Questões de Inglês - Vocabulary

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    An increasing body of evidence suggests that the time we spend on our smartphones is interfering with our sleep, self-esteem, relationships, memory, attention spans, creativity, productivity and problem-solving and decision-making skills. But there is another reason for us to rethink our relationships with our devices. By chronically raising levels of cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone, our phones may be threatening our health and shortening our lives.
    If they happened only occasionally, phone-induced cortisol spikes might not matter. But the average American spends four hours a day staring at their smartphone and keeps it within arm’s reach nearly all the time, according to a tracking app called Moment.
    “Your cortisol levels are elevated when your phone is in sight or nearby, or when you hear it or even think you hear it,” says David Greenfield, professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. “It’s a stress response, and it feels unpleasant, and the body’s natural response is to want to check the phone to make the stress go away.”
    But while doing so might soothe you for a second, it probably will make things worse in the long run. Any time you check your phone, you’re likely to find something else stressful waiting for you, leading to another spike in cortisol and another craving to check your phone to make your anxiety go away. This cycle, when continuously reinforced, leads to chronically elevated cortisol levels. And chronically elevated cortisol levels have been tied to an increased risk of serious health problems, including depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, fertility issues, high blood pressure, heart attack, dementia and stroke.

(Catherine Price. www.nytimes.com, 24.04.2019. Adaptado.)

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'I'm 30 and live at home with my parents'.
Reasons for staying at home range from the culturally acceptable to the financial.

Derek Radcliffe, 30, Calgary, Canada

"I have lived my whole life in Calgary, an oil and gas-based city. I saw an abundance of oil and gas jobs in the industry growing up, and becoming a petroleum geologist seemed like a natural course to take.

"I was thrilled when I got my first permanent job at a small oil company, and later I had saved enough money for a down payment on a small townhouse.

"But in July 2016 the company I worked for declared bankruptcy as the price of oil fell. I received no severance but I was able to sell my townhouse (at a loss) right before the company went under.

"My parents and I have always had a good relationship and they were gracious enough to let me move back in with them. They recognize and understand the issues young Canadians encounter.

"A lot of my friends are in the same position and understand the situation I am in. If anything, it's me who is putting pressure on myself to leave home.

"There is still considerable volatility in my employment and in the Canadian oil and gas industry. I am not confident in moving forward and purchasing or renting a new place.

"I would now consider myself in a place of 'precarious employment'. I have no employment insurance, no health or dental coverage. I am not alone in my career uncertainty. I feel I have done everything right, but I still feel anxiety towards the future of my career.

"Right now, 'leaving the nest' is just not a financially wise decision."

(In: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-44236706. Acesso em: 26/05/18. Adaptado)

Let´s Talk About Diversity

Greg Parks

  In the midst of significant global changes such as generational turnover, talent shortage and advancing technology, Greg Parkes, Executive General Manager at Autopia, shares the organisation’s journey towards a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

  There are thousands of articles discussing the importance of diversity, while study after study proves the economic benefits of a diverse workforce to an organisation. As a result, over the last decade, the corporate world has focused more on diversity, celebrating our differences in gender, cultural background, ways of thinking and more.

The journey towards diversity

  At Autopia, the importance of diversity and inclusion stems from the core of our business: our customers. Having built an organisation with a personalised, highly consultative approach, it was evident to us that our customers came from a whole range of backgrounds, and our staff should too. So, in an effort to learn how to promote diversity and inclusion within our organisation and create a positive impact in our business community, we embarked on our own diversity and inclusion journey, leading to the development of our thought leadership program.

Diversity matters: facilitating the conversation

  Through Autopia’s Diversity and Inclusion thought leadership program, we have had the privilege of sharing experiences with corporate leaders from around Australia, and partnered with pivotal organisations, including UN Women National Committee of Australia and Juggle Strategies, a workplace flexibility consultancy firm. Through these partnerships, we have developed a series of White Papers for business, exploring gender and cultural diversity, as well as workplace flexibility, and best practices for promoting and implementing effective diversity and inclusion programs within a business. With the objective of generating discussion around these issues, these White Papers also aim to provide guidance for companies on their own journey of change. Along the way, and thanks to insights from our expert partners, we have learned that it is not enough to achieve a statistically diverse workforce; true inclusion comes when there is a cultural shift within the organisation. As Vernā Myers, Author and Diversity Advocate once said, “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”

  Undoubtedly, changing an organisation’s culture can be slow. In fact, achieving diversity and inclusion is not a one-off, set-and-forget exercise. It is an ever-evolving process that must go beyond written procedures to become part of the day-to-day life of an organisation. Achieving diversity and inclusion is a process that requires us to re-think how we do business, but one that we know can have a positive and tangible effect on productivity and performance. Working towards diversity and inclusion in the workplace is not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do.

(Fonte:http://www.hcamag.com/opinion/opinion-lets-talk-aboutdiversity-241797.aspx)

Susan Calvin had been born in the year 1982, they said, which made her seventy five now. Everyone knew that. Appropriately enough, U. S. Robot and Mechanical Men, Inc. was seventy-five also, since it had been in the year of Dr. Calvin’s birth that Lawrence Robertson had first taken out incorporation papers for what eventually became the strangest industrial giant in man’s history. Well, everyone knew that, too. (…)

She went back to her desk and sat down. She didn’t need expression on her face to look sad, somehow.

“How old are you?” she wanted to know.

“Thirty-two,” I said.

“Then you don’t remember a world without robots.

There was a time when humanity faced the universe alone and without a friend. Now he has creatures to help him; stronger creatures than himself, more faithful, more useful, and absolutely devoted to him. Mankind is no longer alone. Have you ever thought of it that way?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t. May I quote you?”

“You may. To you, a robot is a robot. Gears and metal; electricity and positrons. Mind and iron! Human-made! If necessary, human-destroyed! But you haven’t worked with them, so you don’t know them. They’re a cleaner, better breed than we are.”

(ASIMOV, I. I, Robot. Greenwich, Conn: Fawcett Publications,1950. p. 2-3.)