Questões de Concursos Interpretação de texto Reading comprehension

INSTRUCTION: Read the following text to answer question.

Do Leveled Books Have Any Place in the Classroom?

“The little turtle can see the grass. The little turtle can see the trees. The little turtle can see the flowers”. These are the opening lines to one popular reading program’s leveled books: short, predictable texts designed for beginning readers. The patterned sentence structure – centered on the phrase “the little turtle can see" – invites students to rely on repetition and context clues to identify words they can’t sound out.

Leveled books have been a staple in early elementary reading instruction for more than two decades. But as the “science of reading” movement has spread, leveled books have come under fire. Initially, they encourage students to guess at words rather than use their phonics skills, researchers say, which can prevent children from mapping the letter-sound connections that allow them to become fluent readers.

A second problem is how they sort students into levels. Studies have shown that leveling systems are frequently inaccurate. These systems are usually created by the books’ publishers, which purport to match students with books that have a just-right alignment with their reading comprehension abilities.

In classrooms that are switching to a science of reading approach, educators are now wary of leveled books, because of the damage that they did, said Wiley Blevins, an educational consultant. In his opinion, when children are still learning the code of written language, it is required a “tight connection” between the letter-sound correspondences they’re learning and the text they’re reading, so that they have opportunities to practice. But leveled texts can’t do this job. Blevins said that the textdifficulty levels also don’t offer much practical use because they don’t tell educators what skills students still need to master – which doesn’t necessarily mean kids can’t ever pick up these books.

But what are leveled texts anyway? In many of the most popular reading programs of the last decade, leveled readers were some of the main texts that children worked with. Teachers used books for instruction, grouping students by their level and assigning them reading strategies to practice in the text. They have also been used for assessment since teachers listened to students read these books aloud, keeping a running record of their errors.

Publishers claimed that the text-leveling system could match students with books that were just right for their abilities – challenging enough to help them practice new skills, but not so challenging as to be frustrating or inaccessible. This idea is based on outdated theories about how children learn. Studies show that students can read books that are above their level with teacher and peer-provided support. They also indicate that restricting students to text at lower reading levels can actually widen achievement gaps.

However, other research has found that the leveling system isn’t even that accurate. A 2014 study showed that data from leveling assessments correctly predicted students’ reading ability only about 50 percent of the time.

The big problem with these books, though, is that they don’t help students develop their decoding skills, that is, their ability to sound out words by connecting letters tospoken sounds, said Kari Kurto, the National Science of Reading Project director at The Reading League – a group that advocates for evidence-based reading policy and classroom practice. Kurto complemented by saying that many of the words in these books aren’t written with constrained sound-spelling patterns, so “there’s no other strategy that a kid can use other than guessing,” Kurto said.

With all of this being said, one question pops up: how teachers can repurpose leveled readers?

As some districts have shifted their reading instructional practice, they have moved from leveled to decodable text – books written to give students practice with the letter-sound correspondences that they are learning in phonics lessons. However, decodable books shouldn’t be the only books that students ever see because at some point they will have to move on to more complex literature, said Blevins. In his point of view, teachers shouldn’t worry about matching students with a particular level, but rather see if they can find books that include some phonics patterns children know.

But can leveled texts build background knowledge? Some educators have repurposed leveled texts in a different way, using them to help students develop content knowledge about a subject. Research shows that students’ background knowledge is a key component of their reading comprehension ability.

According to Kurto, having more books available that might tap into kids’ different interests is valuable. Still, she draws the attention to the fact that many leveled books are written with simple themes and basic vocabulary and syntax. She said, “a lot of the leveled texts are just a little fluffy. If all [students are] getting beyond decodable text is leveled text, then it’s likely that they’re not being exposed to high-quality language and language structures.”

Although the debate about this matter is extensive and opinions are diverse, one thing is worth keeping in mind: what students read in class really matters.

Source: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/doleveled-books-have-any-place-in-the-classroom/2024/10 Accessed on November 13, 2024. [Adapted]

How were the first 'voice mails' sent? In envelopes

“Hello Mother, Dad, and Blanche,” a quiet voice says above the cracks and pops of an old vinyl record, which has clearly been played many times over. “How’s everything at home? I’m recording this from Dallas…from this very little place where there are pinball machines and many other things like that…”

The disc is small, seven inches across, dated ___________ 1954. The faded green label shows that the speaker’s name is “Gene,” the recording addressed to “Folks.” Gene suggests in his minute-long message that he is traveling—“seeing America”—and tells his family not to worry about him.

“I should complete my trip sometime around Thanksgiving. I hope you received my letter and I, in turn, hope to receive some of the letters that you sent me.”

This largely forgotten sound is one of the world’s early “voice mails.” During the first half of the 20th century, these audio letters and other messages were recorded largely in booths, pressed onto metal discs and vinyl records, and mailed in places all over the world. Best known today for playing music at home, record players were then being used as a means of _____________ over long distances.

The idea of transporting a person’s voice had _________ large in the human imagination for some three centuries before it was finally achieved with the invention of the phonograph in the late 19th century. Historical documents from the Qing Dynasty in 16th-century China suggest the existence of a mysterious device called the “thousand-mile speaker,” a wooden cylinder that could be spoken into and sealed, such that the recipient could still hear the reverberations when opening it back up.

(Fonte: National Geographic - adaptado.)

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Considering the text above, judge the following excerpts:

The 38 Most Famous Poems Ever Written in the English Language (earlybirdbooks.com)

O texto seguinte servirá de base para responder à questão.

India's luxury airline Vistara flies into the sunset

Indian full-service carrier Vistara will operate its last flight on Monday, after nine years in existence.

A joint venture between Singapore Airlines and the Tata Sons, Vistara will merge with Tata-owned Air India to form a single entity with an expanded network and broader fleet.

This means that all Vistara operations will be transferred to and managed by Air India, including helpdesk kiosks and ticketing offices. The process of migrating passengers with existing Vistara bookings and loyalty programmes to Air India has been under way over thepast few months.

"As part of the merger process, meals, service ware and other soft elements have been upgraded and incorporates aspects of both Vistara and Air India," an Air India spokesperson said in an email response.

Amid concerns that the merger could impact service standards, the Tatas have assured that Vistara's in-flight experience will remain unchanged.

Known for its high ratings in food, service, and cabin quality, Vistara has built a loyal customer base and the decision to retire the Vistara brand has been criticised by fans, branding experts, and aviation analysts.

The consolidation was effectively done to clean up Vistara's books and wipe out its losses, said Mark Martin, an aviation analyst.

Air India has essentially been "suckered into taking a loss-making airline" in a desperate move, he added.

"Mergers are meant to make airlines powerful. Never to wipe out losses or cover them."

To be sure, both Air India and Vistara's annual losses have reduced by more than half over the past year, and other operating metrics have improved too. But the merger process so far has been turbulent.

The exercise has been riddled with problems − from pilot shortages that have led to massive flight cancellations, to Vistara crew going on mass sick leave over plans to align their salary structures with Air India.

There have also been repeated complaints about poor service standards on Air India, including viral videos of broken seats and non-functioning inflight entertainment systems.

The Tatas have announced a $400m (£308m) programme to upgrade and retrofit the interiors of its older aircraft and also a brand-new livery. They've also placed orders for hundreds of new Airbus and Boeing planes worth billions of dollars to augment their offering.

But this "turnaround" is still incomplete and riddled with problems, according to Mr Martin. A merger only complicates matters.

Experts say that the merger strikes a dissonant chord from a branding perspective too.

Harish Bijoor, a brand strategy specialist, told the BBC he was feeling "emotional" that a superior product offering like Vistara which had developed a "gold standard for Indian aviation" was ceasing operations.

"It is a big loss for the industry," said Mr Bijoor, adding it will be a monumental task for the mother brand Air India to simply "copy, paste and exceed" the high standards set by Vistara, given that it's a much smaller airline that's being gobbled up by a much larger one.

Mr Bijoor suggests a better strategy would have been to operate Air India separately for five years, focusing on improving service standards, while maintaining Vistara as a distinct brand with Air India prefixed to it.

"This would have given Air India the time and chance to rectify the mother brand and bring it up to the Vistara level, while maintaining its uniqueness," he adds.

Beyond branding, the merged entity will face a slew of operational challenges.

"Communication will be a major challenge in the early days, with customers arriving at the airport expecting Vistara flights, only to find Air India branding," says Ajay Awtaney, editor of Live From A Lounge, an aviation portal. "Air India will need to maintain clear communication for weeks."

Another key challenge, he notes, is cultural: Vistara's agile employees may struggle to adjust to Air India's complex bureaucracy and systems.

But the biggest task for the merged carrier would be offering customers a uniform flying experience.

These are "two airlines with very different service formats are being integrated into one airline. It is going to be a hotchpotch of service formats, cabin formats, branding, and customer experience. It will involve learning and unlearning, and such a process has rarely worked with airlines and is seldom effective," said Mr Martin.

Still, many believe Vistara had to go − now or some years later.

A legacy brand like Air India, with strong global recognition and 'India' imprinted in its identity, wouldn't have allowed a smaller, more premium subsidiary to overshadow its revival process.

Financially too, it makes little sense for the Tatas to have two loss-making entities compete with one another.

The combined strength of Vistara and Air India could also place the Tatas in a much better position to compete with market leader Indigo.

The unified Air India group (including Air India Express, which completed its merger with the former Air Asia India in October) "will be bigger and better with a fleet size of nearly 300 aircraft, an expanded network and a stronger workforce", an Air India spokesperson said.

"Getting done with the merger means that Air India grows overnight, and the two teams start cooperating instead of competing. There will never be one right day to merge. Somewhere, a line had to be drawn," said Mr Awtaney.

But for many Vistara loyalists, its demise leaves a void in India's skies for a premium, full-service carrier - marking the third such gap after the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways.

It's still too early to say if Air India, which often ranks at the bottom of airline surveys, can successfully fill that void.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ygp1w5eq7o

Read Text I and answer question.

Text I: The speed of sound

Some music fans now know 15-second sped up snippets of songs better than the real thing. It’s thanks to an emerging trend on social media, particularly TikTok, of creators changing the tempo of popular songs by 25-30%, to accompany short viral videos of dances or other themes. This phenomenon presents a very modern challenge – how can singers create the next hit tune when the one people actually listen to might sound so different?

Sped-up listening emerged in the early 2000s as “Nightcore”, launched by a Norwegian DJ duo of the same name, who sped up a song’s pitch and speed. This is now commonplace on social media apps, where the speed of podcasts, voice notes, movies and more can be increased so that people can consume them in less time. But what people might not know is that unofficial sped-up or slowed down tunes are different to a professional remix because they are far shorter and can be easily made by anyone, including on TikTok, Instagram Reels and other apps.

In 2023, more than a third of Spotify listeners in the US sped up podcasts and nearly two-thirds played songs at a quicker tempo. The streaming service recently confirmed to the BBC that it was testing a new and more widespread feature that could potentially allow its customers to remix the tempo of songs and share them. In addition, some popstars are embracing this phenomenon. In November 2022, for example, fan-made sped-up versions of RAYE’s single “Escapism” helped the artist to achieve her first ever number one on the UK Official Singles Chart, nearly three months after its original release. Furthermore, Billie Eilish has also released official fast and slow versions of songs and Sabrina Carpenter’s hits “Please Please Please” and “Espresso” received similar treatment.

Dr Mary Beth Ray, an author focused on digital music culture, says short-form video platforms like TikTok “constrain our ways of listening into snippets, but those constraints also let you experience a track in a new way”. She also said that “short clips provide a quicker line to that dopamine rush social media wants us to feel – so there is an addictive element which we’re pushed towards.”

BBC Radio 1 DJ Maia Beth feels it's now getting hard for established labels and musicians to ignore this trend because it can sometimes feel like if they don't release the sped up version, then someone else will. Beth, who admits she can't imagine sitting and listening to a sped-up version of a song the whole way through, believes the trend shouldn't necessarily be a major distraction for musicians though. “Sped-up versions of tracks can help artists break through or go viral, although that initial success may not last,” she added.

TikTok says it has noticed an increase in the number of sped-up and slowed down versions of catalogue tracks taken off the platform, then become officially released. These official changed-tempo releases are now grouped together with the original song in the UK Official Singles Chart, along with remixes, acoustic and live versions, helping artists to climb the ranks.

That said, not everyone is happy with the trend. The popularity of speed-altered versions can make it harder to distinguish original from remix while altering an artist'sintended pacing, mood and tone. However, while some artists like them and others less so, it seems they are here to stay.

Adapted from: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqv5x2qe8q6o Published: August 17, 2024

Read the text and answer the question.

What Happens to Your Body When You Drink Milk Every Day

Milk (and dairy in general) gets the blame for a lot of unwanted health outcomes. We're sure you've heard that dairy causes acne, increases inflammation and can even be the reason you're not losing weight. Spoiler: For those who aren't lactose-intolerant or allergic to dairy, research doesn't back up those claims. In fact, there are actually some impressive benefits that come with drinking a nutritious glass of milk.

Your Bone Health Might Improve

Not only is milk a great vegetarian protein source, but it's also packed with calcium and vitamin D—two nutrients that are vital for bone health. Calcium is a mineral needed to build and maintain strong bones, and vitamin D helps our body absorb calcium from the foods we eat. Since milk is a great source of both of thesenutrients, it's one of the best things to keep in your diet for bone health throughout life.

You Might Reach Your Weight Loss Goals

There are lots of misconceptions about how drinking milk can affect weight, but research shows regular consumption probably won't hurt your cause if you're trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. This is largely due to the satisfying combination of carbohydrates, protein and fat found in milk. Protein and fat can help make milk super filling, which can help with weight loss. Carbs give you energy and help your body function at its best. When you're more satisfied from the foods you eat, it's easier to honor your hunger and fullness levels and stick to a healthy, balanced eating pattern.

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (the gold standard of research) published in the journal Nutrients found that including dairy in a calorie-restricted diet resulted in greater weight loss and fat loss, while reducing loss of lean muscle. This doesn't mean milk is a miracle weight-loss food, though. Another review of studies found that consuming milk or other dairy products didn't result in significant weight loss, but didn't lead to weight gain either. If your goal is to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, drinking a glass of milk each day might help, if it's a food you enjoy. You Might Lower Your Risk of Cognitive Decline

The impressive nutrition profile of milk could be a reason why it can help you stay more mentally sharp as you age. A 2021 review of studies published in Nutrition & Metabolism found that milk intake was connected with a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Another study published in 2020 in the journal Nutrients found that skimmed dairy, fermented dairy and buttermilk were associated with better executive functioning. So adding some milk to your morning oats or as a side to a snack may help boost your brain health.

Researchers hypothesize that one reason milk might support healthy aging is the nutrition that it provides. Milk is a good source of calcium, protein and vitamin B12, all of which are critical nutrients for older adults.

The Bottom Line

If you aren't lactose-intolerant or allergic to dairy, it's totally OK to enjoy a regular glass of milk each day. From improving bone health to helping mitigate cognitive decline, drinking milk and incorporating other dairy items into your diet can come with some health benefits. As with any food, remember that moderation is key (an 8-ounce serving of milk probably wouldn't completely fill many of the glasses in your cupboard). Since there are dairy farmers all across the U.S., try choosing milk that is produced locally. Making a connection with a local farmer can help you get a better-quality product that takes less of a toll on the environment, too.

FONTE: Adapted from: https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7961444/what-happensto-your-body-if-you-drink-milk-every-day/#:~:text=Not%20only%20is% 20milk%20a,from%20the%20foods%20we%20eat.

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Considering the text above, judge the following excerpts:

The 38 Most Famous Poems Ever Written in the English Language (earlybirdbooks.com)

The philosopher Jeremy Bentham was regarded as the founder of utilitarianism and a leading advocate of the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, and individual legal rights. Furthermore, the “panopticon” is a type of institutional building that has long dominated Bentham’s legacy. As a work of architecture, the panopticon allows a watchman in a central tower to observe occupants of surrounding cells without the occupants knowing whether or not they are being watched. As a metaphor, the panopticon was commandeered in the latter half of the 20th century as a way to trace the surveillance tendencies of disciplinarian societies. Is it still a useful way to think about surveillance today?

The French philosopher Michel Foucault used the idea of the panopticon as a way to illustrate the proclivity of disciplinary societies to subjugate its citizens. He describes the prisoner of a panopticon as being at the receiving end of asymmetrical surveillance: “He is seen, but he does not see.” As a consequence, the inmate polices himself for fear of punishment.

The parallels between the panopticon and surveillance cameras may be obvious, but what happens when you step into the world of digital surveillance and data capture? Unlike the panopticon, citizens don’t know they are being watched. Jake Goldenfein, from the University of Melbourne, tells me it’s important to remember the corrective purposes of Bentham’s panopticon when considering it as a metaphor for modern surveillance. “The relevance of the panopticon as a metaphor begins to wither when we start thinking about whether contemporary types of visuality are analogous to the central tower concept. For example, whether this type of visuality is as asymmetrical, and being co-opted for the same political exercise.” In the panopticon the occupants are constantly aware of the threat of being watched — this is the whole point — but state surveillance on the Internet is invisible; there is no looming tower, no dead-eye lens staring at you every time you enter a URL. There may not be a central tower, but there will be communicating sensors in our most intimate objects.

Internet: <theguardian.com> (adapted).