Questões de Inglês

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Prescriptions for fighting epidemics

  Epidemics have plagued humanity since the dawn of settled life. Yet, success in conquering them remains patchy. Experts predict that a global one that could kill more than 300 million people would come round in the next 20 to 40 years. What pathogen would cause it is anybody’s guess. Chances are that it will be a virus that lurks in birds or mammals, or one that that has not yet hatched. The scariest are both highly lethal and spread easily among humans. Thankfully, bugs that excel at the first tend to be weak at the other. But mutations – ordinary business for germs – can change that in a blink. Moreover, when humans get too close to beasts, either wild or packed in farms, an animal disease can become a human one.

  A front-runner for global pandemics is the seasonal influenza virus, which mutates so much that a vaccine must be custom-made every year. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which killed 50 million to 100 million people, was a potent version of the “swine flu” that emerged in 2009. The H5N1 “avian flu” strain, deadly in 60% of cases, came about in the 1990s when a virus that sickened birds made the jump to a human. Ebola, HIV and Zika took a similar route.

(www.economist.com, 08.02.2018. Adaptado.)

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

Prescriptions for fighting epidemics

  Epidemics have plagued humanity since the dawn of settled life. Yet, success in conquering them remains patchy. Experts predict that a global one that could kill more than 300 million people would come round in the next 20 to 40 years. What pathogen would cause it is anybody’s guess. Chances are that it will be a virus that lurks in birds or mammals, or one that that has not yet hatched. The scariest are both highly lethal and spread easily among humans. Thankfully, bugs that excel at the first tend to be weak at the other. But mutations – ordinary business for germs – can change that in a blink. Moreover, when humans get too close to beasts, either wild or packed in farms, an animal disease can become a human one.

  A front-runner for global pandemics is the seasonal influenza virus, which mutates so much that a vaccine must be custom-made every year. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which killed 50 million to 100 million people, was a potent version of the “swine flu” that emerged in 2009. The H5N1 “avian flu” strain, deadly in 60% of cases, came about in the 1990s when a virus that sickened birds made the jump to a human. Ebola, HIV and Zika took a similar route.

(www.economist.com, 08.02.2018. Adaptado.)

Entre 11 de fevereiro e 03 de junho de 2018, o Museu de Arte Moderna de Nova Iorque (MoMA) abrigou a primeira exposição nos Estados Unidos dedicada à pintora brasileira Tarsila do Amaral. Leia a apresentação de uma das pinturas expostas para responder à questão.

  The painting Sleep (1928) is a dreamlike representation of tropical landscape, with this major motif of her repetitive figure that disappears in the background.

  This painting is an example of Tarsila’s venture into surrealism. Elements such as repetition, random association, and dreamlike figures are typical of surrealism that we can see as main elements of this composition. She was never a truly surrealist painter, but she was totally aware of surrealism’s legacy.

(www.moma.org. Adaptado.)

Fake news: What exactly is it – and how can you spot it?

By: James Carson, 28 sep 2018

"Fake news" was not a term many people used two years ago, but it is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy, free debate and the Western order.

As well as being a favourite term of Donald Trump, it was also named 2017's word of the year, raising tensions between nations, and may lead to regulation of social media.

And yet, nobody can agree on what it is, the extent of the problem, and what to do about it.

How do you spot it?

Spotting fake news isn't easy: a Stanford study last year found that students were shockingly bad at distinguishing between different types of material online, whether paid for, fake or legitimate.

Facebook has a useful list of ways to spot fake news, which include checking other sources and a site's URL.

Facebook’s tips for spotting fake news

1. Be sceptical of headlines. The headlines of fake news stories are often catchy, and contain lots of capital letters and exclamation marks. If claims in the headline sound unbelievable, they may well be.

2. Look closely at the URL. Many false news stories mimic authentic news sources by making small changes to the URL. You can go to the site to compare the URL to established sources.

3. Check the source. Ensure the story comes from a source with a reputation for accuracy. If the story comes from a site you have not heard of, check their “About” section to learn more.

4. Watch for unusual formatting. Many false news stories often contain spelling and grammar errors, as well as an awkward looking layout.

5. Check the photos. False news stories often contain manipulated images or videos. Sometimes the photo may be authentic, but taken out of context. You can do an internet search of the image to find out where it came from.

6. Check the dates. Fake news stories may contain timelines that make no sense, or event dates which are wrong or have been altered.

7. Check the evidence. Check the author‟s sources to confirm they are accurate. Lack of evidence, or a reliance on unnamed experts may indicate false news.

8. Look at other reports. If no other news source is reporting the same story, it could indicate that it is false.

9. Is the story a joke? Sometimes false news stories can be hard to distinguish from humourous articles. Check whether the source is known for parody, and whether the story‟s details and tone suggest it may be just for fun.

10. Some stories are intentionally false. Think critically about the stories that you read, and only share articles which you know to be credible. News stories are often described as so good you couldn't make it up, which is often what makes them great news stories. But it's worth expressing scepticism about everything: could this really happen?

Disponível em: . Access: 23 Oct, 2018. Adapted.

Glossary: threats: ameaças; sceptical: cético; mimic: copiar; awkward: estranho.

Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Disponível em: https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/09/16. Acesso em 20 de jul. 2018.

Read the text and answer question.

Behind a Shopping Center in New Jersey, Signs of a Mass Extinction 

  Behind a Lowe’s home improvement store here, scientists
are methodically scraping and sifting through ___ quarry pit
that may contain unique insights to the mass extinction that
eliminated _____ dinosaurs.
[5]  Back then, about 66 million years ago, _____ oceans
were higher, and this part of southern New Jersey was a
shallow sea, 10 to 15 miles offshore from ____ ancient
mountain range that rose from the water. Today’s quarry pit
was once the sea bottom, and one particular layer about 40
[10] feet beneath the surface contains a bounty of fossils.
  Kenneth J. Lacovara, a professor of paleontology and
geology at nearby Rowan University, calls the layer ___
“mass death assemblage.” He believes it may be ____ only
known collection of animal remains that dates from the mass
[15] extinction itself.
Taken from www.nytimes.com - Accessed on 06/01/2016.