Questões de Inglês

Brazil’s people are crying out for change, so let’s seize the moment

Who would have thought that the Latin American spring would blossom in Brazil? In the past 10
years, the country has created a “new middle class” by bringing 40 million people to unprecedented
levels of income and consumption, and creating 19 million jobs in the midst of one of the worst
global financial crises. Why then do millions of young people feel so politically unrepresented that
[5] they have taken to the streets in such numbers?
Brazilian commentators have proffered many partial answers, some of universal import, others
specific to Brazil. The low level of confidence in representative institutions which are seen as
corrupt and undemocratic is one; the government’s willingness to back various mega sporting
events alongside its broken promises on the social state agenda (including health, education and
[10] public transport) is another; finally, the depoliticisation of a part of the Brazilian middle and upper-

middle class youth. These are people who have reaped the benefits of capitalist growth without
experiencing its side-effects of extreme inequality, poverty and despair. They have accepted the
rightwing, anti-state ideology and have turned it into the anti-political “no party” slogans constantly
heard in the protests.
[15] It would be too reductionist, however, to interpret the multitude in the streets as part of a rightwing
or neoliberal conspiracy. The colourful multiplicity of protests is not a prelude to a rightwing coup,
something from which Brazil has repeatedly suffered. The activists of the social movements as well
as the extremist rightwing groups are only a minority. The central meaning of the protests makes
them an integral part of the cycle of occupations all over the world since 2011. Diverse grievances,
[20] antagonistic hopes and conflicting narratives ground the protests, but they are also part of the new
age of resistance. Have we seen this film before? Definitely not.
The protests in Brazil express, in a specific and rich manner, the emerging fissure between the
standard conception of politics and the new politics of resistance. This gap had been bridged in
the past by the lethargic and technocratic formal politics or by identity politics. Could it be that we
[25] are now facing the opening of a new grammar of acting politically, broadcast live? Could protest,
resistance and rebellion be considered as a gesture towards what is essential but missing in formal
politics — the determination of those who fight for justice? The capture of the streets marks the
collective capacity to act and to create new political meanings. From now on, nothing will be the
same as before. Our problems have changed and new answers are in the air. This is what matters.

BETHANIA ASSY and BRUNO CAVA theguardian.com

Universities need to tell students the rules about plagiarism

Some universities are letting students down by failing to warn
them about plagiarism and its consequences until it is too
late, says the official who deals with student complaints.
The annual report of the Office of the Independent
[5] Adjudicator (OIA) shows that complaints from students about
harsh treatment by their universities over cheating have risen
sharply in the past three years.

The OIA’s chief executive, Rob Behrens, says the problem of student academic misconduct appears
to be growing. “When I go round to universities, I realise they are already dealing with significant
[10] amounts of academic misconduct that doesn’t ever come to the OIA.”
According to Behrens, these complaints fall into three categories. “Students say to us either: ‘No
one told me what the rules were’, or ‘I accept I broke the rules, but the sanction is too severe’, or ‘The
university didn’t follow its own regulations and I didn’t get a fair hearing’.”
In one typical example, a student used notes from a website that publishes essays and was caught
[15] by his university. The work also included sentences identical to another student’s from a previous
year. The university decided this was a serious breach of its rules. Marks for the whole module
were reduced to zero, which meant the student’s degree classification also dropped. The student
believed his punishment was too severe, but the adjudicator ruled against the student.
However, the concept of plagiarism can vary across cultures. For example, imitation can be regarded
[20] as a form of flattery and respect. As Behrens told the inquiry, “Chinese colleagues comment ‘what
you call plagiarism we call good practice’, so you have to explain to people they can do X and they
can’t do Y. You can’t just assume it is known. This also applies to British students. We can no longer
have assumptions about what students know when they go to university”.
Behrens says universities should do more to communicate their rules, procedures and sanctions on
[25] plagiarism. And Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students agrees, especially to avoid
“accidental cheating”, such as when a student has been unclear about when to cite a source. “I’d
like to see more universities use the plagiarism software for student training as well as detection. If
students can see what sets off the ‘plagiarism alarm’, that helps”.
Behrens urges continuing investment in both detection and prevention. “Good students and
universities have common cause here”, he says.
theguardian.com

Universities need to tell students the rules about plagiarism

Some universities are letting students down by failing to warn
them about plagiarism and its consequences until it is too
late, says the official who deals with student complaints.
The annual report of the Office of the Independent
[5] Adjudicator (OIA) shows that complaints from students about
harsh treatment by their universities over cheating have risen
sharply in the past three years.

The OIA’s chief executive, Rob Behrens, says the problem of student academic misconduct appears
to be growing. “When I go round to universities, I realise they are already dealing with significant
[10] amounts of academic misconduct that doesn’t ever come to the OIA.”
According to Behrens, these complaints fall into three categories. “Students say to us either: ‘No
one told me what the rules were’, or ‘I accept I broke the rules, but the sanction is too severe’, or ‘The
university didn’t follow its own regulations and I didn’t get a fair hearing’.”
In one typical example, a student used notes from a website that publishes essays and was caught
[15] by his university. The work also included sentences identical to another student’s from a previous
year. The university decided this was a serious breach of its rules. Marks for the whole module
were reduced to zero, which meant the student’s degree classification also dropped. The student
believed his punishment was too severe, but the adjudicator ruled against the student.
However, the concept of plagiarism can vary across cultures. For example, imitation can be regarded
[20] as a form of flattery and respect. As Behrens told the inquiry, “Chinese colleagues comment ‘what
you call plagiarism we call good practice’, so you have to explain to people they can do X and they
can’t do Y. You can’t just assume it is known. This also applies to British students. We can no longer
have assumptions about what students know when they go to university”.
Behrens says universities should do more to communicate their rules, procedures and sanctions on
[25] plagiarism. And Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students agrees, especially to avoid
“accidental cheating”, such as when a student has been unclear about when to cite a source. “I’d
like to see more universities use the plagiarism software for student training as well as detection. If
students can see what sets off the ‘plagiarism alarm’, that helps”.
Behrens urges continuing investment in both detection and prevention. “Good students and
universities have common cause here”, he says.
theguardian.com

TEXTO:

Heads in the cloud

  It all started with the wall. In 1999 education
researcher Sugata Mitra and his colleagues thought it
would be interesting to install a computer in a wall
bordering an urban slum in New Delhi to see what the
[5] kids there might make of it. The results were stunning.
With no supervision, the children taught themselves how
to use the computer, including picking up English to look
for answers to all sorts of questions. Subsequent similar
experiments led Mitra to conclude that the most creative
[10] and productive education comes when children aren’t
threatened but inspired – especially by their peers. The
traditional approach was created by the British to train
the subjects of the empire, and, he argues, the system
continues to produce “identical people for a machine that
[15] no longer exists.” Instead, what he calls a self-organized
learning environment is all about getting kids excited
about what they can know. In a proposal that won Mitra
the TED award this year, he suggests creating an
enormous self-organized school in the cloud, where, with
[20] a little guidance but minimal interference from
“grandmothers,” kids can explore the universe at will to
answer their own questions and those that are put to them.
DICKEY, Christopher. Heads in the cloud. In: Big Think, Around the worldin six ideas. Newsweek, Mar 25, 2013. p. 8.

TEXTO:

China’s one-child policy

  China’s top legislature approved resolutions to
officially amend its controversial one-child policy. The
changes to the one-child policy will mean couples will
be allowed to have two children if one of the parents was
[5] an only child, according to the state-run Xinhua news
agency. Currently, both parents must be sole children to
be eligible for a second child.
  The one-child policy, which started in the 1970s, is
believed to have prevented some 400 million births,
[10] according to Xinhua. Although the policy has been
applauded by many for slowing down China’s rapid
population growth, it has also been widely criticized for
resulting in forced abortions and hefty fines for families.
  Some critics say the law hurts China’s elderly, who
[15] typically rely on their children for support in old age, and
even constrains economic growth as the working-age
population begins to decline. Since the 1990s, the birth
rate has declined, with Chinese women giving birth to an
average of 1.4 to 1.6 children.
[20]   The world’s most populous nation will soon have
too few people – or, rather, too few of the right kind of
people. More than three decades of government-

mandated family planning have succeeded beyond the
architects’ most grandiose dreams. Add to that the natural
[25] inclination of richer, more educated people to limit their
family size, and China’s population growth is projected
to gradually diminish within fifteen years. That would leave
the People’s Republic with a distorted population: too
few youths, too few women and too many elderly.
[30]   Off icials say the easing of the one-child policy does
not mean China is ending its family planning. “China still
has a large population. This has not changed. Many of
our economic and social problems are rooted in this
reality,” said Jiang Fan, a National People’s Congress
[35] deputy, in Chinese media. “We cannot risk the population
growing out of control.”

PARK, Madison. China’s one-child policy. Disponível em: http:// www.cnn.com/2013/12/28/world/asia/china-one-child-policy-official. Acesso em: 13 jun. 2014. Adaptado.