Questões de Inglês

Brazil Football Museum Attracts Passionate Fans

 

The excitement of the 2014 World Cup has spread all over the world. Tens of thousands of people have travelled to Brazil to support their favorite teams. Some of them are also visiting a football-related museum, in the city of São Paulo, near the Pacaembu sportscenter.
The museum is designed to interest lovers of the World Cup, world history and Brazilian culture. It tells about more than 100 years of football history. After seeing the museum, it is easy to understand why Brazilians love the game of football - which people in the United States call “soccer.”
People entering the museum see and hear a video of Brazilian football legend and three-time World Cup Champion Pelé welcoming them in three different languages.
About 1,000 people a day visit the museum. But during the World Cup, it has two times as many visitors.
Visitors hear the sounds of goals and whistles, and experience what it is like to win and lose. There is a “Hall of Heroes” that shows some of Brazil’s most famous football players. The museum also has computer games that let visitors play football without going onto the pitch, or field.
Daniela Alfonsi is the content director of the museum.
“We have 15 rooms in long-term exhibition that work with the motion, that work with experiences, so in each room you can feel the voice of the supporters in the bleachers, you can hear the radio narrations, you can see football as art more than as a sport.”
Pelé once called football “o jogo bonito” or “the beautiful game.” In this museum, it is easy to see why. Carlos Acosta is a Colombian who lives in São Paulo, and loves football. He says Brazilians think and talk about football all day. They eat it, they drink it, they breathe it, he says.
One room at the museum is very special to Brazilians. It tells about the defeat of the Brazilian team by Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup final at the Maracana sports center in Rio de Janeiro. The score was 2 to 1. Brazilians call the defeat “The Maracanazo.” The loss happened as more than90,000 people watched. 
But the sadness felt from the loss did not last long. Brazil has won five World Cup championships - the most of any country.
I’m Jonathan Evans.

 

Glossary:
Has spread: espalhou-se
To support: apoiar
Legend: lenda
Whistles: assobios
Welcoming: dando boas-vindas
Bleachers: arquibancadas
Pitch: campo de futebol
Field: campo de futebol
Breathe: respiram
Defeat: derrota
Loss: perda
Source: Portal Voa Learning English, Brazil Football Museum Attracts Passionate Fans, Available in: . Access 23/05/2015.

The museum mentioned in the text is located in

Read the text below and answer question.

 

Too Much Gaming is a Pain in the Neck

 

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

 

    Most children have heard their parents at one time or another yell “sit up straight!” or “don’t slouch!”

    In the past, this was usually heard at the dinner table as children ate dinner. But these days, it is also heard around another activity – video games.
    Ten-year old Owaish Batliwala, from Mumbai, India, admits he spends three to four hours each day playing games on his tablet computer. His mother Mehzabin became concerned when her son started saying that his neck hurt.
    She said, "My son started having neck problems around June or July. The pain slowly spread to his hand and his back. He plays for hours on the iPad and mobile phone. This is what has caused the problem."
    Sadia Vanjara is a physical therapist. She says the number of young children with chronic pain in their necks, arms and shoulders is on the rise. Dr. Vanjara says the pain is not from aging, accidents or disease. It is from poor posture, or body position, while playing video games.
    "They are not aging, they haven't had an accident, their age is like, under 10, they are not complaining, the blood reports are fine, their x-rays are fine, their MRI's are fine, then where is the culprit? And that is the very common thing that is happening amongst all children and that is smart phones and the gadgets.
    “This is a problem in many parts of the world. But there are more smartphone users in India than anywhere else in the world, except China. Networking equipment company Cisco estimates that the number of smartphone users in India will increase from 140 million today to 651 million by 2020.
    19-year old student Nida Jameel says she feels pain in the finger which holds the weight of her smartphone most of the day.
    She says she uses her smartphone 24/7. This means 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or all the time.
    "As I use phone 24/7 (all day) like, so probably yeah, it was because of the phone, continuous usage and Snapchat, Whatsapp, more and more you know social media coming, so like phone is the center of everything."
    Dr. Vanjara says the best treatments for the pain are daily exercises. "And start stretching it in all the possible directions that you can." Correct posture can help prevent pain.

    Dr. Vanjara teaches children how to hold their gadgets correctly. She tells a patient to hold the gadget in front of the face. She says that bending the head down to look at the device, strains the neck and creates an unhealthy bend to the back.
    Sadia Vanjara predicts we will see not only physical but psychological and emotional problems resulting from overuse of gadgets. Experts advise taking breaks from using a computer or other device often. Stand up. Stretch your legs, back, shoulders and arms. And when your work or school work is done, unplug and exercise. And that’s the Health and Lifestyle report.
     I’m Anna Matteo.
    VOA correspondent George Putic reported this story from Washington, D.C. Anna Matteo wrote it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Search: Portal Voa Learning English, Too Much Gaming is a Pain in the Neck. Disponível em: < http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/article/2691718.html>. Acesso em 23 /03/2015.
 

Glossary:
Slouch: tenha uma má postura
Concerned: preocupada
Neck: pescoço
Hurt: doer
Spread: espalhou-se
Bend: inclinar
MRI: ressonância magnética
Culprit: culpado
Gadgets: equipamentos eletrônicos
Pain: dor
Prevent: impedir
Device: dispositivo, equipamento
Stretching: alongar-se

The name of the person who plays for hours on the iPad and mobile phone is

READ THE TEXT BELOW, THEN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION.

 

Only 6 Percent of U.S. Hospitals Are Equipped to Handle Ebola

by Laura Tedesco, October, 2014

 

    Don’t let the hazmat suit fool you. Most U.S. hospitals are not totally prepared to take on Ebola patients.

    Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas has come under fire for failing to properly handle the first Ebola case to arrive inside the United States. To confirm that sad matter, a new survey made by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) suggests that the majority of U.S. hospitals are similarly ill-prepared to receive Ebola patients.

    From Oct. 10 to Oct. 15, APIC asked 1,039 infection prevention personnel at U.S. hospitals this question: How prepared is your facility to receive a patient with the Ebola virus? Only 6 percent thought their hospital was well-equipped to tackle such a case, even though 81 percent had initiated Ebola training for their staff. Five percent said their facility was not prepared at all.

    A big part of the problem: a shortage of staff focused on warding off infection. Among the hospitals surveyed, 51 percent had just one infection prevention expert on staff or none at all. Forty-two percent had only two to five infection preventionists.

(Available at: https://www.yahoo.com/health/only-6-percent-of-u-s-hospitals-are-equipped-to-handle-101105027082.html)

 

Glossary: Hazmat: material contagioso.

Survey: pesquisa (de opinião ou levantamento).

Tackle: lidar, combater.

Ward off: isolar.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas was

How smart is your AI?

In 1950, Alan Turing, a pioneer of artificial intelligence (AI), proposed what’s now known as the Turing Test – an evaluation of a machine’s ability to behave like a human. Though there’s still plenty of room to improve, many AI systems are nearing Turing’s benchmark. And as they do, AI on our phones, TV game shows, and IT systems are sounding more like us than ever before.

APPLE SIRI: By accessing information on an iPhone, in apps, and online (think Wikipedia), Siri handles simple tasks and can answer straightforward questions. It can look up the weather, direct you to a meeting – or even help settle a bar bet.

MICROSOFT CORTANA: Prior questions (and answers) help this Windows Phone assistant establish context. It also learns the nuances of a user’s speech. For instance, if you refer to your home as a “pad,” Cortana will learn to identify your intended meaning.

GOOGLE’S VOICE SEARCH: Google’s voice search can answer follow-up questions, and it can figure out exactly what a person is referring back to. For example, “What team does Tony Romo play for?” can be followed by “How tall is he?” or “When’s the next game?” 

IBM WATSON: Using Watson, developers can create applications that analyze complicated data sets (like medical records). The system can then assist in diagnosing and prescribing treatments. It can also engage in a give-and-take dialogue with users.

IPSOFT AMELIA: This commercial AI system used for virtual service desks adds emotional awareness to its machine-learning capabilities. The platform replaces automated customer-service phone trees and responds empathetically to people.

Corinne Iozzio, Popular Science , February 2015

The function of the expression “for instance” in Paragraph 3 of TEXT C is to

TEXT

 

[1]   The head of Brazil’s Senate, Renan  

Calheiros, has been accused of tax evasion,  

using a government jet to visit a surgeon who  

alleviated his baldness with hair implants and  

[5] allowing a construction company’s lobbyist to  

pay child support for his daughter from an  

extramarital affair with a television journalist. 

  Eduardo Cunha, the conservative  

speaker of Brazil’s lower house of Congress,  

[10] has also faced — and successfully battled — a  

list of corruption accusations, from  

embezzlement to living in an apartment paid  

for by a black-market money dealer. 

  In some democracies, figures facing such  

[15] situations might find themselves banished from  

public life even if they were never convicted.  

But not in Brazil, where the men who command  

the scandal-plagued Congress are actually 

increasing their power over the scandal

[20] plagued president, Dilma Rousseff.

  The move reflects one of the most  

profound shifts in political power in the country  

in decades — and is a clear measure of the  

troubles Ms. Rousseff now faces in the wake of  

[25] a sweeping bribery case involving Brazil’s  

national oil company. 

  “This is ‘House of Cards,’ Brazilian style,  

with the chiefs in Congress seizing a moment  

when the president is very weak,” said David  

[30] Fleischer, a professor emeritus of political  

science at the University of Brasília. “They are  

putting into motion a strategy of simply letting  

Dilma dangle in the wind,” he added. 

  The strategy seems to be working. While  

[35] both Mr. Cunha and Mr. Calheiros are on the  

list of dozens of political figures under  

investigation in connection with the bribery  

scandal, the congressional leaders appear to be  

deflecting attention from their own troubles by  

[40] revolting against Ms. Rousseff, whose public  

approval rating stands at a dismal 13 percent. 

  In doing so, they have managed to  

largely shield the Brazilian Congress from  

blame. Its own bleak approval rating climbed  

[45] to 11 percent in April from 9 percent in March,  

according to Datafolha, a prominent Brazilian  

polling company. The survey, conducted  

through interviews with 2,834 people, has a  

margin of sampling error of plus or minus two  

[50] percentage points. 

  Ms. Rousseff, who narrowly won re

election in October, is facing huge protests 

calling for her impeachment, with many  

Brazilians fuming over the sluggish economy  

[55] and revelations of the broad bribery scheme at  

the national oil company, Petrobras. She was  

chairwoman of the board at the state-

controlled oil giant from 2003 to 2010, roughly 

corresponding to the period when the scheme  

[60] was started. 

  The scandal involved executives at  

Petrobras accepting vast amounts of bribes,  

enriching themselves while also channeling  

funds to political figures and to Ms. Rousseff’s  

[65] leftist Workers Party, according to testimony by  

former executives. 

  No testimony has emerged indicating  

that Ms. Rousseff personally profited from the  

scheme. But at the same time, Ms. Rousseff  

[70] has been put on the defensive, insisting that  

bribery proceeds were not channeled to her  

election campaign. The scandal moved closer  

to the president after the arrest of the  

treasurer of her party, João Vaccari Neto. 

[75]   As Ms. Rousseff and her party reel from  

the scandal, she is facing a rebellion from the  

centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party,  

which has anchored her coalition and controls  

both houses of Congress. 

[80]   Both Mr. Calheiros, the Senate leader,  

and Mr. Cunha, the speaker of the lower house,  

are members of the rebelling party. Ms.  

Rousseff’s own vice president, Michel Temer, is  

the leader of the PMDB, as the party is known,  

[85] and Mr. Temer is bolstering his own power  

after the president appealed to him to ease  

tensions with Congress. 

  At each turn in the bribery scandal, the  

PMDB’s chiefs have moved to erode the power  

[90] of the left-leaning Ms. Rousseff, stalling some  

of the austerity measures proposed by her  

finance minister; thwarting the president’s  

nominees for her cabinet; and advancing  

socially conservative measures aimed at  

[95] weakening gun-control laws and repealing  

legislation keeping teenagers from being tried  

as adults. 

  Cristovam Buarque, a respected senator  

on the left who voted against Ms. Rousseff in  

[100] the recent election, said the growing sway over  

the president by the troika formed by the  

heads of Congress and the vice president  

amounted to a “coup.” 

  “Instead of a general, a brigadier and an  

[105] admiral acting with the support of the armed  

forces, we have the vice president of the  

republic and the chiefs of Congress  

maneuvering with the support of the troops of  

the PMDB,” Mr. Buarque said. 

[110]   Congress’s growing resistance represents  

a turning point for an institution that has been  

widely despised in Brazil for its propensity to  

reward itself with pay raises when other parts  

of society endure austerity measures, and for  

[115] its capacity to shield its members facing legal  

challenges. 

  Nearly 40 percent of federal legislators  

who won large numbers of votes in the 2014  

elections are under investigation in an array of  

[120] crimes, including illegal 0deforestation,  

embezzlement and torture. It takes a great  

deal for any member to be expelled from  

Congress. One example: Hildebrando Pascoal,  

a legislator convicted of operating a death  

[125] squad whose victims were dismembered with  

chain saws. 

  Few federal legislators ever face  

imprisonment for any crimes because of the  

special judicial standing enjoyed by all 594  

[130] members of Congress allowing them to be tried  

only in Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal,  

effectively producing years of delays in a court  

overwhelmed with examining many other  

pressing issues in Brazilian society. 

[135]   After facing scandals in the past, the  

figures now at the helm of Congress have  

shown an exceptional ability to withstand the  

allegations and resurrect their fortunes. Both  

Mr. Calheiros, the head of the Senate, and Mr.  

[140] Cunha, the head of the lower house, have  

asserted that they are innocent in connection  

to the bribery scheme at Petrobras. 

From: http://www.nytimes.com April 27, 2015 

 

In the sentence “Both Mr. Calheiros, the head of the Senate, and Mr. Cunha, the head of the lower house, have asserted that they are innocent in connection to the bribery scheme at Petrobras” (lines 138-142), the verbs in the clauses are respectively in the

O efeito de humor da charge decorre