Questões de Inglês

What’s in a name? The trouble with lingo

Remember the campaign in New York for garbage collectors to be called sanitation engineers?

Near the top of the strike’s agenda was the matter of getting the respect due to the people doing

such essential work. Unfortunately, the new euphemistic title clarified nothing about the work

and by now is either simply not heard for what it means, or is used in moments of gentle disdain.

[5]  A clearer term may have both generated the respect desired and withstood the test of time.

Clarity and sincerity matter. Terms which mislead, confuse or cause offence can become

a distraction from the real content of public debate. In the search for consensus, since public

understanding is harder to change than terminology, changing the terminology might be a better

place to start. No additional prejudice or emotion should be brought to a debate by the terminology

[10]  used in it. Here are two examples.

Genetic Engineering and Genetic Modification

Despite the insistence of biotech scientists that genes of completely different species are no

longer being mixed, the message isn’t being heard. They insist that they are now involved only

in developments which simply hasten the natural processes of selective and cross breeding or

[15]  cross pollination. As farmers and horticulturists have been doing exactly this, unquestioned, for

years, they cannot understand public resistance.

The problem may well be the terminology. In this context, the words “scientific” or “genetic” have

been irreparably sullied. If “genetic engineering” has, in the public’s view, become synonymous

with the indiscriminate mixing of genes, and if the softer label “genetically modified” hasn’t been

[20]  able to shake off a perception of sinister overtones, these terms might as well be dropped − or

left attached only to experiments in Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.

Ideally, a new agricultural term would leave out the word “genetic” altogether: it seems to

frighten the public. Assuming it described science’s benign genetic activities accurately, the term

“productivity breeding” is not a trivial call for a euphemism; besides, it would probably encounter

[25]  less public opposition.

So, let’s have new terms for selective cross breeding by scientists who simply speed up the same

process that is carried out in nature.

Clean coal*

If this new term was intended to be clear, it hasn’t worked.

[30]  In “Politics and the English Language” (1946), George Orwell wrote that because so much political

speech involves defending the indefensible, it has to consist largely of euphemism. He insisted

that, in politics, these euphemisms are “swindles” and “perversions” left deliberately vague in

order to mislead. Deliberate or not, “clean coal” is one of these. Aside from being a contradiction

in terms, the name is misleading, creating the impression of the existence of a new type of coal. In

[35]  fact, it is ordinary coal which has been treated to “eliminate” most of its destructive by-products,

which are then buried. The whole process produces emissions. This, though, isn’t clear when it

is simply labelled “clean coal”. The term just doesn’t seem sincere. It’s a red rag to any green.

It’s not asking too much to expect the term describing these procedures to be more accurate. A

clearer term would be less provocative.

[40]  So, what’s in a name? A lot. There’s the possibility of confusion, prejudice, perversions and

swindles. For the sake of fair debate, let’s mean what we say and say what we mean.

SEEARGH MACAULAY www.londongrip.com 

Analise os textos. A questão se refere à eles.

TEXTO

Disponível em: http://www.blackcommentator.com/241/241_images/241_cartoon_us_arms_aid_middle_east_small_over.gif. Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011.

TEXTO

US Arms Sales to Middle East Send Signal to Iran

By Gidon Belmaker

    Dating back to the Cold War, American military aid to its Middle Eastern allies⁽¹⁾ has been one of the key factors affecting the power balance in the conflict-filled area.

    The U.S. foreign aid policy in the Middle East “evolved over the years from a focus on preventing Soviet influence from gaining a foothold⁽²⁾ in the region, and from maintaining a neutral stance⁽³⁾ in the Arab-Israeli conflict, to strengthening Israel’s military and economy, and using foreign aid as an incentive to foster⁽⁴⁾ peace agreements between countries in the region,” according to a congressional research service paper on aid to the Middle East. The United States is committed to keeping Israel's strategic advantage over its neighbors.

    American aid in the Middle East is distributed to a wide variety of countries, some of which are in conflict with one another. The Saudi ruling⁽⁵⁾ family is known for its extreme religious views and was accused in the past of supporting the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Disponível em: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/45545/. Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011. (Adaptado).

Glossary

⁽¹⁾  Allies: countries that have agreed to help and support another country, especially in case of a war.

⁽²⁾  Foothold: a strong position from which somebody can make progress and achieve success.

⁽³⁾  Stance: position.

⁽⁴⁾  Foster: to encourage something to develop.

⁽⁵⁾  Ruling: having control over a particular group or country.

OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY. 6. ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.

TEXTO

Disponível em:http://www.encyclopedia.com/RankImages.aspx?topicid=104931.Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011.

The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas

    Where most novels are concerned with plot and characters, this one is all about structure. The narrative is a chronicle, of sorts, and through its realism and satire, it's impossible not to think that Machado de Assis is poking fun at⁽¹⁾ the very form he is seeking to embrace. There are many themes at the crux⁽²⁾ of this work, not least of which is time, and how it relates to the deterioration of people, places, customs, and things. We are instructed to understand that even that which brings us joy is only temporary.

    The narrator describes Virgilia as "the great sin of his youth." It was when she came into his life, he says, that his delirium began. Although Machado de Assis lived in a time when Romanticism in literature was the style du jour, the naturalistic, even sardonic⁽³⁾ brush with which he paints his characters and scenes is refreshing for its very distinctiveness. Unlike Eça de Queiroz, whom he has been compared to on more than one occasion, Machado tends to parody the melodramatic genre, making light of romance, and treating love scenes with as much sincerity as if they were part of a theatrical skit.

    The key to why this book works so well is that it's a parody of everything it represents. In spite of all the subtexts and literary allusions, it's worth reading strictly for its satire, as well as for its exceptional prose. It isn't difficult to see why this is considered to be a landmark novel in the history of Brazilian literature. Never has Machado more deftly⁽⁴⁾ conveyed his realization of the vanity of all existence than he does in The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas.

Disponível em: http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/10589-Machado-de-Assis-The-Posthumous-Memoirs-Of-Bras-Cubas.Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011. (Adaptado).

Glossary:

⁽¹⁾  Poke fun at: to say unkind things about somebody/something in order to make other people laugh at them.

⁽²⁾  Crux: the most important or difficult part of a problem or an issue.

⁽³⁾  Sardonic: showing that you think that you are better than other people and do not take them seriously.

⁽⁴⁾  Deftly: skillfully.

OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY. 6. ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.

TEXTO

Disponível em:http://www.encyclopedia.com/RankImages.aspx?topicid=104931.Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011.

The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas

    Where most novels are concerned with plot and characters, this one is all about structure. The narrative is a chronicle, of sorts, and through its realism and satire, it's impossible not to think that Machado de Assis is poking fun at⁽¹⁾ the very form he is seeking to embrace. There are many themes at the crux⁽²⁾ of this work, not least of which is time, and how it relates to the deterioration of people, places, customs, and things. We are instructed to understand that even that which brings us joy is only temporary.

    The narrator describes Virgilia as "the great sin of his youth." It was when she came into his life, he says, that his delirium began. Although Machado de Assis lived in a time when Romanticism in literature was the style du jour, the naturalistic, even sardonic⁽³⁾ brush with which he paints his characters and scenes is refreshing for its very distinctiveness. Unlike Eça de Queiroz, whom he has been compared to on more than one occasion, Machado tends to parody the melodramatic genre, making light of romance, and treating love scenes with as much sincerity as if they were part of a theatrical skit.

    The key to why this book works so well is that it's a parody of everything it represents. In spite of all the subtexts and literary allusions, it's worth reading strictly for its satire, as well as for its exceptional prose. It isn't difficult to see why this is considered to be a landmark novel in the history of Brazilian literature. Never has Machado more deftly⁽⁴⁾ conveyed his realization of the vanity of all existence than he does in The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas.

Disponível em: http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/10589-Machado-de-Assis-The-Posthumous-Memoirs-Of-Bras-Cubas.Acesso em: 7 fev. 2011. (Adaptado).

Glossary:

⁽¹⁾  Poke fun at: to say unkind things about somebody/something in order to make other people laugh at them.

⁽²⁾  Crux: the most important or difficult part of a problem or an issue.

⁽³⁾  Sardonic: showing that you think that you are better than other people and do not take them seriously.

⁽⁴⁾  Deftly: skillfully.

OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNER’S DICTIONARY. 6. ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.