Questões de Inglês

Brazilian judge orders construction of Amazon dam to stop 

Tom Phillips, Thursday 29 September 2011 

A Brazilian judge has ordered construction to be suspended on a controversial hydroelectric dam in the Amazon. In his ruling, Judge Carlos Castro Martins said that all working on the Belo Monte dam that interfered with the natural course of the Xingu river should be halted because of the risk that fish stocks would be damaged. The £7bn dam would reputedly be the third largest in the world, after China's Three Gorges and the Itaipu project on the Brazil-Paraguay border. 

The injunction is the latest development in a decades-long battle against the Belo Monte dam, plans for which were conceived in the mid-1970's but subsequently shelved after protests. Brazil's government argues that the dam is essential to the energy needs of the country's booming economy. A full environmental licence for the construction was issued in June, with federal authorities promising a series of initiatives to lessen the social and environmental impact of the dam. 

On Tuesday, activists from the anti-dam Xingu Para Sempre movement claimed the project had brought unprecedented chaos to the riverside town of Altamira, with thousands of impoverished migrants having arrived by boat or road in search of work. "Nothing good is coming to the region and all of our darkest prophecies are coming true," Antonia Melo, one of the movement's leaders, said. 

Earlier this week, politicians from Altamira's townhall filed papers with the regional public prosecutor, asking for work on the dam to be interrupted. "The former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, publicly promised … that the project would bring major benefits to Altamira and 10 other towns around this mega-project," the document said. "But what we have so far seen are painful frustrations such as increased poverty, insecurity and social chaos." On Wednesday the judge issued his ruling to suspend building work. 

While there has long been widespread opposition to the dam from environmentalists, social activists and even Hollywood figures such as the director James Cameron, Altamira's political leaders have been broadly supportive of Belo Monte in the past, arguing it could bring development to the region. 

Norte Energia, the consortium behind Belo Monte's construction, is expected to appeal against the decision. 

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/ sep/29/brazilian-judge-monte-bello-dam Adaptado. 

Brazilian judge orders construction of Amazon dam to stop 

Tom Phillips, Thursday 29 September 2011 

A Brazilian judge has ordered construction to be suspended on a controversial hydroelectric dam in the Amazon. In his ruling, Judge Carlos Castro Martins said that all working on the Belo Monte dam that interfered with the natural course of the Xingu river should be halted because of the risk that fish stocks would be damaged. The £7bn dam would reputedly be the third largest in the world, after China's Three Gorges and the Itaipu project on the Brazil-Paraguay border. 

The injunction is the latest development in a decades-long battle against the Belo Monte dam, plans for which were conceived in the mid-1970's but subsequently shelved after protests. Brazil's government argues that the dam is essential to the energy needs of the country's booming economy. A full environmental licence for the construction was issued in June, with federal authorities promising a series of initiatives to lessen the social and environmental impact of the dam. 

On Tuesday, activists from the anti-dam Xingu Para Sempre movement claimed the project had brought unprecedented chaos to the riverside town of Altamira, with thousands of impoverished migrants having arrived by boat or road in search of work. "Nothing good is coming to the region and all of our darkest prophecies are coming true," Antonia Melo, one of the movement's leaders, said. 

Earlier this week, politicians from Altamira's townhall filed papers with the regional public prosecutor, asking for work on the dam to be interrupted. "The former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, publicly promised … that the project would bring major benefits to Altamira and 10 other towns around this mega-project," the document said. "But what we have so far seen are painful frustrations such as increased poverty, insecurity and social chaos." On Wednesday the judge issued his ruling to suspend building work. 

While there has long been widespread opposition to the dam from environmentalists, social activists and even Hollywood figures such as the director James Cameron, Altamira's political leaders have been broadly supportive of Belo Monte in the past, arguing it could bring development to the region. 

Norte Energia, the consortium behind Belo Monte's construction, is expected to appeal against the decision. 

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/ sep/29/brazilian-judge-monte-bello-dam Adaptado. 

Medical information on the web has pros and cons

By Christian Vey

Jan 2, 2012

You feel a twinge in your stomach and there is no
obvious explanation. Or maybe, for no apparent
reason, you get a stabbing headache. To whom - or to
what - do you turn first? According to various studies,
there is a good chance it is the internet.

'About 65 per cent of respondents now state that they
have recently searched for health content on the
internet,' said Marie-Luise Dierks, co-director of the
Hanover Patients' University, an independent
education institution at Hanover Medical School in
Germany. Some, though by no means all of them, try
to diagnose themselves.

Independently researching a health-related matter on
the internet can indeed be useful, said Dierks, who
said it is a good way to boost one's self-reliance and
confidence in dealing with illnesses, doctors and
medicine. But she added a caveat: 'It's important,
however, that information from the web always be
called into question.'

Health care professionals are divided on the internet
as a source of medical information. 

'There is nothing wrong with informing oneself,' said
Ursula Marschall, medical director of a German public
health insurance company. But she said it is
dangerous to regard the internet as more credible than
one's doctor. Noting that 'patients always have their
own notions about their illness,' she said those who
did internet research were at risk of latching onto
information that supports their preconceptions, even if
these latter ones are completely wrong.

Maria Gropalis, a psychologist at Mainz University's
Department of Psychology, also sees risks. 'The
danger of misinformation is very high on the internet.
The overabundance of information can be a problem
as well' - particularly for hypochondriacs, she said.
'There's the risk that the internet will intensify existing
fears.'

A word has even been coined for unfounded anxiety
concerning the state of one's health brought on by
visiting medical websites: 'cyberchondria.' While
Gropalis views the neologism as mainly a vogue word,
she said the phenomenon it described was definitely a
modern variety of hypochondria. 

www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1683515.php/Medical-information-on-the-web-has-pros-and-cons. Adaptado.

Medical information on the web has pros and cons

By Christian Vey

Jan 2, 2012

You feel a twinge in your stomach and there is no
obvious explanation. Or maybe, for no apparent
reason, you get a stabbing headache. To whom - or to
what - do you turn first? According to various studies,
there is a good chance it is the internet.

'About 65 per cent of respondents now state that they
have recently searched for health content on the
internet,' said Marie-Luise Dierks, co-director of the
Hanover Patients' University, an independent
education institution at Hanover Medical School in
Germany. Some, though by no means all of them, try
to diagnose themselves.

Independently researching a health-related matter on
the internet can indeed be useful, said Dierks, who
said it is a good way to boost one's self-reliance and
confidence in dealing with illnesses, doctors and
medicine. But she added a caveat: 'It's important,
however, that information from the web always be
called into question.'

Health care professionals are divided on the internet
as a source of medical information. 

'There is nothing wrong with informing oneself,' said
Ursula Marschall, medical director of a German public
health insurance company. But she said it is
dangerous to regard the internet as more credible than
one's doctor. Noting that 'patients always have their
own notions about their illness,' she said those who
did internet research were at risk of latching onto
information that supports their preconceptions, even if
these latter ones are completely wrong.

Maria Gropalis, a psychologist at Mainz University's
Department of Psychology, also sees risks. 'The
danger of misinformation is very high on the internet.
The overabundance of information can be a problem
as well' - particularly for hypochondriacs, she said.
'There's the risk that the internet will intensify existing
fears.'

A word has even been coined for unfounded anxiety
concerning the state of one's health brought on by
visiting medical websites: 'cyberchondria.' While
Gropalis views the neologism as mainly a vogue word,
she said the phenomenon it described was definitely a
modern variety of hypochondria. 

www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1683515.php/Medical-information-on-the-web-has-pros-and-cons. Adaptado.

Medical information on the web has pros and cons

By Christian Vey

Jan 2, 2012

You feel a twinge in your stomach and there is no
obvious explanation. Or maybe, for no apparent
reason, you get a stabbing headache. To whom - or to
what - do you turn first? According to various studies,
there is a good chance it is the internet.

'About 65 per cent of respondents now state that they
have recently searched for health content on the
internet,' said Marie-Luise Dierks, co-director of the
Hanover Patients' University, an independent
education institution at Hanover Medical School in
Germany. Some, though by no means all of them, try
to diagnose themselves.

Independently researching a health-related matter on
the internet can indeed be useful, said Dierks, who
said it is a good way to boost one's self-reliance and
confidence in dealing with illnesses, doctors and
medicine. But she added a caveat: 'It's important,
however, that information from the web always be
called into question.'

Health care professionals are divided on the internet
as a source of medical information. 

'There is nothing wrong with informing oneself,' said
Ursula Marschall, medical director of a German public
health insurance company. But she said it is
dangerous to regard the internet as more credible than
one's doctor. Noting that 'patients always have their
own notions about their illness,' she said those who
did internet research were at risk of latching onto
information that supports their preconceptions, even if
these latter ones are completely wrong.

Maria Gropalis, a psychologist at Mainz University's
Department of Psychology, also sees risks. 'The
danger of misinformation is very high on the internet.
The overabundance of information can be a problem
as well' - particularly for hypochondriacs, she said.
'There's the risk that the internet will intensify existing
fears.'

A word has even been coined for unfounded anxiety
concerning the state of one's health brought on by
visiting medical websites: 'cyberchondria.' While
Gropalis views the neologism as mainly a vogue word,
she said the phenomenon it described was definitely a
modern variety of hypochondria. 

www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1683515.php/Medical-information-on-the-web-has-pros-and-cons. Adaptado.

Medical information on the web has pros and cons

By Christian Vey

Jan 2, 2012

You feel a twinge in your stomach and there is no
obvious explanation. Or maybe, for no apparent
reason, you get a stabbing headache. To whom - or to
what - do you turn first? According to various studies,
there is a good chance it is the internet.

'About 65 per cent of respondents now state that they
have recently searched for health content on the
internet,' said Marie-Luise Dierks, co-director of the
Hanover Patients' University, an independent
education institution at Hanover Medical School in
Germany. Some, though by no means all of them, try
to diagnose themselves.

Independently researching a health-related matter on
the internet can indeed be useful, said Dierks, who
said it is a good way to boost one's self-reliance and
confidence in dealing with illnesses, doctors and
medicine. But she added a caveat: 'It's important,
however, that information from the web always be
called into question.'

Health care professionals are divided on the internet
as a source of medical information. 

'There is nothing wrong with informing oneself,' said
Ursula Marschall, medical director of a German public
health insurance company. But she said it is
dangerous to regard the internet as more credible than
one's doctor. Noting that 'patients always have their
own notions about their illness,' she said those who
did internet research were at risk of latching onto
information that supports their preconceptions, even if
these latter ones are completely wrong.

Maria Gropalis, a psychologist at Mainz University's
Department of Psychology, also sees risks. 'The
danger of misinformation is very high on the internet.
The overabundance of information can be a problem
as well' - particularly for hypochondriacs, she said.
'There's the risk that the internet will intensify existing
fears.'

A word has even been coined for unfounded anxiety
concerning the state of one's health brought on by
visiting medical websites: 'cyberchondria.' While
Gropalis views the neologism as mainly a vogue word,
she said the phenomenon it described was definitely a
modern variety of hypochondria. 

www.monstersandcritics.com/news/health/news/article_1683515.php/Medical-information-on-the-web-has-pros-and-cons. Adaptado.