Questões de Inglês

TEXTO:

    Over the years, China’s one-child policy has been
tied to a range of social ills, such as rising prostitution
and delayed marriage. Now it may be producing
yet another ugly side effect: a spike in crime. Even
[5] as rates have dropped in most Western countries,
official statistics show that China is becoming a more
dangerous place, with murder, robbery, and rape rates
now surpassing those in many European countries.
    Blame men. In January the Chinese Academy of
[10] Social Sciences found that the male-female birth ratio
in China has hit 119 males to 100 females, a new high,
and reaches 130:100 in some provinces. (That’s 10 to
20 percent higher than the average for industrialized
countries.) Some experts link this gap to the surge in
[15] violence. In an April 2009 paper, Columbia University’s
Lena Edlund suggested that the sex gap accounts for
up to one sixth of China’s crime increase between
1988 and 2004. Edlund points the finger at lower
marriage rates, noting that unmarried men are a
[20] destabilizing factor in society.
    Not everyone agrees that the gender gap is a
bad thing; a Columbia Business School study says it
encourages families to save cash to better position
sons in the spouse hunt. This increase in savings may
[25] serve to improve social stability and balance the sex
gap’s negative aspects. The crime increase has also
been attributed to the country’s growing underclass
of migrant workers, and it’s often unclear where the
pressures of work and courtship intersect to drive men
[30] to crime. But as China rises, it may unfortunately find
it’s overtaking the U.S. in crime as well.

FISH, Isaac Stone. China’s sex factor. Newsweek, New York, March 1, 2010 p. 9.

TEXTO:

    Over the years, China’s one-child policy has been
tied to a range of social ills, such as rising prostitution
and delayed marriage. Now it may be producing
yet another ugly side effect: a spike in crime. Even
[5] as rates have dropped in most Western countries,
official statistics show that China is becoming a more
dangerous place, with murder, robbery, and rape rates
now surpassing those in many European countries.
    Blame men. In January the Chinese Academy of
[10] Social Sciences found that the male-female birth ratio
in China has hit 119 males to 100 females, a new high,
and reaches 130:100 in some provinces. (That’s 10 to
20 percent higher than the average for industrialized
countries.) Some experts link this gap to the surge in
[15] violence. In an April 2009 paper, Columbia University’s
Lena Edlund suggested that the sex gap accounts for
up to one sixth of China’s crime increase between
1988 and 2004. Edlund points the finger at lower
marriage rates, noting that unmarried men are a
[20] destabilizing factor in society.
    Not everyone agrees that the gender gap is a
bad thing; a Columbia Business School study says it
encourages families to save cash to better position
sons in the spouse hunt. This increase in savings may
[25] serve to improve social stability and balance the sex
gap’s negative aspects. The crime increase has also
been attributed to the country’s growing underclass
of migrant workers, and it’s often unclear where the
pressures of work and courtship intersect to drive men
[30] to crime. But as China rises, it may unfortunately find
it’s overtaking the U.S. in crime as well.

FISH, Isaac Stone. China’s sex factor. Newsweek, New York, March 1, 2010 p. 9.

Why stress is so dangerous

§1 In November 2017, two eye surgeons from a hospital in Beirut reported an intriguing case of
visual loss in a colleague. A specialist in the retina, the colleague had suddenly developed
a patch of blurry vision in one eye just a day or two after an intensely stressful day in the
operating room. This was not the first time it had happened. The surgeon had experienced
four such episodes in just a year, each preceded by a stressful day of operating. The retinal
surgeon was diagnosed with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). A small amount of fluid
had collected beneath a tiny region of the surgeon's retina, causing it to temporarily detach.
The condition resolved after a few weeks, and a strict stress-management plan prevented
another episode from happening again.

§2 Reflecting on what had made their colleague vulnerable to stress, the surgeons noted new
surgical techniques made possible with better technology had stretched the physical limits
of what a surgeon is able to do. While this progress had expanded the scope of surgery,
operating at these limits placed immense mental strain on the surgeon.

§3 In 1959, management pundit Peter Drucker had predicted a dramatic transition in the nature of
work would take place 50 years later. He coined a term for this new kind of work, “knowledge
work” and anticipated the change would involve a move from physical to mental effort. He
later wrote the center of gravity of work would shift to “the man who puts to work what he has
between his ears rather than the skill of his hands”. The evolution of eye surgery has validated
some of Drucker’s predictions. As technology improves, it transmutes the physical skill of the
surgeon’s hands into the mental skills of analysis and concentration. The evolving nature of
work demands less from the body and more from the mind – meaning the mind is becoming
a greater victim of occupational hazards.

§4 According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of the United Kingdom, stress, depression
or anxiety accounted for 57% of all “sick days” in 2017/2018. The mind’s rising leverage over
productivity is prompting interest in what might be impeding its performance. The focus has
fallen on stress.

§5 Researches have revealed an acute stress reaction is built upon a rich tapestry of processes.
We know today that bungee jumpers become insulin resistant immediately following a bungee
jump, and the stress of lecturing 200 students raises markers of inflammation in college
professors. These processes offer a survival advantage under threat. The temporary insulin
resistance, for instance, ensures sugar reaches a brain under duress, while inflammation
holds a protective shield against unwelcome visitors entering through battle wounds.

§6 The effects of a healthy, acute stress reaction are mostly temporary, ceasing when a stressful
experience is over, and any lasting effects can sometimes leave us better than we were before.
Studies on rats, for instance, found that the stress from being restrained for a few hours may
increase the number of “newborn” brain cells in a part of the rat’s brain, which can correspond
to better performance in certain kinds of memory tests.

§7 Stress that is too frequent, too intense or constantly present, however, puts us under prolonged
strain. Many of the players in the stress response have so-called “non-linear dose-dependent
actions” meaning their effects change course with prolonged activity. As a result, chronic
stress induces a gradual, persistent shift in psychological and physiological parameters that
tips the scales towards disorder along different pathways.

§8 The sympathetic and parasympathetic arms of the autonomic nervous system – a nerve
network controlling involuntary processes such as blood pressure, breathing and digestion
– play a pivotal role in orchestrating the acute stress response. During times of fear or
anger, sympathetic activity (responsible for the “fight-or-flight” response) temporarily rises
and parasympathetic activity (underlining “rest-and-digest” responses) falls. If this pattern of
activity persists in the absence of stress, however, it can tilt us towards hypertension and
other illnesses. Similarly, while temporary emotional reactivity in acute stress helps us predict
danger, a sustained change in the dynamics of emotion regulation can tilt us towards mood
disorders.

§9 Mental strain is a performance-limiting factor in an age where physical load is increasingly
converted into mental load. As we transition further into the information age, it is time for the
enigma of chronic stress to finally move into the spotlight.

By Mithu Storoni.
13th August 2019. (Adapted from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190813-burnout-anxiety-stress-proof-relief).

TEXT

How facial recognition technology aids police

Police officers’ ability to recognize and locate individuals with a history of committing crime is vital to their work. In fact, it is so important that officers believe possessing it is fundamental to the craft of effective street policing, crime prevention and investigation. However, with the total police workforce falling by almost 20 percent since 2010 and recorded crime rising, police forces are turning to new technological solutions to help enhance their capability and capacity to monitor and track individuals about whom they have concerns.

One such technology is Automated Facial Recognition (known as AFR). This works by analyzing key facial features, generating a mathematical representation of them, and then comparing them against known faces in a database, to determine possible matches. While a number of UK and international police forces have been enthusiastically exploring the potential of AFR, some groups have spoken about its legal and ethical status. They are concerned that the technology significantly extends the reach and depth of surveillance by the state.

Until now, however, there has been no robust evidence about what AFR systems can and cannot deliver for policing. Although AFR has become increasingly familiar to the public through its use at airports to help manage passport checks, the environment in such settings is quite controlled. Applying similar procedures to street policing is far more complex. Individuals on the street will be moving and may not look directly towards the camera. Levels of lighting change, too, and the system will have to cope with the vagaries of the British weather.

[…]

As with all innovative policing technologies there are important legal and ethical concerns and issues that still need to be considered. But in order for these to be meaningfully debated and assessed by citizens, regulators and law-makers, we need a detailed understanding of precisely what the technology can realistically accomplish. Sound evidence, rather than references to science fiction technology --- as seen in films such as Minority Report --- is essential.

With this in mind, one of our conclusions is that in terms of describing how AFR is being applied in policing currently, it is more accurate to think of it as “assisted facial recognition,” as opposed to a fully automated system. Unlike border control functions -- where the facial recognition is more of an automated system -- when supporting street policing, the algorithm is not deciding whether there is a match between a person and what is stored in the database. Rather, the system makes suggestions to a police operator about possible similarities. It is then down to the operator to confirm or refute them.

By Bethan Davies, Andrew Dawson, Martin Innes (Source: https://gcn.com/articles/2018/11/30/facial-recognitionpolicing.aspx, accessed May 30th, 2020)

TEXT

How facial recognition technology aids police

Police officers’ ability to recognize and locate individuals with a history of committing crime is vital to their work. In fact, it is so important that officers believe possessing it is fundamental to the craft of effective street policing, crime prevention and investigation. However, with the total police workforce falling by almost 20 percent since 2010 and recorded crime rising, police forces are turning to new technological solutions to help enhance their capability and capacity to monitor and track individuals about whom they have concerns.

One such technology is Automated Facial Recognition (known as AFR). This works by analyzing key facial features, generating a mathematical representation of them, and then comparing them against known faces in a database, to determine possible matches. While a number of UK and international police forces have been enthusiastically exploring the potential of AFR, some groups have spoken about its legal and ethical status. They are concerned that the technology significantly extends the reach and depth of surveillance by the state.

Until now, however, there has been no robust evidence about what AFR systems can and cannot deliver for policing. Although AFR has become increasingly familiar to the public through its use at airports to help manage passport checks, the environment in such settings is quite controlled. Applying similar procedures to street policing is far more complex. Individuals on the street will be moving and may not look directly towards the camera. Levels of lighting change, too, and the system will have to cope with the vagaries of the British weather.

[…]

As with all innovative policing technologies there are important legal and ethical concerns and issues that still need to be considered. But in order for these to be meaningfully debated and assessed by citizens, regulators and law-makers, we need a detailed understanding of precisely what the technology can realistically accomplish. Sound evidence, rather than references to science fiction technology --- as seen in films such as Minority Report --- is essential.

With this in mind, one of our conclusions is that in terms of describing how AFR is being applied in policing currently, it is more accurate to think of it as “assisted facial recognition,” as opposed to a fully automated system. Unlike border control functions -- where the facial recognition is more of an automated system -- when supporting street policing, the algorithm is not deciding whether there is a match between a person and what is stored in the database. Rather, the system makes suggestions to a police operator about possible similarities. It is then down to the operator to confirm or refute them.

By Bethan Davies, Andrew Dawson, Martin Innes (Source: https://gcn.com/articles/2018/11/30/facial-recognitionpolicing.aspx, accessed May 30th, 2020)

TEXT

How facial recognition technology aids police

Police officers’ ability to recognize and locate individuals with a history of committing crime is vital to their work. In fact, it is so important that officers believe possessing it is fundamental to the craft of effective street policing, crime prevention and investigation. However, with the total police workforce falling by almost 20 percent since 2010 and recorded crime rising, police forces are turning to new technological solutions to help enhance their capability and capacity to monitor and track individuals about whom they have concerns.

One such technology is Automated Facial Recognition (known as AFR). This works by analyzing key facial features, generating a mathematical representation of them, and then comparing them against known faces in a database, to determine possible matches. While a number of UK and international police forces have been enthusiastically exploring the potential of AFR, some groups have spoken about its legal and ethical status. They are concerned that the technology significantly extends the reach and depth of surveillance by the state.

Until now, however, there has been no robust evidence about what AFR systems can and cannot deliver for policing. Although AFR has become increasingly familiar to the public through its use at airports to help manage passport checks, the environment in such settings is quite controlled. Applying similar procedures to street policing is far more complex. Individuals on the street will be moving and may not look directly towards the camera. Levels of lighting change, too, and the system will have to cope with the vagaries of the British weather.

[…]

As with all innovative policing technologies there are important legal and ethical concerns and issues that still need to be considered. But in order for these to be meaningfully debated and assessed by citizens, regulators and law-makers, we need a detailed understanding of precisely what the technology can realistically accomplish. Sound evidence, rather than references to science fiction technology --- as seen in films such as Minority Report --- is essential.

With this in mind, one of our conclusions is that in terms of describing how AFR is being applied in policing currently, it is more accurate to think of it as “assisted facial recognition,” as opposed to a fully automated system. Unlike border control functions -- where the facial recognition is more of an automated system -- when supporting street policing, the algorithm is not deciding whether there is a match between a person and what is stored in the database. Rather, the system makes suggestions to a police operator about possible similarities. It is then down to the operator to confirm or refute them.

By Bethan Davies, Andrew Dawson, Martin Innes (Source: https://gcn.com/articles/2018/11/30/facial-recognitionpolicing.aspx, accessed May 30th, 2020)