Questões de Inglês

Examine a tira para responder à questão.

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success

Simon Atkinson
January 10, 2017

    It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world’s smartphones and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.

    A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement. Locally-made versions felt “rough” compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.

    The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip – the tiny ball that dispenses ink as you write. It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.

    Put simply, China’s steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to shape its pen tips accurately. Without that ability, China’s 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan (U$17.3 million) a year.

    But according 16 People’s Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co thinks it has cracked the problem, after five years of research. The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its production lines, the paper says. And once lab tests are completed, it’s expected China could phase out pen tip imports completely within two years.

(www.bbc.com. Adaptado.)

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success

Simon Atkinson
January 10, 2017

    It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world’s smartphones and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.

    A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement. Locally-made versions felt “rough” compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.

    The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip – the tiny ball that dispenses ink as you write. It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.

    Put simply, China’s steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to shape its pen tips accurately. Without that ability, China’s 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan (U$17.3 million) a year.

    But according 16 People’s Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co thinks it has cracked the problem, after five years of research. The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its production lines, the paper says. And once lab tests are completed, it’s expected China could phase out pen tip imports completely within two years.

(www.bbc.com. Adaptado.)

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

Pen power: China closer to ballpoint success

Simon Atkinson
January 10, 2017

    It has sent rockets into space, produced millions of the world’s smartphones and built high-speed trains. But until now, one bit of manufacturing had perhaps unexpectedly eluded China: the ballpoint pen.

    A year ago Premier Li Keqiang went on national television and bemoaned the failure of his country to produce a good quality version of this seemingly-simple implement. Locally-made versions felt “rough” compared to those from Germany, Switzerland and Japan, Mr Li complained.

    The problem was not the body of the pen, but the tip – the tiny ball that dispenses ink as you write. It might be something we take for granted, but making them requires high-precision machinery and very hard, ultra-thin steel plates.

    Put simply, China’s steel has not been good enough. And it has struggled to shape its pen tips accurately. Without that ability, China’s 3,000 penmakers have had to import this crucial component from abroad, costing the industry a reported 120m yuan (U$17.3 million) a year.

    But according 16 People’s Daily, the state-owned Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co thinks it has cracked the problem, after five years of research. The first batch of 2.3-millimetre ballpoint pen tips has recently rolled off its production lines, the paper says. And once lab tests are completed, it’s expected China could phase out pen tip imports completely within two years.

(www.bbc.com. Adaptado.)

Responda  a questão considerando o texto seguinte:

The Economist explains

Michel Temer’s plans for Brazil

May 12th 2016, 23:53 BY J.P.

ON MAY 12th Michel Temer became the third Brazilian vice-president in 30 years to be thrust into the top job, after the Senate voted to commence the impeachment trial of the president, Dilma Rousseff. As she steps aside for up to 180 days while senators consider her fate, she leaves behind a mess. The country's economy may shrivel by 7.5% in 2015-16. Inflation and unemployment hover around 10%; so, as a proportion of GDP, does the budget deficit. The political system is a shambles, with Congress home to an unwieldy 25 political parties. What can—and should—Mr Temer do about it all? (…)

If his proposed cabinet is anything to go by, Mr Temer plans to replace Ms Rousseff’s confidence-stifling interventionism with market-friendlier policies. He appears commendably keen to chip away at Brazil’s bloated state. He has named a respected former Central Bank governor, Henrique Meirelles, as his finance minister and created a new super-ministry whose task is to spur private investment in Brazil’s shoddy infrastructure. The number of ministries is to be slashed from 32 to something like 23, to show that the government, not just citizens, can make sacrifices. In principle, all this is welcome. In practice, Mr Temer may face an uphill struggle. To begin mending the economy, Mr Meirelles needs most urgently to tackle the vast budget deficit. Congressmen, never exactly keen on spending cuts and tax rises, may resist the necessary belt-tightening, especially in the run-up to October’s important local elections. And Mr Temer’s caretaker administration—which supporters of Ms Rousseff’s left-wing Workers’ Party regard as coupmongering usurpers—lacks the voter legitimacy for more radical structural reforms, such as to Brazil’s overgenerous public pensions, rigid labour laws, byzantine taxes or graft-prone electoral system. That will still be the case if and when he is handed the keys to the Alvorada.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economistexplains/2016/05/economist-explains9?zid=305&ah=417bd5664dc76da5d98af4f7a640fd8a

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

Here’s why men don’t like going to the doctor

Anna Almendrala
June 13, 2016

    Men tend to die earlier than women, are more likely to die from eight out of the ten top causes of death in the U.S. than women, and are also more likely to smoke and drink excessively. Researchers think a mix of factors are involved in men’s earlier deaths, including the fact that men tend to take more risks, are less socially connected, and have more dangerous jobs than women. But there’s another very simple, easy to fix problem: Men just don’t go to the doctor as much as women do.

    Men are half as likely as women to go to the doctor over a 2-year period, according to 2014 survey data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They were also more than three times as likely to admit going more than five years without a visit. And finally, men were more than twice as likely to say they’ve never had contact with a doctor or health professional as an adult. Ever. A new online survey commissioned by the Orlando Health hospital system hints at why men may be so reluctant to see doctors. According to the survey results, a mix of busyness, fear, shame and discomfort kept them out of the doctor’s office.

    Men experience very strong, clear messages about how they’re supposed to display their masculinity and hide their vulnerability, and pretty much everything about going to a doctor’s office goes against these rigid gender role norms, said professor Glenn Good, an expert on masculinity and the psychology of men at the University of Florida. Good was not involved in the survey, but said that the results did not surprise him. “Going to a physician involves a couple of things that may feel uncomfortable for men,” Good said. “They don’t want to ask for directions and they don’t want to have to consult an expert about something that they know less about.”

    And while the face of body shame might be female, as women come under extraordinarily heavy criticism for their looks and weight, that doesn’t mean men don’t struggle with other expectations of what their bodies should look like. This could explain some men’s reluctance to find out their weight in the doctor’s office, Good said.

    Men need to re-think their idea of strength if they want to feel comfortable about going to a doctor, he advised. A truly strong, healthy person embraces routine health care, health consultation and daily healthy habits to truly protect his body, Good said — not just his own self-image. “The metaphor of a tree is a helpful one,” he said. “A truly strong tree can flex and bend in the wind, but a tree that is really rigid and stiff is more likely to get snapped.”

(www.huffingtonpost.com. Adaptado.)