Questões de Inglês

The President is Missing

By Bill Clinton and James Patterson

When Tom Wolfe noted that “the problem with fiction” is that “it has to be plausible,” he may have had efforts like this one in mind. Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s ambitious and wildly readable new novel, “The President Is Missing,” arches more closely toward plausibility in its geopolitical subplots — threats against the Saudi king, malicious Russian meddling in world affairs — than its main story line of a president who ditches his handlers and goes rogue from the White House, convinced he is the only one who can foil a huge cyberterror plot.

The book opens with a charged scene in which President Jonathan Duncan is participating in a mock hearing to prepare for a congressional inquiry investigating the botched attempt to capture a terrorist. When the president loses his temper, he vindicates the advisers who have cautioned him not to appear before the actual committee. It’s a satisfying outcome for the former senior staffer in me — but unrealistic, considering the picture of the president that unfolds on the subsequent pages.

Disponível em . Acesso em 20 de jul. 2018.

Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburg, Florida

One of the most dog-friendly beaches in Florida, Fort De Soto State Park not only welcomes pets on the sand, but also has special Paw Playgrounds for big and small dogs with shade and water stations. Dogs must be leashed when they enter and exit the beach, but can enjoy the water and sand off leash with their owners the rest of their visit. In a recently released survey, Fort De Soto was one of Invitation Homes Top 10 Dog Beaches, where factors such as leash laws, whether pets can go in the water, what times of the year pets are allowed on the beach, and whether there is a pet-only section were evaluated. “For anyone who lives near the beach or takes their pet on vacation, there is nothing like seeing the joy of your ‘best friend’ frolicking in the sand,” says Marnie Vaughn, vice president of operations in Florida.

Disponível em <https://www.rd.com/advice/pets/dog-friendly-beaches/1/>. Acesso em 10 de ago. 2018.

Fort De Soto Park, St. Petersburg, Florida

One of the most dog-friendly beaches in Florida, Fort De Soto State Park not only welcomes pets on the sand, but also has special Paw Playgrounds for big and small dogs with shade and water stations. Dogs must be leashed when they enter and exit the beach, but can enjoy the water and sand off leash with their owners the rest of their visit. In a recently released survey, Fort De Soto was one of Invitation Homes Top 10 Dog Beaches, where factors such as leash laws, whether pets can go in the water, what times of the year pets are allowed on the beach, and whether there is a pet-only section were evaluated. “For anyone who lives near the beach or takes their pet on vacation, there is nothing like seeing the joy of your ‘best friend’ frolicking in the sand,” says Marnie Vaughn, vice president of operations in Florida.

Disponível em <https://www.rd.com/advice/pets/dog-friendly-beaches/1/>. Acesso em 10 de ago. 2018.

Tech users have long questioned whether mobile devices and smart speakers eavesdrop on their private conversations. Apple answered that question Tuesday with a resounding no.

In a letter to federal lawmakers, the tech giant insisted that iPhones do not listen to what users are saying and said third-party app developers don't have access to audio data.

"iPhone doesn't listen to consumers except to recognize the clear, unambiguous audio trigger 'Hey Siri,'" Timothy Powderly, Apple's director of Federal Government Affairs, wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNN.

"The customer is not our product, and our business model does not depend on collecting vast amounts of personally identifiable information to enrich targeted profiles marketed to advertisers," he added.

Disponível em <https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/08/technology/apple-iphone-listening/index.html>. Acesso em 08 de ago. 2018.

Tech users have long questioned whether mobile devices and smart speakers eavesdrop on their private conversations. Apple answered that question Tuesday with a resounding no.

In a letter to federal lawmakers, the tech giant insisted that iPhones do not listen to what users are saying and said third-party app developers don't have access to audio data.

"iPhone doesn't listen to consumers except to recognize the clear, unambiguous audio trigger 'Hey Siri,'" Timothy Powderly, Apple's director of Federal Government Affairs, wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNN.

"The customer is not our product, and our business model does not depend on collecting vast amounts of personally identifiable information to enrich targeted profiles marketed to advertisers," he added.

Disponível em <https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/08/technology/apple-iphone-listening/index.html>. Acesso em 08 de ago. 2018.

O texto a seguir é referência para a questão.

Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots

  The French philosopher René Descartes was reputedly fond of automata: they inspired his view that living things were biological machines that function like clockwork. Less known is a strange story that began to circulate after the philosopher’s death in 1650. This centred on Descartes’s daughter Francine, who died of scarlet fever at the age of five.

  According to the tale, a distraught Descartes had a clockwork Francine made: a walking, talking simulacrum. When Queen Christina invited the philosopher to Sweden in 1649, he sailed with the automaton concealed in a casket. Suspicious sailors forced the trunk open; when the mechanical child sat up to greet them, the horrified crew threw it overboard.

  The story is probably apocryphal. But it sums up the hopes and fears that have been associated with human-like machines for nearly three millennia. Those who build such devices do so in the hope that they will overcome natural limits – in Descartes’s case, death itself. But this very unnaturalness terrifies and repulses others. In our era of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), those polarized responses persist, with pundits and the public applauding or warning against each advance. Digging into the deep history of intelligent machines, both real and imagined, we see how these attitudes evolved: from fantasies of trusty mechanical helpers to fears that runaway advances in technology might lead to creatures that supersede humanity itself.

(Disponível em: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05773-y>.)