Questões de Inglês

Voices: The Pope's powerful message to Cubans

Rick Jervis, September 24, 2015

SANTIAGO DE CUBA – I’ve always been fairly skeptical about how much power one man can exercise, even if that man commands the attention of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

I understand that Pope John Paul II visited Poland in the 1970s and ‘80s and gave speeches so stirring that they helped launch the Solidarity opposition movement and lead to the collapse of communism in the country. And I know that popes throughout history have had influential moments.

But, really, how much can one man and one microphone do? How literally do people take his message? These were the questions that kept my mind busy when I left for Cuba last week to cover Pope Francis’ four-day trip. I was curious to see how much impact the words of this 78-year-old man can have on a population of 11 million. I’m becoming fairly familiar with Cuba. I’ve been to the island three times this year, five times overall, and grew up in southern Florida. My parents are Cubans who left the country in 1962. Cuba today continues to fascinate and dismay. It’s a place of beauty and jolting contradictions. The re-establishment of relations between the U.S. and Cuban governments, begun last December, continue to stir excitement and hope in Cubans, and changes are trickling in.

I followed Pope Francis from Havana to Santiago and heard him talk of reconciliation, love for mankind and the importance of family. I interviewed Cubans who glowed with the fervor of the faithful as they pledged their love for the Pope and promised to follow his message. But my question remained: What does all of this mean? How does it translate to actual change on the island?

To help me sort through this, I visited Father Jorge Catasus, a popular parish priest here who helped welcome the Pope to the city. We sat in the cool, cavernous back room of his 18th-century church, safe from the 37-degree heat outside. Catasus said “don't focus on any grand political or social changes stemming from the papal visit”. The most important changes, he said, come from within. That’s what Pope Francis offered as a first step, and that’s what Cubans across the island, in chants, cheers and tearful acceptance, agreed to abide by.

“The lives of men are decided in their hearts”, Catasus told me. “That’s where we’ll see the change”. This may not be 1980s Poland, and Solidarity may still not be anywhere in sight. But first things first. A change of heart can often lead to a world of good.

 

Adapted from .

 

According to the text, Jorge Catasus is:

Forget Texting While Driving: AT&T Survey reveals drivers do a lot more with their smartphones

By Menchie Mendoza, Tech Times | May 20, 10:10 AM 

 

 

    Drivers who continue to use their smartphones while driving are not only distracted when they call and text. Apart from calling and texting, drivers are also browsing the Internet, tweeting, video chatting, taking selfies and sending email with their devices, according to a study by AT&T.

    The research was conducted as part of the carrier's "It Can Wait" campaign launched in 2010. It hopes to increase awareness of the dangers posed by using smartphones while one is behind the wheel. The study polled 2,067 U.S. residents ages 16-65 who use their smartphone and drive once or more per day.

    Seventy percent of those surveyed admit they use their smartphones for a number of activities while they are driving: 61 percent say they text and 33 percent send email while they are behind the wheel. Posting or interacting on social media is also one of the most common activities that drivers engage in. Using Facebook ranks first on the list, with 27 percent of drivers logging in while driving. Other social media channels that keep drivers "multitasking" include Instagram and Twitter (14 percent) and Snapchat (11 percent).

    The results also show that there is a deeper problem involved when people use social media while driving. Among those surveyed, 22 percent blame their addiction to social media.

    Other revelations show 62 percent keep their smartphones within easy reach, and that 30 percent of those who post to Twitter while driving do it "all the time". Drivers also don't seem to run out of other activities using their smartphones since most apps are now easily accessed with just a simple tap. Because of this, 28 percent of drivers browse the web; 17 percent take selfies (or groupies); and 10 percent video chat.

    "One in 10 say they do video chat while driving", said Lori Lee, AT&T's senior VP for global marketing. "I don't even have words for that". AT&T plans to expand the "It Can Wait" campaign in order to add more focus on the topic of texting while driving by including other driving distractions that result from using the smartphones. "When we launched 'It Can Wait' five years ago, we pleaded with people to realize that no text is worth a life", said Lee. "The same applies to other smartphone activities that people are doing while driving. For the sake of you and those around you, please keep your eyes on the road, not on your phone". AT&T will also launch a nationwide virtual reality tour in summer in order to spread the word that driving and using a smartphone don't and will never mix. 

Adapted from . 

Identify the statements below as true (T) or false (F). According to the text, the results of the AT&T survey show that while driving, people use their smartphones to: 

( ) take pictures. 
( ) chat by using video. 
( ) interact in social media. 
( ) send text messages. 
( ) watch video clips. 

Mark the alternative which presents the correct sequence, from top to bottom.

A figura do Uncle Sam sempre está relacionada à convocação de soldados americanos para a guerra. As duas figuras acima estão fazendo essa convocação, porém de maneiras diferentes. Considerando que os dois cartazes indicam uma ordem, a expressão utilizada em um desses cartazes que torna a ordem mais educada é

Maya Angelou: the ache for home lives in all of us

 

[1]  Maya Angelou, whose passing at age 86 leaves us a bit orphans, said often that although she

gave birth to one son, she had thousands of daughters. “I have daughters who are black and

white, Asian and Spanish-speaking and native American. I have daughters who are fat and thin,

pretty and plain”, she said. “I have all sorts of daughters who I just claim. And they claim me.”

[5]  I wonder if Angelou ever knew really how many girls were told about her, named after her or like

me, growing up in a suburban corner of England, clinging fiercely to her books and even when

not reading them, inhaling the spirit of her struggle from the titles alone: A song flung up to

heaven, I know why the caged bird sings and Gather together in my name.

  I loved and admired Angelou, but it was the content of her writing that had most power over me,

[10] her novels and poems all languishing playfully somewhere on her rich spectrum between poetry

and prose.

  Here was a woman who had been raised in the America of racial segregation. As the structural

injustice of race had become more subtle and sophisticated during her lifetime, she called it by

its right name. Therefore, her comment on 9/11: “Living in a state of terror was new to many

[15] white people in America, but black people have been living in a state of terror in this country for

more than 400 years.”

  Here was a woman who was not a historical relic, but a living, breathing one-woman phenomenon.

She gave me a language of identity that radiated as much from her very existence as it did from

her work. The book that had the most impact on my life was All God’s children need travelling

[20] shoes – the fifth instalment in her series of autobiographies – about the time she spent in Africa

during the civil rights movement.

  Here was a woman who gave voice to the struggle of black people. In Ghana, she was part of a

community of African Americans, but her travels stand out as an act of defiance against the view

perpetrated by many then that Africans and people of African descent in countries like the US

[25] have nothing in common. She didn’t just live it, she wrote about it, warts and all. “If the heart

of Africa remained elusive, my search for it had brought me closer to understanding myself and

other human beings”, she wrote. “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we

can go as we are and not be questioned.”

  With her departure, America has not just lost a talented woman and gifted raconteur. It has lost

a connection to its recent past which helped it make sense of its present.

Afva Hirsch theguardian.com 

Maya Angelou’s strategy to deal with racial injustice in America was to call it by its right name (l. 13-14).

The action that best shows her adoption of such strategy is:

The Simpsons is an American sitcom that

shows middle class lifestyle in cartoon form.

The half-hour episodes take place in and

around the fictional town of Springfield and

make fun out of American culture and society.

Since the show started in 1989 the Simpsons

have been broadcast over 500 times. This

makes it the longest running sitcom in

American television history. In 2007 a fulllength

movie, The Simpsons Movie, made

over half a billion dollars. The Simpsons has

won many prizes, including the Emmy

Awards. In the year 2000, Time magazine

named it the best television series of

the century and the cartoon characters of The

Simpsons received their own star on

Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. The Simpson

family consists of 5 main characters. Homer is

the rather clumsy, beer-drinking father. He

works at a nuclear power plant in Springfield

and is married to Marge Simpson, a typical

American middle class housewife. The couple

has three children. Bart is a ten-year old

who constantly gets into trouble. Lisa is a

highly intelligent eight-year old who has

become a vegetarian and a Buddhist. Maggie,

the family’s baby, is often shown with

a pacifier. The Simpsons have two pets, a dog

named Santa’s Little Helper and Snowball, a

cat. Even though the

series focuses around animated characters,

many human celebrities have starred on The

Simpsons in the past, for example, Bill

Concurso Vestibular Específico – 2016/1 Página 8

Clinton, Tony Blair, Tom Jones or Mel Gibson.

(Disponível em: http://www.english-online.at. Acesso em 22/10/2014)

A expressão “Hollywood’s Walk of Fame” (l. 17) significa:

Leia o texto a seguir para responder à questão.

 

What do police officers do?

By Emma Woolley

 

    The primary responsibility of police officers is to protect the public, or if commissioned, the person, group or organization to which they are assigned. Through detecting and preventing crime, police officers strive to maintain law and order in their respective jurisdictions.
    Most new police officers work in general duty in patrol divisions, which provides a broad range of experiences and assignments. General duty policing involves patrolling assigned areas to enforce laws, protect public safety, and arrest criminal suspects – either by car, foot, bicycle, or in some cases, horse.
    Police officers can also do some or all of the following: Investigate accidents and crime scenes; secure evidence and interview witnesses; testify in court; collect notes and reports; provide emergency assistance to victims of natural disasters, crime, and accidents; engage in crime prevention, safety, and public information programs; participate in media relations; and supervise and manage the work of other police officers.
    Working as a police officer can be one of the most diverse career experiences, as specializations ranging in the hundreds are available. With a few years of service (usually four or more), he or she can move into areas such as criminal identification, drug investigations, sexual assault, fraud, major case and/or crime management, surveillance, aircraft security, explosives disposal, police dog services, and many more.
    Police officers must be available for shift work at any time of day and any day of the week, including holidays. Shifts tend to be longer than the standard eight-hour office day. Even though many regular police duties are routine in nature, the job can also be dangerous, as well as physically and emotionally stressful.

(http://careerbear.com/police-officer/article/ what-do-police-officers-do. Adaptado)

In the last sentence from the text – Even though many regular police duties are routine in nature… – the phrase in bold expresses a relationship of