contributed to their inequality at
work?
3) What does the expression ‘blazed trails’ (lines 9-10) suggest about the achievements of the
women mentioned?
4) What was unusual about the choice of crane driving as a job for the three women?
5) Why do you think there was pressure from schools for girls to take certain jobs?
6) Explain the phrase ‘in paper terms’ (lines 29-30).
7) Why was equal pay legislation ineffective?
8) Explain in your own words what Maureen Marshall has gained, apart from equal pay.
9) What fear do women often have when addressing senior staff, according to Cristina Stuart?
10) What masculine characteristics does she suggest that women should cultivate in order to fight
inequality at work?
 11) What does ‘it’ (line 50) refer to?
12) Explain ‘it is second nature’ (line 53).
13) Summarise in a paragraph of 50-100 words the disadvantages which women have suffered from
at work, as described by the author.

Part III

Each of the following sentences contains one mistake. Please identify it and provide the correct
version.

1. Contemporary poet Allen Ginsberg prides him on the ability to create poetry which invites
complete emotional and physical participation by his audience.

2. According to many economists, international specialization in the production of some goods,

such as cars and computers, increase world efficiency and output, making all nations richer.

3. Walking along the shore, it started raining so heavily that we had to take refuge in our car and
wait until the storm subdued.

4. It was his refusal to cooperate what made me lose my temper and yell at him.

5. However unavoidable the Civil War may have been, it was more devastating also exhausting
than any European war between 1815 and 1914.

6. Generally speaking, proteins that come from animal sources are complete whereas those that
come from another sources are incomplete proteins.

7. When I told my friend that I wanted to change jobs she suggested me to upload my CV in
LinkedIn.

8. The nests of most bird species are strategic placed to camouflage them against predators.

9. Under no circumstances you are allowed to smoke inside the premises.

10. It’s a pity I missed that concert. I wish somebody told me about it.

PART IV

Because of computers, telephones, and other means of technology, it is now possible for many people
to work at home. Some people prefer working at home, while others would rather work in an office.
Which of these do you prefer and why?
Write an essay responding to the issue raised in this extract and expressing your own views. Write
your answer in 300-350 words (minimum), and in an appropriate style.
 FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
LICENCIATURA EN TRADUCCIÓN

PRUEBA DE ADMISIÓN DE TRADUCCIÓN

SEPTIEMBRE DE 2010

Literature and the mathematician

At age twenty, Galileo noticed a lamp swinging overhead while he was in a cathedral.
Curious to find out how long it took the lamp to swing back and forth, he used his pulse to
time large and small swings. Galileo discovered something that no one else had ever
realized: the period of each swing was exactly the same. The law of the pendulum, which
would eventually be used to regulate clocks, made Galileo Galilei instantly famous.

Except for mathematics, Galileo Galilei was bored with university. Galileo's family was
informed that their son was in danger of flunking out. A compromise was worked out, where
Galileo would be tutored full-time in mathematics by the mathematician of the Tuscan court.
Galileo's father, who was a musician, was hardly overjoyed about this turn of events, since
a mathematician's earning power was roughly around that of a musician, but it seemed that
this might yet allow Galileo to successfully complete his college education. However, Galileo
soon left the University of Pisa without a degree.

To earn a living, Galileo Galilei started tutoring students in mathematics. He did some
experimenting with floating objects, developing a balance that could tell him that a piece of,
say, gold was 19.3 times heavier than the same volume of water. He also started
campaigning for his life's ambition: a position on the mathematics faculty at a major
university. Although Galileo was clearly brilliant, he had offended many people in the field,
who would choose other candidates for vacancies.

Ironically, it was a lecture on literature that would turn Galileo's fortunes. The Academy of
Florence had been arguing over a 100-year-old controversy: What were the location, shape,
and dimensions of Dante's Inferno? Galileo Galilei wanted to seriously answer the question
from the point of view of a scientist. Extrapolating from Dante's line that "[the giant
Nimrod's] face was about as long/And just as wide as St. Peter's cone in Rome," Galileo
deduced that Lucifer himself was 2,000 armlengths long. The audience was impressed, and
within the year, Galileo had received a three-year appointment to the University of Pisa, the
same university that never granted him a degree.