Questões de Inglês

TEXTO II

 

 

"Firefighters shouting slogans during a public servants’ demonstration against austerity measures in Rio de Janeiro in December.” (CreditYasuyoshi Chiba/Agence France- Presse — Getty Images)

 

Brazil’s Leaders Tout Austerity

     Brazil’s sickly economy is hemorrhaging thousands of jobs a day, States are scrambling to pay police officers and teachers, and money for subsidized meals is in such short supply that one legislator suggested that the poor could “eat every other day.” Still, not everyone is suffering. Civil servants in the judicial branch are enjoying a 41 percent raise. Legislators here in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, voted to increase their own salaries by more than 26 percent. And Congress, which is preparing to cut pension benefits around the country, is now allowing its members to retire with lifelong pensions after just two years in office.

    Brazil is struggling to pull out of its worst economic crisis in decades, and President Michel Temer says the country needs to curb public spending to do so. Yet, it did not help his dismal approval ratings when he hosted a lavish taxpayerfunded banquet to persuade members of Congress to support his budget cuts, with 300 guests eating shrimp and filet mignon. Outside such rarefied circles, Mr. Temer’s austerity measures are igniting a fierce debate over how the richest and most powerful Brazilians are protecting their wealth and privileges at a time when much of the country is enduring a harrowing economic decline.

economic decline.
    “This government talks about austerity for everyone, but of course forces the costs on society’s most vulnerable people,” said Giovana Santos Pereira, 25, a schoolteacher. “It’s ridiculous to the point of being tragic.” Much of the ire revolves around the centerpiece of Mr. Temer’s austerity drive: his success in persuading the scandal-ridden Congress to impose a cap on federal spending for the next 20 years.

    Mr. Temer, who rose to power last year after supporting the impeachment of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, says the cap, which would limit the growth in spending to the rate of inflation, is needed to scale back ballooning budget deficits. Investors have applauded the measure as a turning point for Latin America’s largest economy. But critics are lashing out at the spending cap, saying it could harm the poor for decades to come, especially in areas like education. Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said the spending cap placed Brazil “in a socially retrogressive category all of its own.”

    The debate is all the more caustic because Mr. Temer’s government is resisting calls to raise taxes on wealthy Brazilians, who still enjoy what some economists describe as one of the most generous tax systems for the rich among major economies. For instance, Brazilians remain exempt from paying any taxes at all on dividends from stock holdings, and they can easily use loopholes to significantly lower taxes on other sources of income.

Economists at the government’s Institute of Applied
    Economic Research said in a 2016 study that a 15 percent tax on dividends could generate nearly $17 billion in revenue a year, but such proposals have failed to gain traction in a government that has shifted to the right. “The system is engineered to perpetuate inequality, and Temer is doubling down on bets that Brazil needs Greek-style austerity,” said Pedro Paulo Zahluth Bastos, an economist at the Universidade de Campinas, drawing parallels between Brazil’s multiyear slowdown and Greece’s seemingly interminable economic crisis.

    Mr. Temer has not been a popular president, and his approval ratings stand at just 10 percent. But his supporters point out that his leftist predecessor, Ms. Rousseff, sought her own austerity measures before her ouster last year, and that his government has promised to maintain some widely popular antipoverty programs expanded by her party years ago.

    Mr. Temer’s government says it is reversing the freespending ways of previous governments. Brazil’s economy shrank about 4 percent in 2016, when its political class was consumed by infighting over the impeachment. But last month, the finance minister, Henrique Meirelles claimed, “the recession has ended.”

    Some promising signs of a recovery may be emerging. Foreign investment has increased and, after performing poorly, Brazil’s stock market was one of the best performing in the world in 2016, creating a windfall for the relatively prosperous Brazilians who put money into equities. Mr. Temer is especially bullish, predicting that the economy will grow 3 percent next year. But, the conditions on the streets of cities around Brazil tell a different story, reflecting devilishly complex structural challenges as millions of Brazilians fall into poverty.

    Given this scenario, the Brazilian States are facing crippling strikes by public employees over unpaid or inadequate salaries. In the State of Espírito Santo, in Southeast Brazil, a police strike last month produced an anarchic week marked by looting and a surge in homicides.
(Adapted from: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/world/americas)

“[…] Mr. Temer has not been a popular president, and his approval ratings stand at just 10 percent. […]”

Assign the correct grammatical classes (underlined words) based on the order that they appear in the sentence above.

Text 

Parents beware: Kids know secret emoji language

Posted 9:44 pm, May 10th, 2016, by Tammy Vigil, Updated at 10:23pm, May 10^th, 2016

[1]  It was Oxford Dictionary's word of the year. And it's quickly becoming

[2]  the pervasive language of the Internet - after Apple included an emoji

[3]  keyboard on its phones five years ago.

[4]  It's estimated 6 billion emojis are sent each day. But the cartoonish,

[5]  seemingly innocent and playful use of emojis can have a dark side. It's

[6]  a new form of communication Sheila Allison and her 12-year-old use

[7]  regularly.

[8]  "I work odd hours. When she's getting ready to go to sleep, it's not

[9]  appropriate for me to be on the phone or call and have her hear my

[10]  voice. So emojis with the zzz's, princess and kisses. That gets a really

[11]  good message to her," Allison said.

[12]  Emojis are on TV. Even commercials advertise with the picture

[13]  characters. But the problem with these icons of faces, hand gestures,

[14]  fruits, animals and other symbols is they don't always mean what you

[15]  think, especially for parents.

[16]  Hidden meanings

[17]  "It doesn't mean anything to them. But it does to those who are fluent

[18]  in emoji, the secret language of emoji," said Mike Harris, who tracks

[19]  down child predators.

[20]  He works for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and said he

[21] has to learn this whole new language of more than 1,200 emojis.

[22] “One symbol can mean three or four different things. That's what makes

[23]  it complicated for those who are not familiar with this," Harris said.

[24]  So he uses the "Speak Emoji" app to translate what people are saying

[25]  because emojis can be used to harass, threaten and commit other

[26]  crimes.

[27]  Threatening emojis

[28]  Harris said some emojis are obviously threatening. A 12-year-old

[29]  Virginia girl was prosecuted for using gun, bomb, and knife emojis on

[30]  Instagram with the phrase "meet me in the library Tuesday." But some

[31]  emojis aren't so obvious.

[32]  • A frog can mean someone is "ugly." […]

[33] • A smiling pile of poop is another profanity.

[34]  • Strung together, a running man and a bowling ball means,

[35]  "I'm going to hit you."

[36]  "Something as simple as a flower can mean drugs", Harris said.

[37]  Parents also should know some emojis are sexual. A peach, an

[38]  eggplant and raindrops reference carnal desire. […] “They are taking

[39]  fruit to a whole new level here, right?" her mom said.

[40]  What makes emojis so complicated for parents is they have no set

[41]  definition like words and their meaning can vary. [...]

(Retrieved and adapted from http://kdvr.com/2016/05/10/parents-beware-your-kids-probablyknow-secret-emoji-language/. Access on August 8th, 2016)

Responda a questão de acordo com o texto.

Read the statements.

 

I. A young girl was put on trial because of a message with emojis she had sent.

II. Emojis are very obvious: the meaning always matches the symbols you see.

III. Emojis can be used to commit misdeeds.

IV. Emojis have been used as a new code to communicate.

 

According to the text, the true statements are:

Text 

Parents beware: Kids know secret emoji language

Posted 9:44 pm, May 10th, 2016, by Tammy Vigil, Updated at 10:23pm, May 10^th, 2016

[1]  It was Oxford Dictionary's word of the year. And it's quickly becoming

[2]  the pervasive language of the Internet - after Apple included an emoji

[3]  keyboard on its phones five years ago.

[4]  It's estimated 6 billion emojis are sent each day. But the cartoonish,

[5]  seemingly innocent and playful use of emojis can have a dark side. It's

[6]  a new form of communication Sheila Allison and her 12-year-old use

[7]  regularly.

[8]  "I work odd hours. When she's getting ready to go to sleep, it's not

[9]  appropriate for me to be on the phone or call and have her hear my

[10]  voice. So emojis with the zzz's, princess and kisses. That gets a really

[11]  good message to her," Allison said.

[12]  Emojis are on TV. Even commercials advertise with the picture

[13]  characters. But the problem with these icons of faces, hand gestures,

[14]  fruits, animals and other symbols is they don't always mean what you

[15]  think, especially for parents.

[16]  Hidden meanings

[17]  "It doesn't mean anything to them. But it does to those who are fluent

[18]  in emoji, the secret language of emoji," said Mike Harris, who tracks

[19]  down child predators.

[20]  He works for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office and said he

[21] has to learn this whole new language of more than 1,200 emojis.

[22] “One symbol can mean three or four different things. That's what makes

[23]  it complicated for those who are not familiar with this," Harris said.

[24]  So he uses the "Speak Emoji" app to translate what people are saying

[25]  because emojis can be used to harass, threaten and commit other

[26]  crimes.

[27]  Threatening emojis

[28]  Harris said some emojis are obviously threatening. A 12-year-old

[29]  Virginia girl was prosecuted for using gun, bomb, and knife emojis on

[30]  Instagram with the phrase "meet me in the library Tuesday." But some

[31]  emojis aren't so obvious.

[32]  • A frog can mean someone is "ugly." […]

[33] • A smiling pile of poop is another profanity.

[34]  • Strung together, a running man and a bowling ball means,

[35]  "I'm going to hit you."

[36]  "Something as simple as a flower can mean drugs", Harris said.

[37]  Parents also should know some emojis are sexual. A peach, an

[38]  eggplant and raindrops reference carnal desire. […] “They are taking

[39]  fruit to a whole new level here, right?" her mom said.

[40]  What makes emojis so complicated for parents is they have no set

[41]  definition like words and their meaning can vary. [...]

(Retrieved and adapted from http://kdvr.com/2016/05/10/parents-beware-your-kids-probablyknow-secret-emoji-language/. Access on August 8th, 2016)

Responda a questão de acordo com o texto.

The forewarning to parents that can be inferred from the text is:

Read the text.

 

How to Be Mindful if Your Flight Is Delayed

“Running late is stressful. You may miss your meeting, your connecting flight, or your plans. The first thing is to recognize that stressing about flight delays won’t help you get back on schedule.” — Melissa Eisler, a meditation teacher in San Diego and the author of MindfulMinutes.com

 

Don’t dwell on the flight that “should have been.”

Sit down and visualize the best-case scenario going forward.

Close your eyes and imagine that your eventual flight is on time, that the boarding experience

is pleasant and that your seatmate is amiable.

Visualize a smooth takeoff, a swift and easy flight and a gentle landing.

Continue to envision your trip all the way through to retrieval of baggage and transportation

to your final destination.

When you open your eyes, hold an optimistic attitude for your journey ahead.

The best summary of Melissa Eisler’s advices is:

Read the text.

 

E.U. Lawmakers Call for End to Visa-Free Travel for Americans

    BRUSSELS — The European Parliament has passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the reintroduction of visa requirements for American citizens, raising the stakes in a long-running battle over the United States refusal to grant visa-free access to citizens of five European Union countries.

    In the vote on Thursday, European lawmakers played tit-for-tat in their dispute with the United States, demanding restrictions on American travelers unless the Trump administration lifts travel requirements for citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania.

Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/world/europe/eu-visas-parliament-united-states.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel&_r=0

Analyse the type of language used in the excerpt:

Read the text.

 

Paul Ryan Visits U.S.-Mexico Border in Push for Trump’s Wall

By Tierney Mcafee•

 

    House Speaker Paul Ryan took his first-ever tour of the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday as Congressional Republicans are considering how to pay for President Trump‘s promised wall to stop undocumented immigration.

    Ryan, House Homeland Security chair, Michael McCaul and several other GOP members toured the Rio Grande River on horseback and via air, NBC News reported.

    Ryan said in a statement after his tour: “When you see with your own eyes the many challenges facing our law enforcement professionals along the border, it gives you even greater respect for the work that they do day-in and day-out.”

    “But more tools and more support are needed for them to do their jobs effectively,” he added. “Congress is committed to securing the border and enforcing our laws, and together with the Trump administration, we will get this done.”

    The Wisconsin Republican also visited the U.S. Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, and made a stop at the central processing center for migrants, according to TheMonitor.com, which serves the Rio Grande valley.

    Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said in a statement ahead of the trip that it was to “examine the challenges of securing our border and learn more about the issues facing border communities.”

Available at: <http://people.com/politics/paul-ryan-visits-us-mexico-border-pushing-trump-wall/>. Access on: February 2017.

According to the text it is possible to state that: