Questões de Inglês

The Flowering of Human Consciousness

 

Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: the first flower ever to appear on the
planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary
transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years.
The first flower probably did not survive for
[05] long, and flowers must have remained rare
and isolated phenomena, since conditions
were most likely not yet favorable for a
widespread flowering to occur. One day,
however, a critical threshold was reached,
and suddenly there would have been an
explosion of color and scent all over the
planet. Later, this first recognition of beauty
was one of the most significant events in
the evolution of human consciousness.

[15] The achievements of humanity are
impressive and undeniable. We have
created sublime works of music, literature,
painting, architecture, and sculpture. More recently, science and technology have brought about radical
changes in the way we live and have enabled us to do and create things that would have been considered
[20] miraculous even two hundred years ago. No doubt the human mind is highly intelligent. Yet its very intelligence
is tainted by madness. Science and technology have magnified the destructive impact that the dysfunction
of the human mind has upon the planet, other life-forms, and upon humans themselves. That is why the
history of the twentieth century is where that dysfunction, that collective insanity, can be most clearly
recognized. A further factor is that this dysfunction is actually intensifying and accelerating.

 

[25] We only need to watch the daily news on television to realize that the madness has not abated, that
is continuing into the twenty-first century. Another aspect of the collective dysfunction of the human mind is
the unprecedented violence that humans are inflicting on other life-forms and the planet itself - the destruction
of oxygen-producing forests and other plant and animal life; ill-treatment of animals in factory farms; and
poisoning of rivers, oceans, and air. Driven by greed, ignorant of their connectedness to the whole, humans
[30] persist in behavior that, if continued unchecked, can only result in their own destruction.

 

When faced with a radical crisis, when the old way of being in the world, of interacting with each other
and with the realm of nature doesn’t work anymore, when survival is threatened by seemingly insurmountable
problems, an individual life-form - or a species - will either die or become extinct or rise above the limitations
of its condition through an evolutionary leap.

 

[35] Responding to this radical crisis that threatens our very survival is humanity’s challenge now. A
significant portion of the earth’s population will soon recognize, if they haven’t already done so, that humanity
is now faced with a stark choice: evolve or die.

Adapted from Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to your life’s purpose.

The first paragraph considers one aspect of “The Flowering of Human Consciousness”. Mark the option which reflects such an aspect.

The Flowering of Human Consciousness

 

Earth, 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: the first flower ever to appear on the
planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun. Prior to this momentous event that heralds an evolutionary
transformation in the life of plants, the planet had already been covered in vegetation for millions of years.
The first flower probably did not survive for
[05] long, and flowers must have remained rare
and isolated phenomena, since conditions
were most likely not yet favorable for a
widespread flowering to occur. One day,
however, a critical threshold was reached,
and suddenly there would have been an
explosion of color and scent all over the
planet. Later, this first recognition of beauty
was one of the most significant events in
the evolution of human consciousness.

[15] The achievements of humanity are
impressive and undeniable. We have
created sublime works of music, literature,
painting, architecture, and sculpture. More recently, science and technology have brought about radical
changes in the way we live and have enabled us to do and create things that would have been considered
[20] miraculous even two hundred years ago. No doubt the human mind is highly intelligent. Yet its very intelligence
is tainted by madness. Science and technology have magnified the destructive impact that the dysfunction
of the human mind has upon the planet, other life-forms, and upon humans themselves. That is why the
history of the twentieth century is where that dysfunction, that collective insanity, can be most clearly
recognized. A further factor is that this dysfunction is actually intensifying and accelerating.

 

[25] We only need to watch the daily news on television to realize that the madness has not abated, that
is continuing into the twenty-first century. Another aspect of the collective dysfunction of the human mind is
the unprecedented violence that humans are inflicting on other life-forms and the planet itself - the destruction
of oxygen-producing forests and other plant and animal life; ill-treatment of animals in factory farms; and
poisoning of rivers, oceans, and air. Driven by greed, ignorant of their connectedness to the whole, humans
[30] persist in behavior that, if continued unchecked, can only result in their own destruction.

 

When faced with a radical crisis, when the old way of being in the world, of interacting with each other
and with the realm of nature doesn’t work anymore, when survival is threatened by seemingly insurmountable
problems, an individual life-form - or a species - will either die or become extinct or rise above the limitations
of its condition through an evolutionary leap.

 

[35] Responding to this radical crisis that threatens our very survival is humanity’s challenge now. A
significant portion of the earth’s population will soon recognize, if they haven’t already done so, that humanity
is now faced with a stark choice: evolve or die.

Adapted from Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to your life’s purpose.

The text blames man’s lack of commitment toward the environment for the eventual destruction of human life on Earth.

 

Mark the option that best conveys this idea.

We can see prejudice related to sexual orientation, skin color and gender. The joke below can be an example of one kind of prejudice. Read the joke and do what is asked in question

 

Magistrate: 'But if you saw the lady driving towards you, why didn't you give her half the road?' Motorist: 'I was going to, Your Honour, as soon as I could find out which half she wanted.'

(taken from the website- http://thejokes.co.uk/jokes-about-women-drivers.php)

 

 

“ I was going to, Your Honour, as soon as I could find out which half she wanted.”

 

All the sentences below do not agree with the man’s saying, EXCEPT:

Prejudice

 

    The word prejudice refers to prejudgment: making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case or event. The word has commonly been used in certain restricted contexts, in the expression 'racial prejudice'. Initially this is referred to making a judgment about a person based on their race, religion, class, etc., before receiving information relevant to the particular issue on which a judgment was being made; it came, however, to be widely used to refer to any hostile attitude towards people based on their race or even by just judging someone without even knowing them. Subsequently the word has come to be widely so interpreted in this way in contexts other than those relating to race. The meaning now is frequently "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence". Race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and religion have a history of inciting prejudicial behavior.

 

Forms of prejudice

 

    Frank J. Farley classified prejudice into three categories. Cognitive Prejudice refers to what people believe is true. An example of cognitive prejudice might be found, for example, adherence to a particular metaphysical or methodological philosophy to the exclusion of other philosophies that may offer a more complete theoretical explanation. Affective Prejudice refers to what people like and dislike. An example of affective prejudice might be found, for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed. Conative Prejudice refers to how people are inclined to behave. Conative prejudice is regarded as an attitude because people don't act on their feelings. An example of conative prejudice might be found in expressions of what should be done if the opportunity presented itself. These three types of prejudice are correlated, but all need not be present in a particular individual. Someone might believe a particular group possesses low levels of intelligence, but harbour no ill feelings toward that group. A group might be disliked because of intense competition for jobs, but still recognize no differences between groups.

 

    ‘Discrimination' is a behavior (an action), with reference to unequal treatment of people because they are members of a particular group. Farley also classified discrimination into three categories. Personal / Individual Discrimination is directed toward a specific individual and refers to any act that leads to unequal treatment because of the individual's real or perceived group membership. Legal Discrimination refers to "unequal treatment, on the grounds of group membership, that is upheld by law." Apartheid is an example of legal discrimination, as are also various post-Civil war laws in the southern United States that legally disadvantaged negroes with respect to property rights, employment rights and the exercise of constitutional rights. Institutional Discrimination refers to unequal treatment that is entrenched in basic social institutions resulting in advantaging one group over another. The Indian caste system is an historical example of institutional discrimination. As with prejudice generally, these three types of discrimination are correlated and may be found to varying degrees in individuals and society at large. Many forms of discrimination based upon prejudice are outwardly acceptable in most societies.

(This text was taken and adapted from wikipedia- available in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice)

Discrimination was presented in the text as “an unequal treatment of people because they are members of a particular group.” (3^rd paragraph ).

 

The only sentence that is related to the information given about discrimination is …

Choose the similar meaning for the verb “overhear” according to the text:

INSTRUÇÃO: Leia o texto e, de acordo com as informações nele contidas, responda à questão.

TEXTO

Coasting on Past Glory

    The Amazon is still largely intact, but the future hinges on decisions being made now.
    From the window of a Boeing, few countries are greener than Brazil. Since much of this vast territory in the heart of South America is still unpeopled and unblemished, it’s not surprising that Brazil looks good against the backdrop of a mistreated planet. It ranks 34th of 149 nations in Yale and Columbia’s Environmental Performance Index – greener than Ireland (35th) and the United States (39th). But how long will the country be able to hold on to this favorable score?
    To get a better look, you have to go to 9,000 meters, the altitude from which the NASA remote-sensing satellites sweep the earth. Every year, scientists at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) pore over satellite images to produce the most detailed survey of deforestation of any nation in the world. Such candor has won Brazil kudos, but also criticism. Brazil is the fourth biggest contributor of greenhouse gases globally, of which 75 percent comes from the felling and burning of forests. So when data released by INPE in late May showed that 5,850 square kilometers of forest (an area larger than Brunei) had disappeared from August 2007 to April 2008 – a 17 percent spike from the year before – the planet took notice. “Brazil has a fantastic endowment from nature but is failing when it comes to managing it,” says Judicael Clevelario Junior, head of environmental studies at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the census bureau.
    Brazil’s green laurels are not an illusion. Four fifths of its electric power comes from hydroelectric plants. It is the world leader in biofuels – nearly 30 percent of its cars run on ethanol. The trouble is that these virtues reflect sound decisions made in the 1970s, during the ambitious military government of Gen. Ernesto Geisel. Brazil has not always followed them up.
    (…) Fortunately, Brazil has options. Its booming economy is not beholden to coal-fired power plants, and the rain forest is still largely intact. “Brazil has a rare opportunity to transform itself into a rich country and still maintain its natural capital,” says Clevelario Jr. If it can go back to its old habit of making the right environmental moves.

(Newsweek, July 14th 2008, http://www.newsweek.com/id/143696)

Com base no texto, indique a alternativa que completa a sentença:

Brazil is ................ than Ireland, and ................ than the United States.