Questões de Inglês

Britain’s new mayors

 

A decade ago when London chose its first directly elected mayor some feared it would become a shallow political beauty contest. But the idea has taken off. Sixteen authorities now elect or are about to elect their mayor; ten more British cities are about to decide.

This is Birmingham's so called Council House built with some grandeur in the nineteenth century to run Britain's second largest city. If voters say yes, they could scrap the traditional council here and choose an executive mayor. But one recent poll suggested the idea is unpopular and voters here remain divided. Some experts want to go further and give mayors control of local health and policing, though that remains highly controversial. Many democracies around the world already have directly or indirectly elected mayors and in mainland Europe it's common. So a 'yes' vote in a large number of British cities could be followed by more; in a decade local government will have been transformed.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/05/120501_witn_britains_mayor_2.shtml

Em “But the idea has taken off”, a tradução correta é:

Who’s really who on Facebook?

 

We all know what a wonderful aid the internet can be to communication and debate. Sadly, we are becoming aware of how often spiteful anonymous comments can poison the well of web conversations. But now there's something of a fightback - and the social networks where many of these conversations happen will be under growing pressure to do more to protect vulnerable users.

On Monday's Today programme, Nicola Brooke described in moving detail how she had been bullied on Facebook - and had fought back by getting a court order forcing the social network to identify the anonymous people who had mounted a vicious campaign of abuse.What struck me was that Facebook and other social networks had once appeared to offer the promise of a more civilised online communication precisely because they were places where people were who they said they were.

Unlike web forums where bilious commenters express themselves in ways they would never dream of doing without the shield of anonymity, social networks like Facebook and Twitter should be more polite because you have to be who you say you are.

But that no longer appears to be the case. Facebook now has 900 million active users but it seems quite a large proportion of them are not "real" people. (The company says false or duplicate accounts probably make up 5- 6% of its users, although it admits that this is a very rough estimate and may not be accurate.)

So what is Facebook doing about this? The company says it does not actively police its users to make sure they are not breaking the rules - that would be impossible given the scale of the network - but relies on others reporting abuse. When the network receives complaints, it says it is reasonably evident when an account is breaking the rules on anonymity. Obvious clues include a user who has started several accounts using the same email address, or who has had lots of friend requests rejected. But Facebook won't reveal how many accounts it has suspended over the past year, so it is difficult to know exactly how well the system is working. Perhaps we all need to be more active in reporting abuse on networks like this. And maybe networks like Facebook need to be more active in policing their own rules.

Adapted from: http://www.bbc.com, July, 2012.

It is possible to affirm that the verbs says and receives

Who’s really who on Facebook?

 

We all know what a wonderful aid the internet can be to communication and debate. Sadly, we are becoming aware of how often spiteful anonymous comments can poison the well of web conversations. But now there's something of a fightback - and the social networks where many of these conversations happen will be under growing pressure to do more to protect vulnerable users.

On Monday's Today programme, Nicola Brooke described in moving detail how she had been bullied on Facebook - and had fought back by getting a court order forcing the social network to identify the anonymous people who had mounted a vicious campaign of abuse.What struck me was that Facebook and other social networks had once appeared to offer the promise of a more civilised online communication precisely because they were places where people were who they said they were.

Unlike web forums where bilious commenters express themselves in ways they would never dream of doing without the shield of anonymity, social networks like Facebook and Twitter should be more polite because you have to be who you say you are.

But that no longer appears to be the case. Facebook now has 900 million active users but it seems quite a large proportion of them are not "real" people. (The company says false or duplicate accounts probably make up 5- 6% of its users, although it admits that this is a very rough estimate and may not be accurate.)

So what is Facebook doing about this? The company says it does not actively police its users to make sure they are not breaking the rules - that would be impossible given the scale of the network - but relies on others reporting abuse. When the network receives complaints, it says it is reasonably evident when an account is breaking the rules on anonymity. Obvious clues include a user who has started several accounts using the same email address, or who has had lots of friend requests rejected. But Facebook won't reveal how many accounts it has suspended over the past year, so it is difficult to know exactly how well the system is working. Perhaps we all need to be more active in reporting abuse on networks like this. And maybe networks like Facebook need to be more active in policing their own rules.

Adapted from: http://www.bbc.com, July, 2012.

 

According to the text

Brazil biologists investigate penguin deaths

 

Brazilian biologists are investigating the deaths of more than 500 penguins found washed up on the beaches of Rio Grande do Sul state.

Autopsies are being conducted on some of the birds to determine the cause of death.

Researchers said the penguins appeared to have been well-fed, with no apparent injuries and no oil on their bodies.

Similar incidents in the past have been blamed on shifting ocean currents and colder temperatures.

Magellanic Penguins migrate to southern Brazil from Patagonia every year during the southern winter.

Last week dozens of young penguins were rescued from beaches in Rio de Janeiro after straying far beyond their normal range.

The birds delighted beach-goers, but scientists said their health was suffering in the tropical waters. Brazil's environment agency is preparing to fly those penguins back to the south.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18838918.

“Colder”, no texto, refere-se a

Brazil biologists investigate penguin deaths

 

Brazilian biologists are investigating the deaths of more than 500 penguins found washed up on the beaches of Rio Grande do Sul state.

Autopsies are being conducted on some of the birds to determine the cause of death.

Researchers said the penguins appeared to have been well-fed, with no apparent injuries and no oil on their bodies.

Similar incidents in the past have been blamed on shifting ocean currents and colder temperatures.

Magellanic Penguins migrate to southern Brazil from Patagonia every year during the southern winter.

Last week dozens of young penguins were rescued from beaches in Rio de Janeiro after straying far beyond their normal range.

The birds delighted beach-goers, but scientists said their health was suffering in the tropical waters. Brazil's environment agency is preparing to fly those penguins back to the south.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18838918.

Assinale a alternativa correta de acordo com o texto.

Brazil despite its economic success remains one of the inequality champions

August 22nd, 2012

 

  Brazil might be the leading economy in Latin America and has had a significant performance in reducing poverty in recent years, but it still remains among the countries with the highest inequality in the region together with Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia, points out the UN-Habitat report. In all four countries based on 2009 data, the Gini income per capita distribution index stood at 0.56, to which must be added Dominican Republic and Bolivia, two inequality champions with high concentration of wealth. This compares with the US and Portugal Gini indicator of 0.38, two countries that offer no relief since Portugal, for example, has the highest inequality index of the European Union.

  Nevertheless, Brazil advanced compared to 1990 when it had the highest degree of inequality and stood well ahead from the rest of the continent. But the region continues to have the highest inequality rate in spite of advances in helping income distribution. Among some of the causes for distribution improvement are productivity, upward trend of salaries and workers categories, strong economy and implementation of income transfer programs in several countries, particularly in the two leading economies, Brazil and Mexico. In the case of Brazil, the country’s economy now figures sixth at global level.

  Former president Lula da Silva and one of the most popular leaders in history of that country based his success precisely on the Bolsa Família Plan, which distributed a monthly basic food basket to millions, helping anywhere from 14 to 22 million climb out of poverty, plus ensuring his Workers Party an encouraging future.

  The Gini coefficient or index measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for instance, levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all values are the same (for instance, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for instance, where only one person has all the income).

(http://en.mercopress.com. Adaptado.)

 

trecho do primeiro parágrafo – to which must be added Dominican Republic and Bolivia –, which refere-se a