Questões de Inglês

Facebook and Google Are Going To War Against Hate Speech

Offending posts will be deleted within 24 hours

 

    Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Microsoft have agreed to work with European officials to crack down on hateful speech published on their respective platforms. Each company has agreed to review potentially problematic posts and remove offending content within 24 hours.

    “The recent terror attacks have reminded us of the urgent need to address illegal online hate speech,” Vĕra Jourová, EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said in a joint statement from the European Commission and the participating companies. “Social media is unfortunately one of the tools that terrorist groups use to radicalize young people and racist use to spread violence and hatred.”

    The new partnership comes after Facebook, Twitter, and Google agreed to erase hate speech from their platforms within 24 hours in Germany, an attempt to address racism following the refugee crisis. That agreement, which Reuters reported last year, also made it easier for individual users to report hateful speech.

    Under the new code of conduct, technology companies will have clear rules in place for reviewing content that may be deemed malicious or hateful. The document also says the companies should be responsible for educating their users on the types of content that are disallowed.

    Tech companies assure that the recently announced code of conduct won’t interfere with freedom of speech. “We remain committed to letting the Tweets flow,” Karen White, Twitter’s head of public policy for Europe, said in the statement. “However, there is a clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate.”

(Time Magazine, May 31, 2016)

 

Glossary: hate speech – discurso de ódio; to agree: concordar; to erase: apagar; partnership – parceria.

A nova parceria entre as redes sociais surgiu após:

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The Giant African snail (Achatina fulica) is a major pest in tropical countries. Current control methods involve the use of slug pellets (metaldehyde) but they are ineffective, therefore new methods of control are needed. We investigated whether A. fulica is susceptible to the gastropod parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, which has been developed as a biological control agent for slugs and snails in northern Europe. We exposed A. fulica to P. hermaphrodita applied at 30 and 150 nematodes per cm2 for 70 days and also assessed feeding inhibition and changes in snail weight. We show that unlike the susceptible slug species Deroceras panormitanum, which is killed less than 30 days of exposure to P. hermaphrodita, A. fulica is remarkably resistant to the nematode at both doses. Also P. hermaphrodita does not reduce feeding in A. fulica nor did it have any effect on weight gain over 70 days. Upon dissection of infected A. fulica we found that hundreds of P. hermaphrodita had been encapsulated, trapped and killed in the snail’s shell. We found that A. fulica is able to begin encapsulating P. hermaphrodita after just 3 days of exposure and the numbers of nematodes encapsulated increased over time. Taken together, we have shown that A. fulica is highly resistant to P. hermaphrodita, which could be due to an immune response dependent on the snail shell to encapsulate and kill invading parasitic nematodes.

(Fragment from “Susceptibility of the Giant African snail (Achatina fulica) exposed to the gastropod parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita”, by A.J. Williams, R. Rae, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 2015, http:// elsevier.com)

Choose the CORRECT alternative which shows an opposite idea of increased:

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    As he was about to leave Koimelemong to visit the great Mount Roraima, Theodor Koch-Grünberg was contacted by Mayuluaípu, a Taurepang Indian “dressed in a clean linen suit” (Koch-Grünberg 1928, 138). Mayuluaípu (or José, his Brazilian name) offered the German naturalist his services, which included his wide knowledge of different Pemon dialects and a good command of Portuguese. A few weeks later, the expedition would gain yet another important member: Mõseuaípu, better known by his nickname Akúli (agouti or cutia, a small rodent), a young Arekuna shaman who could not speak a word of Portuguese. This encounter between the two Carib Pemon Indians and the German naturalist would later play an important part in the Brazilian literary scene: the stories that Mayauluaípu and Akúli told Koch-Grünberg, collected in the second volume of the naturalist’s Vom Roroima zum Orinoco (1924), became the basis of Mário de Andrade’s 1928 Macunaíma, a turning point in the history of Brazilian contemporary narrative.

    Macunaíma is the biography, so to speak, of its eponymous protagonist, “a hero with no character” (sem nenhum caráter), as the subtitle has it. He is born in the region of Roraima, near the Uraricoera river, into the Tapanhumas, a native Amazonian tribe with Carib name yet unusually dark skin which was described by the German traveler von den Steinen. The hero reveals his special nature from birth and in childhood adventures with his mother, brothers and their wives, setting up sibling rivalries that run through the novel. He marries Ci, the Mother of the Forest, who died of sadness upon losing their only son: before dying, Ci gives him a green stone amulet or muiraquitã, which brings him power as “Emperor of the Forest” as well as luck; but the amulet then falls into the river to be swallowed by a turtle. Macunaíma and his brothers then embark on a journey south to São Paulo in order to recover the amulet, which had fallen into the hands of the Peruvian (with an Italian name) Wenceslau Pietro Pietra, also known as the ogre Piaimã. After many adventures in the metropolis, with its strange language and customs, they recover the amulet and go back north to the Amazon. Back home, Macunaíma finds his people gone, gets into a new dispute with his brother Jiguë, who changes into the vulture-king, and destroys all members of the family, except for Macunaíma. Plagued by Vei, the sun, for having spurned one of her daughters, he loses his right leg and is badly mutilated. The amulet is again swallowed by a water beast, this time for good. Lonely, and “tired of this life,” he decides to become a star, but not before telling his life story to a parrot, who tells it to the author of the book.

(Fragment from “Makunaima and the native tricksters”, by Lúcia Sá, Brazil Institute Special Report, Washington, November, 2008, http://wilsoncenter.org/brazil)

Choose the only CORRECT alternative which exposes an appropriated synonymous to replace the word spurned, detached on the second paragraph:

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    As he was about to leave Koimelemong to visit the great Mount Roraima, Theodor Koch-Grünberg was contacted by Mayuluaípu, a Taurepang Indian “dressed in a clean linen suit” (Koch-Grünberg 1928, 138). Mayuluaípu (or José, his Brazilian name) offered the German naturalist his services, which included his wide knowledge of different Pemon dialects and a good command of Portuguese. A few weeks later, the expedition would gain yet another important member: Mõseuaípu, better known by his nickname Akúli (agouti or cutia, a small rodent), a young Arekuna shaman who could not speak a word of Portuguese. This encounter between the two Carib Pemon Indians and the German naturalist would later play an important part in the Brazilian literary scene: the stories that Mayauluaípu and Akúli told Koch-Grünberg, collected in the second volume of the naturalist’s Vom Roroima zum Orinoco (1924), became the basis of Mário de Andrade’s 1928 Macunaíma, a turning point in the history of Brazilian contemporary narrative.

    Macunaíma is the biography, so to speak, of its eponymous protagonist, “a hero with no character” (sem nenhum caráter), as the subtitle has it. He is born in the region of Roraima, near the Uraricoera river, into the Tapanhumas, a native Amazonian tribe with Carib name yet unusually dark skin which was described by the German traveler von den Steinen. The hero reveals his special nature from birth and in childhood adventures with his mother, brothers and their wives, setting up sibling rivalries that run through the novel. He marries Ci, the Mother of the Forest, who died of sadness upon losing their only son: before dying, Ci gives him a green stone amulet or muiraquitã, which brings him power as “Emperor of the Forest” as well as luck; but the amulet then falls into the river to be swallowed by a turtle. Macunaíma and his brothers then embark on a journey south to São Paulo in order to recover the amulet, which had fallen into the hands of the Peruvian (with an Italian name) Wenceslau Pietro Pietra, also known as the ogre Piaimã. After many adventures in the metropolis, with its strange language and customs, they recover the amulet and go back north to the Amazon. Back home, Macunaíma finds his people gone, gets into a new dispute with his brother Jiguë, who changes into the vulture-king, and destroys all members of the family, except for Macunaíma. Plagued by Vei, the sun, for having spurned one of her daughters, he loses his right leg and is badly mutilated. The amulet is again swallowed by a water beast, this time for good. Lonely, and “tired of this life,” he decides to become a star, but not before telling his life story to a parrot, who tells it to the author of the book.

(Fragment from “Makunaima and the native tricksters”, by Lúcia Sá, Brazil Institute Special Report, Washington, November, 2008, http://wilsoncenter.org/brazil)

Choose the only CORRECT alternative about Mayauluaípu and Akúli:

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    As he was about to leave Koimelemong to visit the great Mount Roraima, Theodor Koch-Grünberg was contacted by Mayuluaípu, a Taurepang Indian “dressed in a clean linen suit” (Koch-Grünberg 1928, 138). Mayuluaípu (or José, his Brazilian name) offered the German naturalist his services, which included his wide knowledge of different Pemon dialects and a good command of Portuguese. A few weeks later, the expedition would gain yet another important member: Mõseuaípu, better known by his nickname Akúli (agouti or cutia, a small rodent), a young Arekuna shaman who could not speak a word of Portuguese. This encounter between the two Carib Pemon Indians and the German naturalist would later play an important part in the Brazilian literary scene: the stories that Mayauluaípu and Akúli told Koch-Grünberg, collected in the second volume of the naturalist’s Vom Roroima zum Orinoco (1924), became the basis of Mário de Andrade’s 1928 Macunaíma, a turning point in the history of Brazilian contemporary narrative.

    Macunaíma is the biography, so to speak, of its eponymous protagonist, “a hero with no character” (sem nenhum caráter), as the subtitle has it. He is born in the region of Roraima, near the Uraricoera river, into the Tapanhumas, a native Amazonian tribe with Carib name yet unusually dark skin which was described by the German traveler von den Steinen. The hero reveals his special nature from birth and in childhood adventures with his mother, brothers and their wives, setting up sibling rivalries that run through the novel. He marries Ci, the Mother of the Forest, who died of sadness upon losing their only son: before dying, Ci gives him a green stone amulet or muiraquitã, which brings him power as “Emperor of the Forest” as well as luck; but the amulet then falls into the river to be swallowed by a turtle. Macunaíma and his brothers then embark on a journey south to São Paulo in order to recover the amulet, which had fallen into the hands of the Peruvian (with an Italian name) Wenceslau Pietro Pietra, also known as the ogre Piaimã. After many adventures in the metropolis, with its strange language and customs, they recover the amulet and go back north to the Amazon. Back home, Macunaíma finds his people gone, gets into a new dispute with his brother Jiguë, who changes into the vulture-king, and destroys all members of the family, except for Macunaíma. Plagued by Vei, the sun, for having spurned one of her daughters, he loses his right leg and is badly mutilated. The amulet is again swallowed by a water beast, this time for good. Lonely, and “tired of this life,” he decides to become a star, but not before telling his life story to a parrot, who tells it to the author of the book.

(Fragment from “Makunaima and the native tricksters”, by Lúcia Sá, Brazil Institute Special Report, Washington, November, 2008, http://wilsoncenter.org/brazil)

Choose the only alternative which shows what it is INCORRECT to say about the text:

Read the text.

 

Amazon keeps expanding its empire

Elizabeth Weise

 

Amazon has doubled the number of air freight cargo planes it is leasing, a further build out of its internal delivery system.

Atlas Air Worldwide on Thursday said it had signed an agreement with the Seattle internet retailer to operate 20 Boeing 767 for the company for ten years.

Operations under the agreements are expected to begin in the second half of 2016 and ramp up to full service through 2018, Atlas said.

In addition, Amazon will acquire as much as 20% of Atlas.

The planes will be used to move packages between Amazon’s fulfillment centers, which package goods, to its sortation centers, which sort them into local delivery pallets that can be taken to the Post Office for bulk delivery, the company said.

The planes will also be used by Amazon to move goods between its fulfillment centers across the country to other centers where they are needed for one- and two-day delivery, as no one Amazon center can stock the 20 million items Amazon typically has available for two-day delivery.

The deal isn't surprising, said John Haber, CEO of Spend Management Experts, a supply chain management consulting firm.

“This is just the most recent step in Amazon building out a massive logistics network designed to move more of their transportation and distribution under their direct control," he said.

Available in: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/05/06/amazon-further-builds-out-air-freight-network/84035574/. Access on: May 2016.

 

The text shows that