Brazil: The Giant Down South

If Barack Obama came to visit Brazil and he should we would impress him with our bigness in everything. We might even cause him to ponder just what all this bigness and ambition means for the United States.

If Obama came, we would show him not just a good time, but a great time. He could join the biggest party on earth (Carnaval) or go to the biggest football stadium in the world (Maracan) to watch the biggest, or at least the winningest, national team in action. We would awe Obama with our geography. We re bi-hemispherical, crossed by the equator on top and laying our feet near the South Pole. We can sweat and freeze at the same time. We occupy more than half of South

America, we have the biggest river and the biggest iron-ore reserves on earth, and might just become one of the world s leading exporters of oil in the not-so-distant future. And if that doesn t work or if our oil runs out we will surely become the leading producer of biofuel. Our reputation for ethnic harmony is a bit undeserved but, still, ours is the biggest experiment in racial integration and miscegenation in history. We have a big, leftist (more or less) government but also a capitalist economy and are on the way to developing a big popular consumer market for our own products and for imports. We also have the widest spread between rich and poor in the world, however, along with the ugliest shantytowns and probably the worst corruption scandals. When not having fun or being awed, Obama would have much to think about. He may see us as a semitropical China, a giant stretching its limbs and demanding attention but a different kind of attention than it got in the past. He may notice that we have Americanized, or McDonaldized, to a high degree, but notice, too, a sense in the land that it s time our bigness started to pay off and deliver on the future it promised. This might mean standing up like a giant in defiance of old attitudes and submissions. Obama might view moderate Brazil as a good ally against the radical populists popping up throughout the continent in the wake of failed neoliberal economics, or he may see us as an emerging geopolitical threat. There are people in Brazil who are sure that the United States is redeploying the Fourth Fleet to the South Atlantic just to show us who s really big. We have big ambitions but big paranoia, too.

(Verssimo, Luis Fernando. Newsweek, 28-07-2008.)

1 Se viesse ao Brasil, Barack Obama A) aprenderia a jogar futebol. B) deveria tambm visitar o Equador. C) no se entusiasmaria com o nosso Carnaval. D) se impressionaria com a grandeza do pas. E) sofreria com as variaes de temperatura.

2 Uma das contradies do Brasil ser um pas capitalista com A) capital reduzido. B) governo esquerdista. C) idias conflitantes. D) muitos analfabetos. E) poucas dvidas.

3 Terra de muitas promessas, o Brasil, entretanto, tambm A) alvo de aes do trfico de drogas. B) campo frtil para contrabando. C) cenrio de violncia urbana. D) palco de escndalos de corrupo. E) paraso de sonegao fiscal.

4 Se visitasse o Brasil, Barack Obama perceberia que, em relao ao passado, o pas est mais A) americanizado. B) endividado. C) favelizado.

D) feio. E) isolado.

5 O ttulo do texto faz meno ao ___________ e ____________ do Brasil. A) analfabetismo / economia. B) clima / beleza. C) relevo / diversidade. D) povo / pobreza. E) tamanho / localizao.

Text 1

USP 2008

In 1993, the dawn of the Internet age, the liberating anonymity of the online world was captured in a well known New Yorker cartoon. One dog, sitting at a computer, tells another: On the Internet, nobody knows you re a dog. Fifteen years later, that anonymity is gone. Technology companies have long used cookies, little bits of tracking software slipped onto your computer, and other means, to record the Web sites you visit, the ads you click on, even the words you enter in search engines information that some hold onto forever. They re not telling you they re doing it, and they re not asking permission.

Internet service providers (I.S.P. s) are now getting into the act. Because they control your connection, they can keep track of everything you do online, and there have been reports that I.S.P. s may have started to sell the information they collect. The driving force behind this prying is commerce. The big growth area in online advertising right now is behavioral targeting. Web sites can charge a premium if they are able to tell the maker of an expensive sports car that its ads will appear on Web pages clicked on by upperincome, middle-aged men.

The New York Times, April 5th 2008.

ISP = Provedores de servio de internet.

1 As personagens dos quadrinhos, mencionadas no texto, se vangloriam de a) sua alegria de viver. b) seu anonimato. c) sua capacidade de navegar na internet. d) seu mundo longe das telas. e) sua vida simples, como a de um co.

2 Segundo o texto, os provedores de internet a) mantm sigilo sobre os hbitos de navegao e comportamentos dos usurios. b) tm dificuldade de bloquear a invaso de programas espies em nossos computadores. c) pedem autorizao para indicar o endereo do usurio a terceiros, como sites de comrcio eletrnico. d) obtm dados a respeito de nossas aes na internet, havendo suspeita de que eles os vendem. e) cobram pela utilizao de alguns sites de vendas, a eles conveniados.

3 De acordo com o texto, a evoluo da internet nos ltimos quinze anos permite concluir que a) o foco principal do comrcio eletrnico so homens de meia idade. b) a liberdade de expresso o bem mais cultuado no mundo digital. c) a supresso de cookies um grande problema das empresas de tecnologia.

d) as buscas dos usurios na internet so previsveis. e) a vigilncia a que somos submetidos resultado de interesses comerciais.

------------------------UFPR 2009 NEW YORK, (Reuters Life!) A New Jersey man trying to exterminate insects in his apartment blew it up instead, the New York Daily News reported on Monday. Isias Vidal Maceda was unhurt in the incident, but 80 percent of his apartment was destroyed, Eatontown, New Jersey police told the newspaper. The accident occurred as Maceda was spraying for pests in his kitchen.

Somehow the bug spray ignited a blast that blew out the apartment`s front windows and trigged a fire that quickly spread, the newspaper said. Police told the newspaper that the Saturday blaze also caused smoke damage to the apartment above.

(http: uk.reuters.com)

1 According to the text: Isias Vidal Maceda called the New York Daily News to report what had happened to him on a Monday morning. The New Jersey police told the New York Daily News what had happened to Maceda inside his apartment. Maceda, who lives in Eatontown, New Jersey, is an expert insect exterminator. The facts the New York Daily News reported had inconsistent elements, said Maceda. Isias Maceda had problems with Eatontown, New Jersey police because he was living illegally in the state.

2 The incident reported is:

A man who destroyed his apartment as he forgot his cigarette burning near the kitchen windows. A man who accidentally set on fire most of his apartment when trying to get rid of the insects in his kitchen. A man who burned 80 percent of his body when he tried to exterminate the insects in his apartment in New Jersey. An explosion that came from a nearby apartment and consequently damaged Maceda`s apartment. A tornado that blew out Maceda`s apartment front windows and also damaged his neighbor`s apartment.

Set in the American South in 1964, the year of the Civil Rights Act and intensifying racial unrest, Sue Monk Kidd s The Secret Life of Bees is a powerful story of coming-of-age, the ability of love to transform our lives, and the often unacknowledged longing for the universal feminine divine. Addressing the wounds of loss, betrayal, and the scarcity of love, Kidd demonstrates the power of women coming together to heal those wounds, to mother each one and themselves, and to create a sanctuary of true family and home.

Isolated on a South Carolina peach farm with a neglectful and harsh father, T. Ray, fourteen-year-old Lily Owens has spent much of her life longing for her mother, who died amid mysterious circumstances when Lily was four years old. To make matters worse, her father tells Lily that she accidentally killed her mother. KIDD, Sue Monk. The secret life of bees.

New York: Penguin Readers, 2003, p.2.

Glossary:

acknowledged adj admitted or recognized as being true or important.

harsh adj harsh conditions or places are unpleasant and difficult to

live in: the harsh environment of the desert.

longing n a strong feeling of wanting someone or something.

wound n an injury in which your skin or flesh is damaged, often

seriously. When a wound gets better it heals.

1 From the information given in this excerpt of the introduction to the book, one can say that The Secret Life of Bees A) describes what the life of bees is like. B) gives an account of how fourteen-year-old Lily takes care of the bees on a fruit farm. C) describes the emotional and/or psychological growth of a teenage girl. D) deals with a murder that takes place because of racial prejudice. E) illustrates the help women get from bees in order to be happier.

2 According to the excerpt, A) Sue M. Kidd writes about her own life. B) each of the characters has a mother who they see as a saint. C) Lily s mother had feminine characteristics. D) Lily s life is told from adolescence to old age.

E) the author of the book thinks women search for a special feeling. _________________-Texto adaptado para as questes de 1 a 4.

Facebook Tops 500 Million Users By JENNA WORTHAM

Facebook, the social network created in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago, said on Wednesday that it now had 500 million members. The company has doubled in size from a year ago,pushing international competitors aside. This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world, Mark Zuckerberg, the company s 26-year-old chief executive, said in a company blog post. Facebook s dizzying rise has not been without stumbles. Most recently, the company was the focus of intense scrutiny over changes to its site that encouraged members to make more information about themselves accessible to anyone on the Internet. A recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index showed that user satisfaction with Facebook stood at 64 on a 100-point scale, which placed it in the bottom 5 percent of the companies covered in the index. Facebook s popularity has also spurred competition from the likes of Google, which views the billions of links and hours spent on the site each month as a threat to its business. But if anything, the site s steady growth in spite of its setbacks only validates the company s approach, said Ray Valdes, an analyst at the research firm Gartner. Facebook has been aggressive in pushing users to the edge of their comfort zone, Mr. Valdes said. But Facebook has proven that it can weather those challenges and still grow. Mr. Valdes, who estimates that Facebook is adding 50 million new members each month, attributed the company s rapid ascension to its continuous effort to change and improve the service. That keeps it bubbling away, he said.

(The New York Times, July 21, 2010)

1 The title Facebook Tops 500 Million Users most likely means that: Facebook has almost 500 million users. Facebook will soon have 500 million users. Facebook has already reached the number of 500 million users. Facebook shall surpass 500 million users in a near future. Facebook excelled the number of 500 million users six years ago.

2 According to the information in the text, it is correct to state that Facebook was created by a group of senior members of Harvard s faculty. considers Google its only threat. has become a very lucrative company. is considered the best site in the social networking sphere. has grown at a meteoric pace.

3 The important milestone Mark Zuckerberg refers to is: The user s satisfaction with Facebook. The company s astonishing profitability. The number of users. The qualified team that has helped to spread Facebook around the world. The results of a recent survey by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

4 According to the text, Facebook s steady growth is due to: Its 500 million members.

The weakness of international competitors. Its 26-year-old chief executive. The fact that its users are a hundred per cent satisfied. Its continuous improvement policy. ___________________________________--

1 You can infer from the text that the engineering department: ignored the video as soon as it arrived for appreciation. spent three months preparing the video. considered the video funny. said the video had to be technically improved. said the video was technically inaccurate.

2 The e-mail she got back from Wally most likely read: The script had been great. I think the script is humorless. It was funny.

I thought the script would be great. It is great.

WHY I HATE 3D (AND YOU SHOULD TOO) PUC RIO 2011

By Roger Ebert Newsweek.com, May 10, 2010 Fonte: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/30/why-i-hate-3-d-andyou-should-too.html (with slight adaptations)

1 In paragraph 1, the author presents his reasons for being against 3-D. Mark the statement that DOES NOT express the author s idea. 3-D is the worst development in movie making. This technique restricts the way films are directed. A 3-D movie creates physical discomfort for viewers. This kind of movie is more expensive for movie goers. The 3-D image is not as bright as in two dimension movies.

2 In But many directors, editors, and cinematographers agree with me about the shortcomings of 3-D. So do many movie lovers - even executives who feel stampeded by another Hollywood infatuation with a technology that was already pointless when their grandfathers played with stereoscopes. (lines 1722), the author of the text says that his opinions on the new technology agree with moviegoing audiences and senior Hollywood executives. some directors, editors, cinematographers, movie fans and executives share his opinion on 3-D movies. movie lovers and executives are infatuated with this technology that originated in stereoscopes. his views on the weaknesses of 3-D technology are similar to those expressed by film critics. the shortcomings of 3-D are easily detected by movie executives and Hollywood actors.

3 Check the statement that corresponds to the author s idea in paragraph 3.

We convince ourselves that we are watching only two dimensions. The third dimension is considered useless by most film directors. Our eyes see films in a perspective that shows three dimensions. Our mind can get confused with two dimensions on the screen. A 2-D movie does not have a convincing perspective.

4 Choose the correct option concerning the meaning of the words extracted from the text. In After all, 3-D has not only given Hollywood its biggest payday (lines 12-13), after all shows that the author is pointing out the financial loss with 3-D films. In a technology that was already pointless when their grandfathers played with stereoscopes (lines 21-22), pointless is the opposite of purposeful. In A great film completely engages our imaginations (lines 34-35), the author means that great films can totally involve us when they are in 3-D. this means offering an experience that can t be had at home (lines 62-63) is the same as an experience that can only happen at home . the gap between the theater and home experiences has been narrowed (lines 64-65) implies that watching movies at home will be different from watching them in the cinema.

5 Mark the INCORRECT statement concerning the meanings of the words extracted from the text. Current (line 2) can be replaced with contemporary . Top (line 14) is NOT the same as smallest . Recall (line 32) is similar to remember . Leading (line 40) can be substituted by important . Slightly (line 50) can be substituted by invisible .

6 Check the correct statement concerning reference. In Hollywood s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. (line 2), it refers to stampede .

In For some, it is an annoying distraction. (line 4), it refers to moviegoing experience . In Look how slowly he grows against the horizon ? (lines 28-29), he refers to the actor .

In Did they need 3-D? (lines 33-34), they refers to movies . In 3-D widened it again. (line 66), it refers to gap .

7 Mark the option that shows experts opinions on the health problems caused by exposure to 3-D technology (lines 37-57). The unusual visual experience can cause mental stress and headaches. One third of moviegoers complains of headache and eye stress. Our eyes are not calibrated in the same way that our brain is. Each eye sees things at a slightly different angle. Optical illusions can develop muscle imbalance.

8

Just in a just-published article (line 55) has the same meaning as just in: It was a just decision. It is not just a question of economics. I can t believe you did that. It s just stupid. They just arrived from a holiday in Argentina. Just as she got into the shower, the phone rang.

9 In the last paragraph of the text, the author compares the technological gaps between the digital projectors and widescreen. argues against the threatening advances of technology in the art of film making. criticizes the advent of more technology, like the Blu-ray discs and HD cable. explains why new technology has never helped Hollywood film makers. lists all the technological advances introduced by the film industry.

10 A concluding statement expressing the author s ideas about 3-D would be: The main disadvantage of 3-D is the expense of producing the films. Apart from its financial success, 3-D is a disappointment. The most important aspect of 3-D is the technical quality. 3-D causes more harm than good, considering it as entertainment. Above all, the coming of this kind of film is a threat to the work of actors. How Internet Growth Is Playing Out in Top Emerging Markets September 1, 2010

The number of Internet users in the top emerging markets is set to nearly double by 2015 a pace of growth that sounds enticing but that actually presents plenty of challenges for businesses, according to a Boston Consulting Group report released Wednesday. The report estimates that China, India, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia will have 1.2 billion Internet users within five years, up from about 610 million in 2009. Developing countries didn't go through the same technological development that the U.S. did, but their late arrival to the Web means that they get to skip things like bulky grey PCs and go straight to mobile devices. But technology use is evolving so rapidly there that it can be tough for businesses to keep up. China provides an instructive example because, for many companies, opportunities have already been missed, the report says. Most of the relationships between the digital players and Chinese consumers have already been cemented.

Despite the rapid growth of Internet usage, though, there are still plenty of barriers. For one thing, most people don't have ready access to PCs and broadband. PC penetration ranges from about 32% in Brazil and Russia to about 5% in India and Indonesia, according to the report. Instead, people rely on mobile devices and Internet cafes. In China, where the PC penetration rate is 28%, the growth of such cafes has been spurred by the fact that broadband is actually cheaper than dial-up. Our colleagues at India Real Time point out that in India, as in other developing countries, low literacy rates make Internet adoption difficult. Hardware might have to change to accommodate that to voice-based devices or other gadgets that are more intuitive to use, they say.

There are a few other trends among all the countries studied: instant messaging is far more popular in these countries than in the developed world, as are online music and games. And people there are reluctant to pay for content online, particularly those in India and Indonesia. But it would be a mistake to think that tech use in all these developing markets is the same; each country has some intriguing quirks. Indians, for example, are really into job-hunting sites. Social networking is most popular in Indonesia and Brazil. And India, Brazil and Indonesia favor multinational sites, while people in Russia and China go local mainly because of the low percentage of the population that speaks English.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/09/01/how-internet-growth-is-playing-out-in-top-emergingmarkets/tab/print/. Adaptado.

1 Nos principais pases emergentes, o uso da internet dedicado, em grande parte, busca de empregos. ocorre preponderantemente em Lan houses. foi adaptado para uso de pessoas com baixa escolaridade. ter um crescimento de quase 100% no nmero de usurios at 2015 dobrar, caso os governos promovam a incluso digital nas escolas em 5 anos.

2 According to the text, the old bulky PCs are still trendy in developing countries. only half of the world population has access to broadband. people use instant messaging far less in developed countries than in developing ones. developed countries use voice based technology to bridge the educational gap. all internet users prefer to skip sites that charge for content online.

3 No trecho do segundo pargrafo But technology use is evolving so rapidly there that it can be tough for businesses to keep up. - a palavra there refere-se a developing countries. US. China. web. mobile devices.

4 No trecho inicial do terceiro pargrafo Despite the rapid growth of Internet usage, though, there are still plenty of barriers. - a palavra despite introduz uma causa. uma consequncia. uma condio. uma concluso. um contraste.

5 No Brasil, cerca de 32% das pessoas tm acesso banda larga em sua residncia. as redes sociais so muito populares, assim como na Indonsia. os sites internacionais no so muito usados, pois so em ingls. os usurios de internet preferem baixar msicas a jogos gratuitos. a tecnologia mvel est apenas comeando e depende de investimentos dos provedores. _____________---