Questões de Inglês

TEXT I

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French companywon the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company. Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson. The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts. Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html Acessado em 14/03/2013

Glossary:

Foreign: estrangeiro

Businessperson: homem/ mulher de negócios

Counterpart: seu semelhante

To win: ganhar, vencer

Disadvantage: desvantagem

Outside: do lado de fora

Level: nível

TEXT I

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French companywon the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company. Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson. The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts. Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html Acessado em 14/03/2013

Glossary:

Foreign: estrangeiro

Businessperson: homem/ mulher de negócios

Counterpart: seu semelhante

To win: ganhar, vencer

Disadvantage: desvantagem

Outside: do lado de fora

Level: nível

Brazil Science Without Borders

The Brazilian government’s new Science Without Borders Program will provide scholarships to undergraduate students from Brazil for one year of study at colleges and universities in the United States.

5 Scholarships will be given primarily to students in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Students in the program will return to Brazil to complete their degrees. Undergraduate students from Brazil may apply for

10 the Science Without Borders Program scholarship

beginning August 31, 2011. This program, administered by IIE, is part of the Brazilian government’s larger initiative to grant 100,000 scholarships for the best students from Brazil to study

15 abroad at the world’s best universities.

BRAZIL Science Without Borders. Disponível em: <http://educationusacienciassemfronteiras. org/scier>. Acesso em: 12 out. 2013.

The Amazon is the greatest river in the world, although not the longest. It has the greatest volume of water of any river, and also the ___12___ drainage basin – the area where it flows. The streams that feed it start near the Pacific, in the icy heights of the Andes Mountains in Peru. They flow eastwards, across Brazil, joining into bigger and bigger rivers. Eventually, they all unite in the gigantic Amazon, which meets the Atlantic at the equator. Its total length is 6,437 kilometres and it flows through about one-third of South America.

Passengers on an ocean liner heading for the mouth of the Amazon might actually meet the river about 320 kilometres from the coast, because the great force of the Amazon sends its waters right out into the Atlantic. Seen from the air, these waters make a long, muddy stain in the sea.

(Children’s Britannica, vol. 1, 1973. Adaptado.)