Questões de Inglês

DIGGING FOR TRUTH

 

[1]    An odd couple—Nicaragua’s left-wing government and a Chinese-born telecoms magnate—say that, on December 22^nd 2014, they will begin the
realisation of a dream that has captivated Nicaraguans for generations: the construction of an inter-oceanic canal to rival Panama’s. According to Manuel
Coronel, an octogenarian who runs the canal authority, their intentions are now beyond dispute. “When the bride and groom set a date, you know it’s
serious,” he says.
[2]    But ask Mr Coronel just where construction will begin and who will pay for it, and he has no answers. Neither does HKND, the Hong Kong-based company
run by Wang Jing, which is to build the $50 billion waterway. The project has been shrouded in secrecy since Nicaragua’s National Assembly awarded a
50-year concession to HKND in 2013. No feasibility study, environmental-impact report, business case or financing plan has yet been released. Instead
come platitudes from the government of Daniel Ortega about how it will bring a jobs bonanza and end poverty.
[3]    So far, it has brought as much fear as hope. Since Chinese-speaking surveyors, backed by Nicaraguan soldiers and police, began assessing land and
houses along the canal’s proposed 278km (172-mile) route a few months ago, peasants fearful of their land being expropriated have taken to the streets
16 times. On December 10th several thousand, shouting “We don’t want the Chinese”, protested in Managua, the capital, despite police efforts to keep
them in their villages, activists say. Boatmen in Punta Gorda on the Caribbean coast have refused to transport heavy machinery to be used to begin
construction, fearing their livelihoods will be harmed.
[4]    In November the Nicaraguan Academy of Science convened a panel of experts to demand clarification of the impact of dredging sediment along a
105km stretch of Lake Nicaragua. They said it could damage drinking water, irrigation systems, fishing and biodiversity in one of Latin America’s greatest
tropical lakes. Engineers say the proposed canal, which is aimed at enticing bigger ships than those now able to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific,
could run massively over budget and provoke further widening of the Panama Canal, which would ruin its business case.
[5]    Many still doubt it will ever be built. Carlos Fernando Chamorro, editor of an anti-Ortega publication, Confidencial, says the only groundbreaking on
December 22nd will be for an access road to a proposed port near Brito, on the Pacific coast, at what is expected to be one entrance to the canal. Some
experts think the port, a proposed airport nearby and a free-trade zone may be as far as the canal gets.
[6]    But the case for a canal may not rest only on tolls and jobs. China may see it as a strategic route to the Atlantic, says Evan Ellis of the United States Army
War College. If so, it might be built after all.But the case for a canal may not rest only on tolls and jobs. China may see it as a strategic route to the Atlantic, says Evan Ellis of the United States Army
War College. If so, it might be built after all.

Adapted from The Economist, December 20, 2014

At the beginning of paragraph 3, the sentence “So far, it has brought as much fear as hope” most likely refers to which of the following?

DIGGING FOR TRUTH

 

[1]    An odd couple—Nicaragua’s left-wing government and a Chinese-born telecoms magnate—say that, on December 22^nd 2014, they will begin the
realisation of a dream that has captivated Nicaraguans for generations: the construction of an inter-oceanic canal to rival Panama’s. According to Manuel
Coronel, an octogenarian who runs the canal authority, their intentions are now beyond dispute. “When the bride and groom set a date, you know it’s
serious,” he says.
[2]    But ask Mr Coronel just where construction will begin and who will pay for it, and he has no answers. Neither does HKND, the Hong Kong-based company
run by Wang Jing, which is to build the $50 billion waterway. The project has been shrouded in secrecy since Nicaragua’s National Assembly awarded a
50-year concession to HKND in 2013. No feasibility study, environmental-impact report, business case or financing plan has yet been released. Instead
come platitudes from the government of Daniel Ortega about how it will bring a jobs bonanza and end poverty.
[3]    So far, it has brought as much fear as hope. Since Chinese-speaking surveyors, backed by Nicaraguan soldiers and police, began assessing land and
houses along the canal’s proposed 278km (172-mile) route a few months ago, peasants fearful of their land being expropriated have taken to the streets
16 times. On December 10th several thousand, shouting “We don’t want the Chinese”, protested in Managua, the capital, despite police efforts to keep
them in their villages, activists say. Boatmen in Punta Gorda on the Caribbean coast have refused to transport heavy machinery to be used to begin
construction, fearing their livelihoods will be harmed.
[4]    In November the Nicaraguan Academy of Science convened a panel of experts to demand clarification of the impact of dredging sediment along a
105km stretch of Lake Nicaragua. They said it could damage drinking water, irrigation systems, fishing and biodiversity in one of Latin America’s greatest
tropical lakes. Engineers say the proposed canal, which is aimed at enticing bigger ships than those now able to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific,
could run massively over budget and provoke further widening of the Panama Canal, which would ruin its business case.
[5]    Many still doubt it will ever be built. Carlos Fernando Chamorro, editor of an anti-Ortega publication, Confidencial, says the only groundbreaking on
December 22nd will be for an access road to a proposed port near Brito, on the Pacific coast, at what is expected to be one entrance to the canal. Some
experts think the port, a proposed airport nearby and a free-trade zone may be as far as the canal gets.
[6]    But the case for a canal may not rest only on tolls and jobs. China may see it as a strategic route to the Atlantic, says Evan Ellis of the United States Army
War College. If so, it might be built after all.But the case for a canal may not rest only on tolls and jobs. China may see it as a strategic route to the Atlantic, says Evan Ellis of the United States Army
War College. If so, it might be built after all.

Adapted from The Economist, December 20, 2014

According to the information in the article,

ATAQUE TERRORISTA A HOTEL DEIXA 18 MORTOS

 

    Pessoas que estavam no Hotel Intercontinental de Cabul enfrentaram 12 horas de horror. Entre os mortos, estão 14 estrangeiros. O comando invadiu o hotel pouco depois das 21 horas de sábado, provocando uma explosão para abrir caminho antes de atirar. “Todos os agressores foram abatidos, 126 pessoas foram resgatadas”, declarou o porta-voz do Ministério do Interior, Najib Danish.

Disponível em: https://www.opovo.com.br/. Acesso em: 22 jan. 2018. 

 

How can you rewrite the sentence “Todos os agressores foram abatidos, 126 pessoas foram resgatadas”?

SACRAMENTO

 

    California’s capital emerges from a lengthy stretch of small stature to become a spotlight city where the gold nuggets aren’t hard to mine.

    California’s capital city has long lived in the shadows of its flashier neighbors. Sandwiched between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, “Sac”, as the locals call it, is often underestimated and overlooked as a small and sleepy cow town – a rest stop on the way to greener and glitzier pastures. But thanks to the downtown revitalization and the rousing success of “Lady Bird” – Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-nominated homage to her home town – Sacramento has suddenly, and rightfully, thrust into the spotlight.

Disponível em: https://www.washingtonpost.com/. Acesso em: 14 mar. 20181 

 

As mentioned in the text, Sacramento was never really a first option city for the many tourists that visit California each year. However, things appear to have changed lately. Choose the best option based on the facts from the text.

TINY, WEALTHY QATAR GOES ITS OWN WAY, AND PAYS FOR IT

 

    Among Persian Gulf states, Qatar was the picked-on little sibling. Gas riches and an independentminded ruling family changed that. Now it’s in the fight of its life. For the emir of Qatar, there has been little that money can’t buy. He helped bring the 2022 World Cup to Qatar at an estimated cost of $200 billion, a major coup for a country that had never qualified for the tournament.

Disponível em: https://www.nytimes.com/. Acesso em: 22 jan. 2018. 

 

Qatar é um pequeno país no Oriente Médio e sempre foi o irmão com quem os outros mexiam. No entanto, muito dinheiro e uma mente diferente mudaram o formato do país. Escolha a frase que contém a mesma forma verbal de ‘...a major coup for a country that had never qualified for the tournament.’

AMAZON OPENS A SUPERMARKET WITH NO CHECKOUTS

 

    In a move that could revolutionize the way we buy groceries, Amazon opens its first supermarket without checkouts – human or self-service – to shoppers on Monday. Amazon Go, In Seattle, has been tested by staff for the past year. Purchases are billed to customers’ credit cards when they leave the store.

Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42769096. Acesso em: 22 jan. 2018.

 

The future is here. Even though lots of people still complain about groceries’ checkout lines, they soon will cease to exist. To add to the already faster self-service checkout, Amazon has now changed everything we believed in. Read the options and choose the one that best summaries the central idea of the article.