Questões de Inglês

Paying Brazilian Farmers to Let the Trees Stand

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Mato Grosso means thick forests, and the name was once apt. But today, this Brazilian state is a global epicenter of deforestation. Small islands of forest dot the landscape of farms and ranches, fulfilling regulations to maintain percentages of native forest on agricultural properties. Driven by profits derived from fertile soil, the region’s dense forests have been aggressively cleared over the past decade, and Mato Grosso is now Brazil’s leading producer of soy, corn and cattle, exported across the globe by multinational companies.

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

 

Querência, Mato Grosso, Brazil — José Marcolini, 53, a local farmer, has a permit from the Brazilian government to clear 12,500 acres of rain forest this year to create highly profitable new soy fields.

But he says he is struggling with his conscience. A Brazilian environmental group is offering him a yearly cash payment to leave his forest standing to help combat climate change. Mr. Marcolini says he cares about the environment. But he also has a family to feed, and he doubts that the group’s initial offer in the negotiation — $12 per acre, per year — is enough for him to accept.

“For me to resist the pressure, surrounded by soybeans, I’ll have to be paid — a lot,” said the farmer, noting that cleared farmland in the state of Mato Grosso sells for up to $1,300 an acre.

However, until now, there has been no financial help for keeping forest standing. This is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments — like that offered to Mr. Marcolini — are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming.

Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/science/earth/22degrees.html?pagewanted=all

 

Glossário

dot – pontilham

fulfilling – cumprindo

profits - lucros

struggling – lutando

argue - defendem

 

In the next four question, choose the correct alternative according to the text:

The article´s title can be substituted, without changing its meaning, by: ____ .

Paying Brazilian Farmers to Let the Trees Stand

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Mato Grosso means thick forests, and the name was once apt. But today, this Brazilian state is a global epicenter of deforestation. Small islands of forest dot the landscape of farms and ranches, fulfilling regulations to maintain percentages of native forest on agricultural properties. Driven by profits derived from fertile soil, the region’s dense forests have been aggressively cleared over the past decade, and Mato Grosso is now Brazil’s leading producer of soy, corn and cattle, exported across the globe by multinational companies.

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

 

Querência, Mato Grosso, Brazil — José Marcolini, 53, a local farmer, has a permit from the Brazilian government to clear 12,500 acres of rain forest this year to create highly profitable new soy fields.

But he says he is struggling with his conscience. A Brazilian environmental group is offering him a yearly cash payment to leave his forest standing to help combat climate change. Mr. Marcolini says he cares about the environment. But he also has a family to feed, and he doubts that the group’s initial offer in the negotiation — $12 per acre, per year — is enough for him to accept.

“For me to resist the pressure, surrounded by soybeans, I’ll have to be paid — a lot,” said the farmer, noting that cleared farmland in the state of Mato Grosso sells for up to $1,300 an acre.

However, until now, there has been no financial help for keeping forest standing. This is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments — like that offered to Mr. Marcolini — are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming.

Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/science/earth/22degrees.html?pagewanted=all

 

Glossário

dot – pontilham

fulfilling – cumprindo

profits - lucros

struggling – lutando

argue - defendem

 

In the next four question, choose the correct alternative according to the text:

In the period “… the name was once apt” (from the subtitles), the author means that ____.

Paying Brazilian Farmers to Let the Trees Stand

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL

Mato Grosso means thick forests, and the name was once apt. But today, this Brazilian state is a global epicenter of deforestation. Small islands of forest dot the landscape of farms and ranches, fulfilling regulations to maintain percentages of native forest on agricultural properties. Driven by profits derived from fertile soil, the region’s dense forests have been aggressively cleared over the past decade, and Mato Grosso is now Brazil’s leading producer of soy, corn and cattle, exported across the globe by multinational companies.

Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

 

Querência, Mato Grosso, Brazil — José Marcolini, 53, a local farmer, has a permit from the Brazilian government to clear 12,500 acres of rain forest this year to create highly profitable new soy fields.

But he says he is struggling with his conscience. A Brazilian environmental group is offering him a yearly cash payment to leave his forest standing to help combat climate change. Mr. Marcolini says he cares about the environment. But he also has a family to feed, and he doubts that the group’s initial offer in the negotiation — $12 per acre, per year — is enough for him to accept.

“For me to resist the pressure, surrounded by soybeans, I’ll have to be paid — a lot,” said the farmer, noting that cleared farmland in the state of Mato Grosso sells for up to $1,300 an acre.

However, until now, there has been no financial help for keeping forest standing. This is why a growing number of scientists, politicians and environmentalists argue that cash payments — like that offered to Mr. Marcolini — are the only way to end tropical forest destruction and provide a game-changing strategy in efforts to limit global warming.

Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/science/earth/22degrees.html?pagewanted=all

 

Glossário

dot – pontilham

fulfilling – cumprindo

profits - lucros

struggling – lutando

argue - defendem

 

In the next four question, choose the correct alternative according to the text:

The image of the photo is described in the extract “ ____”.

The author of this charge thinks that the NASA space program

TEXTO:

 

Gregor Mendel

1822-1884

    Gregor Johann Mendel was

born on July 22, 1822, in

Heizendorf, Austria. He was the

only son of a peasant farmer. In

[5] 1843 he began studying at the St.

Thomas Monastery of the

Augustinian Order. After his

ordination, Mendel was assigned

to pastoral duties, but it soon

[10] became apparent that he was

more suited to teaching. In 1849,

he was assigned to a secondary

school in the city of Znaim. It was there that he took the

qualifying examination for teacher certification and failed.

[15] In 1851, he entered the University of Vienna to train to

be a teacher of Mathematics and Biology. It was there

that he developed his skills as a researcher which he

utilized later in his life.

    Mendel did groundbreaking work into the theories

[20] of heredity. He studied seven basic characteristics of

the pea pod plants. By tracing these characteristics,

Mendel discovered three basic laws which governed the

passage of a trait from one member of a species to

another member of the same species.

[25]    Mendel found actual proof of the existence of genes

and is considered to be the father of genetics.

Unfortunately, he was not recognized for his work by his

scientific peers and his findings were not given their real

importance until the early 1900s. His work and theories

[30] later became the basis for the study of modern genetics,

and are still recognized and used today.

MENDEL, Gregor. Disponível em: <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/klmno/mendel_gregor.html. Acesso em: 20 maio 2010.

 

“his findings were not given their real importance” (l. 28-29)

 

This sentence can be exactly rewritten in the active voice as People _______ his findings their real importance.

 

The alternative that completes this sentence correctly is

TEXTO:

 

Gregor Mendel

1822-1884

    Gregor Johann Mendel was

born on July 22, 1822, in

Heizendorf, Austria. He was the

only son of a peasant farmer. In

[5] 1843 he began studying at the St.

Thomas Monastery of the

Augustinian Order. After his

ordination, Mendel was assigned

to pastoral duties, but it soon

[10] became apparent that he was

more suited to teaching. In 1849,

he was assigned to a secondary

school in the city of Znaim. It was there that he took the

qualifying examination for teacher certification and failed.

[15] In 1851, he entered the University of Vienna to train to

be a teacher of Mathematics and Biology. It was there

that he developed his skills as a researcher which he

utilized later in his life.

    Mendel did groundbreaking work into the theories

[20] of heredity. He studied seven basic characteristics of

the pea pod plants. By tracing these characteristics,

Mendel discovered three basic laws which governed the

passage of a trait from one member of a species to

another member of the same species.

[25]    Mendel found actual proof of the existence of genes

and is considered to be the father of genetics.

Unfortunately, he was not recognized for his work by his

scientific peers and his findings were not given their real

importance until the early 1900s. His work and theories

[30] later became the basis for the study of modern genetics,

and are still recognized and used today.

MENDEL, Gregor. Disponível em: <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/ information/biography/klmno/mendel_gregor.html. Acesso em: 20 maio 2010.

 

The only false cognate is in alternative