Questões de Concursos Interpretação de texto Reading comprehension

Read text 1 and answer question.

The Times They Are A-Changin' - By Bob Dylan

Come gather 'round, people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters around you have

grown

And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the

bone

If your time to you is worth saving

Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like

a stone

For the times, they are a-changin'

Come writers and critics who prophesize with

your pen

And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't

come again

And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in

spin

And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'

For the loser now will be later to win

For the times, they are a-changin'

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the

call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled

The battle outside ragin'

Will soon shake your windows and rattle your

walls

For the times, they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize what you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is rapidly aging

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend

your hand

The line, it is drawn

The curse, it is cast

The slow one now will later be fast

As the present now will later be past

The order is rapidly fading

And the first one now will later be last

For the times, they are a-changin'

For the times, they are a-changin'

Magi Richani is the founder of San Francisco-based Nobell Foods, a startup company developing a new kind of cheese made from soybeans. She says plant-based cheese not only accommodates people who can’t consume dairy, but it also could be key to more sustainable food production worldwide. “The reality is that when you raise an animal for food, it’s not just the animals, you are actually growing crops, you are clearing land, and you’re raising the animal for years so it builds biomass,” Richani explained. “It’s an extremely inefficient supply chain.”

Nobell is particularly focused on creating plant-based casein, which is a protein produced when a cow gives birth and is present in the milk for its offspring. It is the ingredient that gives dairy cheese its unique stretchy texture. If Nobell is able to go to market and have the kind of impact it’s hoping to, then plant-based cheese could help us stretch toward a more sustainable future.

Internet: <newsweek.com> (adapted).

Read the text below:

Educating future technology engineers

While much of the world's wireless communications technologies, such as cell phones, run on 5G mobile networks, engineers already have their eyes on developing future-generation networks. One of these engineers is Yanchao Zhang, a professor of electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University.

Zhang runs the DOD Center of Excellence in Future Generation Wireless Technology, or FutureG Center of Excellence. Led by ASU and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the center includes collaborators from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, the U.S. DOD and The Ohio State University.

The FutureG Center of Excellence aims to advance mobile network technology for wireless communications that are more secure, faster and more reliable. Artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning are also up for potential inclusion.

The center also has outreach and workforce development initiatives to increase the number of workers in the wireless communications engineering field. As part of this initiative, the center hosted a five-day FutureG Summer Research Camp on ASU's Tempe campus in May that is planned yearly.

The inaugural camp hosted 25 undergraduate students from the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering and the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, both part of the Fulton Schools. The participants learned about a variety of engineering disciplines related to electronics, including cybersecurity, signal processing, augmented and virtual reality, or AR and VR.

To choose the 25 students, Zhang and his colleagues in the FutureG Center of Excellence — Antonia Papandreou-Suppappola and Chaitali Chakrabarti, both Fulton Schools professors of electrical engineering — selected from 78 applicants.

"I was thrilled to see so many motivated, highly qualified young minds interested in cutting-edge research topics," he says. "Notably, half of the participants were women and underrepresented minority students, who were selected based on the same criteria as all applicants."

In line with the Fulton Schools value of building a foundation for all to be successful, students participated in sessions each day featuring lectures and demonstrations from experts in the topic areas. The presenters beyond Zhang included a variety of Fulton Schools electrical and computer engineering andcomputer science faculty members and external FutureG Center of Excellence collaborators.

"The goal of this summer camp is to expose highly qualified Fulton Schools undergraduate students to the latest topics and opportunities in the future generation wireless technology field and within the FutureG Center of Excellence," Zhang says. "We aim to motivate their academic and research interests in the future wireless technology area, ultimately contributing to the U.S. workforce in this field."

Among the student participants inspired to further research future wireless communications technology is Diego Quintero, a Fulton Schools undergraduate student majoring in electrical engineering who just completed his sophomore year.

Before the program, Quintero was only considering studying electrical engineering through the Fulton Schools accelerated master's degree program, which enables students to complete graduate coursework while completing their bachelor's degree, saving them time. Now he's planning to apply to the program in the 2024− 25 academic year.

Quintero says the FutureG summer camp helped him understand how the engineering skills he learned in the classroom are applied to technology development.

"Learning about such fascinating advancements in the thriving tech industry has strengthened my ideologies and passion for pursuing a career in this field," he says. "There are so many interesting careers and research opportunities. I believe it's a great way to learn more about specific roles in engineering."

For Mounia Bazzi, an undergraduate electrical engineering student who just completed the first year of her program, the FutureG summer camp helped her build on principles she learned while exploring engineering specializations. While Bazzi initially learned about using the MATLAB programming software in her FSE 100: Introduction to Engineering class, she explored MATLAB's signal processing tools in a session led by Papandreou-Suppappola.

Bazzi found that hearing from graduate students who are working with session presenters was especially helpful in learning about research conducted at ASU. The presentations inspired her interest to pursue her own research, and she contacted Guoliang Xue, a Fulton Schools professor of computer science and engineering involved in the camp, to ask if she could work under him in fall 2024.

Bazzi says her favorite part of the experience was the final day of the camp, which took place at ASU's Media and Immersive eXperience Center, or MIX Center.

"The most fun part of the camp was experiencing AR and VR systems with Dr. Robert LiKamWa," Bazzi says. "After going through different VR immersive narratives, we formed groups and used Dreamscape to build our own VR world that we then got to experience."

The session led by LiKamWa, a Fulton Schools associate

professor of electrical engineering with a joint appointment in ASU's School of Arts, Media and Engineering, was also Shannen Aganon's favorite part of the camp.

"Exploring and developing VR experiences was both exciting and educational," says Aganon, a rising senior majoring in computer science. "It is definitely interesting to see how immersive technology can transform so much."

During the camp, Aganon aimed to learn more about different engineering fields within electrical engineering.

"Attending this camp session broadened my appreciation of how different engineering disciplines interconnect and definitely allowed me to reach my goal," she says.

Aganon says the camp confirmed her passion for engineering through the variety offered within the field and the hands-on collaborative activities. She also enjoyed the networking, new friendships and skills the camp taught her

"If you would like a unique way to gain hands-on experience, this camp offers invaluable opportunities," Aganon says.

Judge the excerpts from the text.

Acesso em: https://tinyurl.com/yck35f65

INSTRUCTION: Read the following text to answer question.

The Key to Balanced Bilingualism

Bilingual education, especially in an immersion setting, is much more than just learning a second language: it’s a gateway to cultural and cognitive growth. As Vannina Boussouf – Assistant Head of School and Director of Primary at Lycée Français de New York (LFNY) – explains, several factors need to be considered to make sure this type of program succeeds, like the language environment of the country, the quality and amount of exposure to both languages, and the teaching expertise needed to guide students on their language journey.

One of the first things to think about in language immersion is the students’ language environment. In a country where the main language is different from the one taught in school, it’s important to make sure there’s enough exposure to the second language, and that it is high quality. This means more than just spending a lot of time speaking in the minority language (often the language of instruction in an immersion program); it also requires support to help students develop strong skills in both languages.

Language immersion relies on the idea that the more a child is exposed to a language, the better they will learn it. In this sense, combining varied interactions with stimulating learning environments is the key for students to truly grasp a second language.

One challenge teachers face is the “language insecurity” students can feel. When students are immersed in a classroom where the language spoken is different from what they use at home, they might feel uneasy. It is important to create a safe space where making mistakes is part of learning, and where students are encouraged. Thus, a positive learning environment helps not just with language learning but also with building thinking and cultural skills.

Besides, teachers need to be trained to spot when students feel insecure and respond with the rightstrategies, all while keeping the immersion experience engaging. This might include using visual aids, gestures, repetition, and interactive activities that help students participate, even if they’re still mastering the new language.

In reality, bilingual education through immersion is an ambitious goal, but when designed well, it offers great benefits to students. To make it work, it is necessary to consider the language environment, ensure high-quality exposure in both languages, and support students’ learning with care and expertise. Educators are responsible for creating spaces where both languages can thrive, while respecting the unique needs of each student. In addition, they can refine an approach where language immersion is balanced with support and excellence. In this bilingual journey, each student becomes an active participant in their own learning, opening doors to a multilingual, inclusive world.

Source: https://frenchly.us/the-key-to-balancedbilingualism/

Accessed on November 13, 2024. [Adapted]

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]

FlexSea’s biodegradable plastics attract £3m investment

01 FlexSea, a startup with its roots at Imperial College London, has announced the completion

02 of a seed round worth £3 million in equity and grants. The investment will help the company

03 commercialize a range of sustainable packaging solutions it has developed, based on plastics

04 derived from seaweed. The aim is to address the catastrophic impact of conventional plastics

05 on the environment, in particular the single-use plastic products that persist in the ocean for

06 many hundreds of years after they are discarded. In contrast, the biodegradable plastics

07 devised by FlexSea will break down in the sea or the soil within a matter of weeks.

08 Carlo Fedeli, the co-founder and Chief Executive of FlexSea, first started to think about

09 biodegradable plastics during the COVID pandemic. “I noticed the amount of plastic packaging

10 that was piling up at home, because of the online groceries and other deliveries we relied on

11 at the time, and I just had enough,” he says. He started looking into the biodegradable plastics

12 that were already available, and found that they often had shortcomings. Some didn’t actually

13 break down very rapidly under day-to-day environmental conditions, while others involved

14 unsustainable production methods. For example, plastics derived from seaweed are often made

15 from brown seaweed, which is usually harvested from nature, rather than the commonly

16 cultivated red seaweed. He set out to develop a thin-film plastic from red seaweed. “By the

17 end of lockdown I had the first prototype, a transparent flexi-film, and that is still the backbone

18 technology of our solvent-cast thin films,” he says.

19 FlexSea was set up in 2021 with co-founder Thibaut Monfort-Micheo. Their first home was

20 at Scale Space, on the White City Campus, and they received support from across Imperial's

21 enterprising ecosystem. In 2021 they joined the Centre for Climate Change Innovation’s

22 Greenhouse Accelerator, and in 2022 they took part in Imperial’s Venture Catalyst Challenge,

23 winning the energy and environment track. "FlexSea has the potential to change the pattern

24 of human consumption of plastic and therefore change the sustainability path of our planet,”

25 says Stephan Morais, Managing General Partner of lead investor Indico Capital. "This

26 investment will allow us ___ (make) significant progress and penetrate the market effectively,”

27 says Carlo Fedeli, the co-founder and Chief Executive of FlexSea.

(Available at: www.imperial.ac.uk/news/248154/flexseas-biodegradable-plastics-attract-3m-investment/ – text especially adapted for this test).

Text CB1A2

Currently, the Digital Euro has not been launched — though there are signs that a launch may be coming sooner rather than later. By October 2025, the ECB (European Central Bank) has indicated a second phase of the preparation for the Digital Euro. By then, the ECB will have prepared an outreach plan, procurement standards, and technology providers.

The Digital Euro has potential downsides, many of them echoed in the other launches of central bank digital currencies. For example, the central bank will become a technology company focused on procurement with central points of failure. This was a breeding ground for corruption for the bureaucrat fortunate enough to make these technical choices in China.

While the Digital Euro is slated to “coexist” with cash, this also comes when EU (European Union) nations are voting on ending end-to-end encryption (a critical digital privacy tool) and have started to restrict cash with limits being placed on how much you can spend in cash to accelerate its slow demise.

User privacy is said to be the ECB’s “chief concern” as it has been designing the central bank’s digital currency. Certainly, the ECB is aware of public perception that has negative surveillance, control, and privacy implications in mind. The ECB has been at pains to say that the Digital Euro will “coexist” with cash and that unlike the e-CNY (China’s central bank digital coin) it will not be tied to a “social credit” score or place limits on how money is spent.

A big part of the ECB’s drive towards the Digital Euro is to compete and pry Europeans away from Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and “stablecoins”.

Central bank digital currencies are a direct liability of the central bank. Since the central bank has the power to issue currency, this means that the central bank can essentially create “digital euros” if it wishes to. The architecture and data within a central bank digital currency are usually built completely by the central bank supported by private vendors of its choice. In China, the central bank has turned away from a distributed ledger technology to a centralized data store, in which the technical details are pretty scant. Hence, the central bank controls everything, and the system has no external access.

Internet: <www.forbes.com/sites> (adapted).