Questões de Inglês

 

Everywhere you look you‘ll find surveys and questionnaires in magazines, newspaper articles, best-selling books, TV shows… all giving one clear message: women and men are different.

Apparently, we can‘t get along because we communicate too differently. We don‘t understand each other. Women think one thing, men think another. A woman is cooperative, a man is competitive. Women are good communicators, and can relate to people well, whereas men are more action-oriented and driven by results. A woman can do several things at once, but a man prefers to do one task at a time. If you believe everything you read, women even have a stronger sense of smell and of touch. The list of differences goes on and on.

However, psychologist Dr. Janet S. Hyde claims that the differences between men and women area exaggerated. She reviewed 46 studies of gender difference, going back 20 years, and found that there are far more similarities than differences between men and women. In fact, Dr. Hyde‘s results show that there are very few differences in the way we think, act and communicate. What‘s more, she warns that claims of gender difference actually have a negative impact on women, both in the workplace and in their relationships with their husbands or boyfriends.

Girls also suffer the consequences of these claims. For example, girls studying in school are not always encouraged to think that they can succeed in math the same way that many boys are. This is because people often believe media claims that girls aren‘t as good at math as boys. Perhaps it‘s time to celebrate what bring us together, rather than focus on what divides us.

(In: Breakthrough Plus. CRAVEN, Miles. Macmillan Education, 2013. Adaptado.)

The word BOTH (paragraph 3) is related to

 

Everywhere you look you‘ll find surveys and questionnaires in magazines, newspaper articles, best-selling books, TV shows… all giving one clear message: women and men are different.

Apparently, we can‘t get along because we communicate too differently. We don‘t understand each other. Women think one thing, men think another. A woman is cooperative, a man is competitive. Women are good communicators, and can relate to people well, whereas men are more action-oriented and driven by results. A woman can do several things at once, but a man prefers to do one task at a time. If you believe everything you read, women even have a stronger sense of smell and of touch. The list of differences goes on and on.

However, psychologist Dr. Janet S. Hyde claims that the differences between men and women area exaggerated. She reviewed 46 studies of gender difference, going back 20 years, and found that there are far more similarities than differences between men and women. In fact, Dr. Hyde‘s results show that there are very few differences in the way we think, act and communicate. What‘s more, she warns that claims of gender difference actually have a negative impact on women, both in the workplace and in their relationships with their husbands or boyfriends.

Girls also suffer the consequences of these claims. For example, girls studying in school are not always encouraged to think that they can succeed in math the same way that many boys are. This is because people often believe media claims that girls aren‘t as good at math as boys. Perhaps it‘s time to celebrate what bring us together, rather than focus on what divides us.

(In: Breakthrough Plus. CRAVEN, Miles. Macmillan Education, 2013. Adaptado.)

The word THEIR (paragraph 3) in the sentence ―… both in the workplace and in their relationships with their husbands or boyfriends‖ is a

 

Everywhere you look you‘ll find surveys and questionnaires in magazines, newspaper articles, best-selling books, TV shows… all giving one clear message: women and men are different.

Apparently, we can‘t get along because we communicate too differently. We don‘t understand each other. Women think one thing, men think another. A woman is cooperative, a man is competitive. Women are good communicators, and can relate to people well, whereas men are more action-oriented and driven by results. A woman can do several things at once, but a man prefers to do one task at a time. If you believe everything you read, women even have a stronger sense of smell and of touch. The list of differences goes on and on.

However, psychologist Dr. Janet S. Hyde claims that the differences between men and women area exaggerated. She reviewed 46 studies of gender difference, going back 20 years, and found that there are far more similarities than differences between men and women. In fact, Dr. Hyde‘s results show that there are very few differences in the way we think, act and communicate. What‘s more, she warns that claims of gender difference actually have a negative impact on women, both in the workplace and in their relationships with their husbands or boyfriends.

Girls also suffer the consequences of these claims. For example, girls studying in school are not always encouraged to think that they can succeed in math the same way that many boys are. This is because people often believe media claims that girls aren‘t as good at math as boys. Perhaps it‘s time to celebrate what bring us together, rather than focus on what divides us.

(In: Breakthrough Plus. CRAVEN, Miles. Macmillan Education, 2013. Adaptado.)

After reading the text, complete the summary by choosing the correct options below.

This article suggests that men and women are __________ from one another. Recent research shows that exaggerated media claims of differences between men and women are __________ by scientific evidence. In fact, the article warns that focusing on gender difference is __________ to women of all ages.

 

The CORRECT order is

The Voyager Golden Record is a phonographic disc that was included on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. The twelve-inch gold and copper disc contains sounds and images that show the diversity of life and culture on Earth. The idea behind it is to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. A NASA committee, organized by Carl Sagan of Cornell University, collected 115 images and a series of natural sounds of the planet and added music from different cultures and eras and spoken greetings from people in fifty-five languages.

There is also a message from US President Carter and UN Secretary General Waldheim. The disc contains information on how to play it so other life forms can hear the sounds it contains.

It could take forty thousand years before Voyager is close to another planetary system. As Carl Sagan has said, „The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced civilizations in space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.‟

(In: Global Intermediate Coursebook: learn English, learn through English, learn about English. Lindsay Clandfield & Rebecca Robb Benne. Macmillan, 2011. Adaptado.)

 

Observe os números destacados e a ideia que eles apresentam em cada trecho.

 

I.  The twelve-inch gold and copper disc…‘ (paragraph 1).

II.  collected 115 images and a series of natural sounds…‘ (paragraph 1).

III. and spoken greetings from people in fifty-five languages…‟(paragraph 1).

IV.  It could take forty thousand years… (paragraph 3).

 

Assinale a alternativa CORRETA.

Howard Gardner believes that a person __________ is good at math is not more intelligent than someone who is good at sports. He believes they are intelligent in a different way.

Howard Gardner is a psychologist, and a long time __________ (in 1983) he wrote a book about his theory. In his view there is not just one kind of intelligence – there are multiple intelligences. It‟s possible to be good (or not so good) at one or more of them. You can have trouble __________ words, for example, but be quite good at drawing and at athletics. Or you can find it hard to understand yourself but be really good at connecting with other people!

The idea __________ „multiple intelligences‟ is very interesting. It‟s also really useful. People __________ a strong musical intelligence for example, can use songs to help them learn. You can also develop your weaker intelligences to give yourself more choices and to make your life more interesting.

(In: Jetstream, Pre-intermediate A. REVELL, J and TOMALIN, M. Helbling Languages, 2015. Adaptado.)

After reading the text, mark T (true) or F (false).

( ) Some people are intelligent but others aren‟t.

( ) No one is stupid. Everyone is intelligent.

( ) Different people are intelligent in different ways.

( ) There‟s just one kind of intelligence.

( ) People with a strong musical intelligence can help to learn just songs.

Mark the alternative that contains the CORRECT sequence.

Six things I learned from riding in a Google self-driving car 

 

1 - Human beings are terrible drivers.

We drink. We doze. We text. In the US, 30,000 people die from automobile accidents every year. Traffic crashes are the primary cause of death worldwide for people aged 15-24, and during a crash, 40% of drivers never even hit the brakes. We’re flawed organisms, barreling around at high speeds in vessels covered in glass, metal, distraction, and death. This is one of Google’s “moonshots” – to remove human error from a job which, for the past hundred years, has been entirely human. 

 2 - Google self-driving cars are timid.

The car we rode in did not strike me as dangerous. It drove slowly and deliberately, and I got the impression that it’s more likely to annoy other drivers than to harm them.

In the early versions they tested on closed courses, the vehicles were programmed to be highly aggressive. Apparently during these tests, which involved obstacle courses full of traffic cones and inflatable crash-test objects, there were a lot of screeching brakes, roaring engines and terrified interns. 

 3 - They’re cute.

Google’s new fleet was intentionally designed to look adorable. Our brains are hardwired to treat inanimate (or animate) objects with greater care, caution, and reverence when they resemble a living thing. By turning self-driving cars into an adorable Skynet Marshmallow Bumper Bots, Google hopes to spiritually disarm other drivers. I also suspect the cuteness is used to quell some of the road rage that might emerge from being stuck behind one of these things. They’re intended as moderate-distance couriers, not openroad warriors, so their max speed is 25 miles per hour. 

 4 - It’s not done and it’s not perfect.

Some of the scenarios autonomous vehicles have the most trouble with are the same human beings have the most trouble with, such as traversing four-way stops or handling a yellow light.

The cars use a mixture of 3D laser-mapping, GPS, and radar to analyze and interpret their surroundings, and the latest versions are fully electric with a range of about 100 miles.

Despite the advantages over a human being in certain scenarios, however, these cars still aren’t ready for the real world. They can’t drive in the snow or heavy rain, and there’s a variety of complex situations they do not process well, such as passing through a construction zone. Google is hoping that, eventually, the cars will be able to handle all of this as well (or better) than a human could. 

 5 - I want this technology to succeed, like… yesterday.

I’m biased. Earlier this year my mom had a stroke. It damaged the visual cortex of her brain, and her vision was impaired to the point that she’ll probably never drive again. This reduced her from a fully-functional, independent human being with a career and a buzzing social life into someone who is homebound, disabled, and powerless.

When discussing self-driving cars, people tend to ask many superficial questions. They ignore that 45% of disabled people in the US still work. They ignore that 95% of a car’s lifetime is spent parked. They ignore how this technology could transform the lives of the elderly, or eradicate the need for parking lots or garages or gas stations. They dismiss the entire concept because they don’t think a computer could ever be as good at merging on the freeway as they are. They ignore the great, big, beautiful picture: that this technology could make our lives so much better. 

 6 - It wasn’t an exhilarating ride, and that’s a good thing.

Riding in a self-driving car is not the cybernetic thrill ride one might expect. The car drives like a person, and after a few minutes you forget that you’re being driven autonomously. You forget that a robot is differentiating cars from pedestrians from mopeds from raccoons. You forget that millions of photons are being fired from a laser and interpreting, processing, and reacting to the hand signals of a cyclist. You forget that instead of an organic brain, which has had millions of years to evolve the cognitive ability to fumble its way through a four-way stop, you’re being piloted by an artificial one, which was birthed in less than a decade.

The unfortunate part of something this transformative is the inevitable, ardent stupidity which is going to erupt from the general public. Even if in a few years self-driving cars are proven to be ten times safer than human-operated cars, all it’s going to take is one tragic accident and the public is going to lose their minds. There will be outrage. There will be politicizing. There will be hashtags.

I say look at the bigger picture. All the self-driving cars currently on the road learn from one another, and possess 40 years of driving experience. And this technology is still in its infancy. 

(Adapted from: <http://theoatmeal.com/blog/google_self_driving_car>. 21/08/2016.)

 Based on the text, it is correct to affirm that the author: