Questões de Inglês

The next north-European ice age

There are still a few people in northern Europe …………… think that global warming

might not be such a bad thing. …………..Britain, ……………. summer can sometimes

seem to last little more than a few weeks, many would ……………….. the idea of it

getting a bit …………………….. 

Unfortunately things are not so simple. Global warming doesn't just mean that the world

will slowly get warmer. Paradoxically, it could cause certain areas to get colder – a lot

colder. The latest predictions are that northern Europe could even be plunged into an

ice age. While areas of south-eastern Europe, such as Greece, would continue to get

hotter and drier, Britain could find itself, in the winter months at least, surrounded by

sea ice.

The reason for this concerns the Greenland ice sheet. This is one of the biggest

expanses of ice in the world – around 1,500km long and 600km wide. It is so big that if

it all melted sea levels would rise by 7 metres. Due to rising emissions of greenhouse

gases, such as carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels, this ice sheet is

melting at an alarming rate. But how could the melting of the Greenland ice sheet

threaten to plunge northern Europe into a new ice age?

The link in the chain of events is what some call the Gulf Stream and others call the

Atlantic Conveyor. This is the stream of warm water that comes up from central

America and flows across the Atlantic to northern Europe. It is this huge mass of warm

water which accounts for the relatively high temperatures enjoyed by Britain, for

instance, compared with parts of Canada and Russia which are equally far north of the

equator. Warm water is conveyed across to Europe near the surface of the Atlantic,

and at its northernmost point it cools and sinks because the water from the tropics has

a higher salt content, making it denser and so heavier than the water near the arctic.

The cold, dense water then flows south close to the ocean floor, back towards central

and south America to complete the cycle.

Scientists are beginning to make bleak predictions of an impending ice age in the

northern hemisphere because they have observed that the water flowing from the

melting Greenland ice sheet is flowing into the path of the Gulf Stream. The water from

the melted ice will reduce the density of the water in the Gulf Stream, stopping the

water sinking in the north, thereby cutting off the deep southerly current, which, in turn,

will cut off the northerly flow of warmer water. At that point the seas around Britain will

begin to freeze.

http://fullspate.digitalcounterrevolution.co.uk/archive/globalwarming (seen on 19th/03/2015)

TEXT 2

TOP 5 DATING TIPS FOR MEN AND WOMEN

After interviewing gurus that counsel both men and women on dating, we noticed something that was quite curious. Some of their dating advice was actually gender-neutral and could be applied to both sexes. As we see it, good advice is good advice.Here are the top five dating tips for both men and women:

1. Be open minded.

2. Don’t research before a first date. You can “Google them” later.

3. Don’t bring baggage. Avoid talking about past relationships.

4. Be honest about yourself. Starting a relationship based on lies is never a good idea.

5. Leave on a high note. Keep things short and sweet. Better to leave the other person wanting more.

(www.newszoom.com) Acessed on: august 10th, 2014.

TEXT 1

'Twerking' bounces into Oxford dictionary

LONDON – Twerking, the rump-busting up-and-down dance move long beloved on

America's hip-hop scene, has officially gone mainstream. It's got the English dictionary

entry to prove it.

Britain's Oxford Dictionaries said the rapid-fire gyrations employed by U.S. pop starlet

Miley Cyrus to bounce her way to the top of the charts had become increasingly visible

in the past 12 months and would be added to its publications under the entry: "Twerk,

verb."

Although Cyrus's eye-popping moves at Monday's MTV Video Music Awards may have

been many viewers' first introduction to the practice, Oxford Dictionaries' Katherine

Connor Martin said "twerking" was some two decades old.

"There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we

may never know the answer for sure," Martin said. "We think the most likely theory is

that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar

ways, with dancers being encouraged to 'work it.' The 't' could be a result of blending

with another word such as twist or twitch."

"Twerk" will be added to the dictionary as part of its quarterly update, which includes

words such as "selfie," the word typically used to describe pouty smartphone self-

portraits, "digital detox" for time spent way from Facebook and Twitter, and "Bitcoin," for

the nationless electronic currency, whose gyrations have also caught the world's eye.

Oxford Dictionaries is responsible for a range of reference works, including Oxford

Dictionaries Online, which focuses on modern usage, and the historically-focused Oxford

English Dictionary, which probably won't be adding "twerk" to its venerable pages any

time soon.

The definition: "Twerk, v.: dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner

involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance."

By RAPHAEL SATTER Associated Press (www.mercurynews.com)

Accessed on: august 10th, 2014.

TEXT 1

'Twerking' bounces into Oxford dictionary

LONDON – Twerking, the rump-busting up-and-down dance move long beloved on

America's hip-hop scene, has officially gone mainstream. It's got the English dictionary

entry to prove it.

Britain's Oxford Dictionaries said the rapid-fire gyrations employed by U.S. pop starlet

Miley Cyrus to bounce her way to the top of the charts had become increasingly visible

in the past 12 months and would be added to its publications under the entry: "Twerk,

verb."

Although Cyrus's eye-popping moves at Monday's MTV Video Music Awards may have

been many viewers' first introduction to the practice, Oxford Dictionaries' Katherine

Connor Martin said "twerking" was some two decades old.

"There are many theories about the origin of this word, and since it arose in oral use, we

may never know the answer for sure," Martin said. "We think the most likely theory is

that it is an alteration of work, because that word has a history of being used in similar

ways, with dancers being encouraged to 'work it.' The 't' could be a result of blending

with another word such as twist or twitch."

"Twerk" will be added to the dictionary as part of its quarterly update, which includes

words such as "selfie," the word typically used to describe pouty smartphone self-

portraits, "digital detox" for time spent way from Facebook and Twitter, and "Bitcoin," for

the nationless electronic currency, whose gyrations have also caught the world's eye.

Oxford Dictionaries is responsible for a range of reference works, including Oxford

Dictionaries Online, which focuses on modern usage, and the historically-focused Oxford

English Dictionary, which probably won't be adding "twerk" to its venerable pages any

time soon.

The definition: "Twerk, v.: dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner

involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance."

By RAPHAEL SATTER Associated Press (www.mercurynews.com)

Accessed on: august 10th, 2014.

1 According to the prevailing wisdom in the West, the

Ukraine crisis can be blamed almost entirely on Russian

aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin, the argument

4 goes, annexed Crimea out of a long-standing desire to

resuscitate the Soviet empire, and he may eventually go after

the rest of Ukraine, as well as other countries in eastern

7 Europe. In this view, the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor

Yanukovych in February 2014 merely provided a pretext for

Putin’s decision to order Russian forces to seize part of

10 Ukraine. But this account is wrong: the United States and its

European allies share most of the responsibility for the crisis.

Since the mid-1990s, Russian leaders have adamantly

13 opposed NATO enlargement, and in recent years, they have

made it clear that they would not stand by while their

strategically important neighbor turned into a Western bastion.

Internet: <www.foreignaffairs.com> (adapted).

1 The primary cause for the Arab-Israeli conflict lies in

the claim of two national movements on the same land, and

particularly the Arab refusal to accept Jewish self4

determination to hold part of that land. Furthermore

fundamentalist religious concepts regarding the right of either

side to the entire land have played an increasing role, on the

7 Jewish side particularly in the religious settler movement, on

the Palestinian side in the Hamas and similar groups. But

whereas the settlers received a blow when they failed to

10 prevent the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Hamas won the

Palestinian elections, and after their breakup with Fatah and

their take-over of the Gaza Strip, they remain a dominant force

13 capable of blocking any peace agreement.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is further complicated by

preconceptions and demonizing of the other by both sides. The

16 Israelis see around them mostly undemocratic Arab states with

underdeveloped economies, backward cultural and social

standards and an aggressive religion inciting to hatred and

19 terrorism. The Arabs consider the Israelis colonial invaders and

conquerors, who are aiming to control the entire Middle East.

Since the Oslo peace process however, a broad

22 consensus has been formed that an independent Palestinian

Arab state should be established within the areas occupied in

1967. Polls on both sides show that majorities among Israelis

25 and Palestinians accept a two-state solution, but Palestinians

almost unanimously stick to the right of return of the refugees

to Israel, and most Israelis oppose a Palestinian capital in East

28 Jerusalem.

Internet: <www.israel-palestina.info> (adapted).