Questões de Inglês

Leia com atenção o texto abaixo. A questão se refere a ele.

Language and Identity

Language and identity are two expressions that need to be explained. English is the official language in several countries, Chinese is the language spoken by Chinese people and Danish is how Danes speak. But languages could also be described as different ways of talking due to social background, education, profession, age and sex. A person’s language is connected to his social situation. People speak differently also because they belong to different social worlds. Identity can signify the very special characteristic of a person, something that makes him differ from others.

HERMANSSON, Kenneth. Disponível em: http://hem.passagen.se/pasteur/LanguageIdentity.htm. Acesso em: 22 abr. 2009. (Adaptado).

Leia o texto a seguir e responda à questão.

    The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. It is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 with dense tropical forest.

    The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for more than 12,000 years, since the first proven arrivals of people in South America. By the 16th century the population was scattered in hundreds of small tribes. Upon the discovery of the Americas, the Portuguese and the Spanish signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the continents in two, but in 1750 the Treaty of Madrid certified the transfer of most of the Amazon basin to the Portuguese side, greatly contributing to the continental size of what is now Brazil.

    Intense deforestation began in the second half of the 20th century, with population growth and development plans such as the failed Brazilian Trans-Amazonian Highway. In the late 1980s the Brazilian Chico Mendes, who lived in Acre, became internationally famous for his passionate defense of the forest and its people, especially after he was shot to death by farmers whose interest he harmed. 

(www.en.wikipedia.org. Adaptado.)

Leia o texto a seguir e responda à questão.

    The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. It is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 with dense tropical forest.

    The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for more than 12,000 years, since the first proven arrivals of people in South America. By the 16th century the population was scattered in hundreds of small tribes. Upon the discovery of the Americas, the Portuguese and the Spanish signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the continents in two, but in 1750 the Treaty of Madrid certified the transfer of most of the Amazon basin to the Portuguese side, greatly contributing to the continental size of what is now Brazil.

    Intense deforestation began in the second half of the 20th century, with population growth and development plans such as the failed Brazilian Trans-Amazonian Highway. In the late 1980s the Brazilian Chico Mendes, who lived in Acre, became internationally famous for his passionate defense of the forest and its people, especially after he was shot to death by farmers whose interest he harmed. 

(www.en.wikipedia.org. Adaptado.)

Leia o texto a seguir e responda à questão.

    The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. It is located mainly in Brazil, but also stretches into Peru and several other countries. The South American rain forest of the Amazon is the largest in the world, covering about 8,235,430 km2 with dense tropical forest.

    The Amazon basin has been continuously inhabited for more than 12,000 years, since the first proven arrivals of people in South America. By the 16th century the population was scattered in hundreds of small tribes. Upon the discovery of the Americas, the Portuguese and the Spanish signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the continents in two, but in 1750 the Treaty of Madrid certified the transfer of most of the Amazon basin to the Portuguese side, greatly contributing to the continental size of what is now Brazil.

    Intense deforestation began in the second half of the 20th century, with population growth and development plans such as the failed Brazilian Trans-Amazonian Highway. In the late 1980s the Brazilian Chico Mendes, who lived in Acre, became internationally famous for his passionate defense of the forest and its people, especially after he was shot to death by farmers whose interest he harmed. 

(www.en.wikipedia.org. Adaptado.)

The Case for Working with your Hands

Matthew B. Crawford

When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an
assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize
the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur – the hazards faced
by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well
to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s
poem “To Be of Use”, which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/ and a
person for work that is real”. Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.

This seems to be a moment when the useful arts have an especially compelling economic
rationale. A car mechanics’ trade association reports that repair shops have seen their business
jump significantly in the current recession: people aren’t buying new cars; they are fixing the ones
they have. The current downturn is likely to pass eventually. But there are also systemic changes in
the economy, arising from information technology, that have the surprising effect of making the
manual trades - plumbing, electrical work, car repair – more attractive as careers. The Princeton
economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction in the emerging labor market is not
between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over
a wire and those who must do their work in person or on site. The latter will find their livelihood
more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, “you can’t hammer a nail
over the Internet.” Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India.

If the goal is to earn a living, then, maybe it isn’t really true that 18-year-olds need to be
imparted with a sense of panic about getting into college (though they certainly need to learn).
Some people are hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and
natural bents, when they would rather be learning to build things or fix things (...).

A gifted young person who chooses to become a mechanic rather than to accumulate academic
credentials is viewed as eccentric, if not self-destructive. There is a pervasive anxiety among
parents that there is only one track to success for their children. It runs through a series of gates
controlled by prestigious institutions.

Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com Published: May 24, 2009

The Case for Working with your Hands

Matthew B. Crawford

When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an
assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize
the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur – the hazards faced
by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well
to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s
poem “To Be of Use”, which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/ and a
person for work that is real”. Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.

This seems to be a moment when the useful arts have an especially compelling economic
rationale. A car mechanics’ trade association reports that repair shops have seen their business
jump significantly in the current recession: people aren’t buying new cars; they are fixing the ones
they have. The current downturn is likely to pass eventually. But there are also systemic changes in
the economy, arising from information technology, that have the surprising effect of making the
manual trades - plumbing, electrical work, car repair – more attractive as careers. The Princeton
economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction in the emerging labor market is not
between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over
a wire and those who must do their work in person or on site. The latter will find their livelihood
more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, “you can’t hammer a nail
over the Internet.” Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India.

If the goal is to earn a living, then, maybe it isn’t really true that 18-year-olds need to be
imparted with a sense of panic about getting into college (though they certainly need to learn).
Some people are hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and
natural bents, when they would rather be learning to build things or fix things (...).

A gifted young person who chooses to become a mechanic rather than to accumulate academic
credentials is viewed as eccentric, if not self-destructive. There is a pervasive anxiety among
parents that there is only one track to success for their children. It runs through a series of gates
controlled by prestigious institutions.

Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com Published: May 24, 2009