Questões de Inglês

    Girls freeze during soccer game as everyone hears the unmistakable sound of the national anthem

 

    At 4:30 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, the Bison high school girls were hosting Butte in a Class AA playoff soccer game when a familiar sound was heard in the distance. Immediately, in the middle of the 1-0 game, both teams froze and the head referee stopped the play clock for a minute. One spectator filmed the incident, which was so simple yet so powerful a gesture. The sound that brought the game to a halt was the national anthem, which plays over the speaker system at Malmstrom Air Force Base (MAFB), directly across the street from the Siebel Soccer Park in Great Falls. Every day at 4:30 p.m., the anthem plays as the United States flag is lowered from its perch.

    Usually, the teams are only practicing when the anthem plays, and they stop to honor the flag. However, on this particular Tuesday, when the anthem played at 4:30 p.m. just as it does every day, the girls on the field were in the middle of the 1-0 game. Much to the surprise of onlookers, the head referee stopped the clock, and the girls knew what to do. Both teams turned toward the flag, and some players placed their hands over their hearts. Even in the middle of a game, these girls remembered what is really important: showing respect for our anthem and our flag honors the people who fought for our freedom.

    While kids behaving badly will always manage to get attention, there are plenty of other teens who know the right thing to do. All too often, these youngsters fly under the radar, not drawing the praise they deserve. But, every once in a while, the spotlight shines brightly on them when they do something particularly awesome. In a world filled with news about kids doing the wrong thing, it's nice to see a story about teens, like these girls, who do the right thing. They could certainly teach a few adults about patriotism, loyalty and love for our country. Good job, girls!

Adapted from https://post.knews899.com/girls-freeze-during-soccer-game-as-everyone-hears-the-unmistakable-sound-of-the-national-anthem-video/

About the word unmistakable from the title, it is correct to say that

    Is tech making learning foreign languages obsolete?

 

    I wouldn't exactly say my French has been going well. A few decades after I left behind my high school language requirement, I decided recently it was time to take another crack. But while my travels over the last few years have made me as grateful for Google Translate as I am to be a native English speaker - they've also made me painfully, embarrassedly aware of how uniquely monolingual so many Americans (1)____________.

    New technology in the form of Apps and tools offering real-time translation have simplified the world so much that we don't really need to learn other languages anymore. Perhaps we can compare it to what the calculator (2)____________ for math equations. Why then am I doing it? Even if in theory I could with great and focused effort someday become not entirely embarrassing in my French, there's still the question of why bother.

    "When you make the effort to learn another person's language, you demonstrate respect." Arturs Peha, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the translation service Skrivanek, acknowledges that "Technology has revolutionized communication, enabling us to bridge linguistic barriers more easily than ever before," but he also makes the case for the human touch. "Learning a language goes beyond mere communication," he says. "It fosters empathy, cultural appreciation, and a sense of belonging."

    "When you make the effort to learn another person's language, you demonstrate respect for their culture and a willingness to engage on a deeper level. I speak four different languages." Peha adds, "I can genuinely say that people talk and treat me very differently when I communicate with them in their native language compared to when I use a lingua franca or rely on a translation App." AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Apps have made translation easier and more accurate than ever, but won't replace the value of the real thing.

Adapted from https://www.salon.com/2024/02/10/is-tech-making-learning-foreign-languages-obsolete/

In the sentence "I decided recently it was time to take another crack." (paragraph 1), the expression take another crack means

Qual é a função da expressão "not just... but also" no trecho: "The warnings are circulating not just in Israel itself but also in the US and UK - with some singling out TikTok and Instagram in particular"?

 The term fast fashion has become more prominent in conversations surrounding fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The term refers to cheaply produced and priced garments¹ that copy the latest catwalk² styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximize on current trends.

 The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.

 Fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.

 Fast fashion does not only have a huge environmental impact. In fact, the industry also poses societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to a nonprofit organization, 80% of apparel³ is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018 report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.

(Rashmila Maiti. https://earth.org, 05.01.2024. Adaptado.)

¹ garment: a piece of clothing.
² catwalk: the long, narrow stage that models walk along in a fashion show.
³ apparel: clothes of a particular type when they are being sold in a shop.

 

 

The main purpose of the text is to

The recent total solar eclipse Owls Started Hooting During the Solar Eclipse As If They Were About To Hunt Published Apr 24, 2024 at 7:51 AM EDTUpdated Apr 24, 2024 at 9:38 AM EDT

 

    Birds were observed acting strangely during the recent total solar eclipse that stunned much of the United States earlier this month.

    Researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology noticed that there was a decrease in the daytime activities of birds during the sudden darkness of the eclipse on April 8. These changes in behavior were similar to those seen during the 2017 eclipse, but much more noticeable.

    Cornell researchers measured the airborne activity of birds, bats, and insects during the totality using U.S. weather radar stations in the path of the eclipse. They saw that the birds' daytime activities, like swooping, decreased as the sun disappeared behind the moon.

    Other animals were seen to act strangely during the most recent solar eclipse.

    The San Antonio Zoo posted videos on X, formerly Twitter, of their animals freaking out as the sun suddenly disappeared that showed "meerkats, during totality, erratically running throughout their habitat as one large group," as well as whooping cranes "dancing" and flamingos "congregating."

    "Meerkats approaching and entering their indoor habitat space in the few minutes prior to totality...supported our working hypothesis that diurnal animals, meaning those awake during the day, would display their typical evening activity patterns during totality," the zoo wrote on X.

    The last total solar eclipse to darken America's skies occurred on August 21, 2017, in Oregon, Idaho, Mon tana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina. The previous one to that in America was in 1979.

    The next time a total solar eclipse crosses over several states won't be until 2044.

 

Hundreds of Tesla Owners Flood Charging Station

Published Apr 10, 2024 at 11:17 AM EDT.

 

    The total solar eclipse was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for millions of people, but traveling home from the event quickly turned into a challenge for hundreds of Tesla owners.

    The moon was positioned for a few minutes on Monday so that the entire view of the sun was blocked in several states, plunging millions of people into darkness during the early afternoon.

    The path of totality started in Mexico and extended across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine before heading over the North Atlantic.

    The spectacle drew crowds from around the nation as people headed to areas in the path of totality to witness the event. Meanwhile, officials across the country voiced concerns about stretched public safety resources and an "enormous strain" on local hospitals and congested roadways.

    Several organizations, including the New York State Police, warned visitors against traveling in cars that couldn't withstand long delays, such as electric vehicles (EVs).

    Many Tesla owners returning home after the event quickly learned that finding a charging station and topping up their vehicle would add significant time to their trip. The Livesey family from Massachusetts noticed the battery on their Tesla was low after traveling to view the eclipse in Vermont. When they located a station that was open, they found dozens of vehicles already waiting to charge, according to a report by WCVB.

*Tesla, Inc is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. It designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and leases electric vehicles. https://www.newsweek.com/topic/2024-solar-eclipse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla,_Inc.

What has happened to hundreds of Tesla owners after the total solar eclipse?

At Climate Week 2023, It's Optimism Versus Cataclysm

BY JEFF YOUNG ON 9/18/23 AT 12:13 PM EDT

 

    We have just lived through Earth's hottest summer on record, with heat waves baking large parts of our planet. Scientists have also confirmed that our oceans reached the highest recorded surface temperatures this summer, bleaching corals and super-charging storms. Millions of us choked on smoke from unprecedented wildfires, and we watched, horrified, as fire ravaged a Hawaiian Eden.

    It was the sort of summer that could lead those concerned about climate change to a sense of despair. Many factors affect floods, fires and extreme weather, but the science is clear on the ways climate change contributes to them all, and this summer provided ample evidence of the risks we face.

    And yet, as climate scientists, advocates, business leaders and elected officials arrived in New York for the annual gathering called Climate Week, the overwhelming mood is one of—dare we say it—optimism.

    "We have to believe that we can overcome, right? And that optimism drives action," Angela Barranco told Newsweek. Barranco is the North America executive director for Climate Group, the international nonprofit that organizes Climate Week, which is now in its 15th year.

    In that time, Barranco said, Climate Week has grown from a small side-event coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly to a global nexus for policymakers, academics and corporate leaders attending some 400 sessions around New York City, all organized under the theme "We can. We will."

    Climate Week's growth and positive tone match changes in the economics of climate action over the past decade and a half. Sustainability is no longer just a department title within a business, it is creating entirely new businesses."It's the 'green economy' becoming the economy," Barranco said.

    That green growth was accelerated by the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden's signature legisla tive achievement on clean energy and climate, which stimulated about $110 billion in clean tech manufacturing investments in just its first year. That has spurred other countries to keep pace to remain competitive in thriving sectors.

    All of that, however, is not yet enough to meet the level of reductions in CO₂ emissions that scientists say we need to hit in order to avoid the most dangerous climate change. Many of this year's Climate Week events focus on how to scale up and accelerate the deployment of clean energy and transportation, ways to decarbonize heavy industries like cement and steel, and how to direct financing for those efforts.

    "We have the technologies, we're starting to build the political will," Barranco said. "Really, what we need to do is just move a lot faster."

newsweek.com/climate-week-2023-its-optimism-vs-cataclysm

The theme “We can. We will” brings to us the idea of: