Questões de Concursos Inglês

From "Conclusion on Global Warming":

One of the big questions of today is whether global warming and climate change can be stopped or whether it is inevitable. Though worried, most scientists believe that if we act now, “serious” climate change and global warming can be avoided. A few, such as James Lovelock who created the GAIA theory of the Earth as a living organism, believes that is far too late to stop the changes that
are now unfolding. Politicians either deny that there is a problem or act as if there is plenty of time to do something. After weighing the arguments we in The GAIA-Movement have had to conclude the following:

• Global Warming and Climate Change are unavoidable as they are already going on and have been so for quite some time;

• they constitute an inevitable catastrophe that will unfold in the years and decades to come;

• this fact cannot be reversed as the politicians in power will not provide the leadership needed to implement the monumental changes needed to reduce greenhouse gas emission and

• the processes set in motion are of such magnitude that they by now can only be postponed or prolonged so as to allow more time for adaptation.

We have reached our conclusions on global warming, climate change and the consequences thereof for food production and a number of other issues after studying books, films, websites, radio interviews, scientific magazines and reports.
The information we have found points in a clear direction and has thus enabled us to make a clear conclusion.
A basic book has been “Six Degrees” by Mark Lynas, a journalist who has studied many scientific reports and from that has been able to describe what may happen to the Earth as it warms 1-2-3-4-5 and even 6 degrees.
Elizabeth Kolbert has written “Field Notes from a Catastrophe”. She has met many scientists working on global warming and the book has much dramatic information.
Several other authors have written books that give many details on global warming and climate change such as “The Last Generation” by Fred Pierce, “The Weather Makers” by Tim Flannery,“A Rough Guide to Climate Change” by Robert Henson, “The Revenge of GAIA” by James Lovelock and “An Inconvenient Truth” by Al Gore, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort to inform about climate change. The last book is also on film and there are several other films that tell about different aspects of climate change and what can be done to build a world on renewable energy.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN working group, which also received the Nobel Peace Prize made their latest report in 2007. We have studied the report which presents several models for how the climate may change during the next 100 years.

Text taken from the Gaia Movement: http://www.gaia-movement.org/
On: 10/23/2009
“Gaia” is the name of a Greek goddess of Earth.

Text VII questions 38 through 40World Bank Brazil country brief1 With an estimated 167 million inhabitants, Brazil has thelargest population in Latin America and ranks sixth in the world. Themajority live in the south-central area, which includes industrial cities4 such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. 80% of thepopulation now lives in urban areas. Rapid growth in the urbanpopulation has aided economic development but also created serious7 problems for major cities.Brazils miracle years were in the late 1960s and early 1970swhen double digit-annual growth rates were recorded and the structure10 of the economy underwent rapid change.In the 1980s, however, Brazils economic performance waspoor in comparison with its potential. Annual Gross Domestic Product13 (GDP) growth only averaged 1.5 percent over the period from 1980to 1993. This reflected the economys inability to respond tointernational eventsin the late 1970s and the 1980s: the second oil16 shock; increase in international real interest rates; the Latin Americanexternal debt crisis and the ensuing cutoff of foreign credit and foreigndirect investment. This lack of responsiveness reflected the largely19 inward-looking policy orientation that had been in place since the1960s.Economic flexibility was further impaired by provisions of the22 1988 Constitution, which introduced significant rigidities in budgetingand public expenditure. An outcome of these pressures was a steadyrise in the rate of inflation, which reached monthly rates of 50% by the25 middle of 1994.Internet: <http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/Exter/abe36259ca656c4985256914005207e3?OpenDocumen> (with adaptations). With the help of text VII, judge the following items.

   Is blue growth the beginning or end of a healthier ocean?

March 17th 2015

Across the globe, countries are increasingly looking seaward in search of new economic opportunities, including oil, gas, and mineral extraction from the sea floor, renewable energy development, and biotechnology.
The push to expand this so-called “blue economy" comes at a time when the ecological health of the oceans is seriously degraded. Last year, the Economist"s World Ocean Summit concluded with a resounding consensus that more needs to be done to protect and restore the world"s seas, especially the high seas. Will blue growth help or harm efforts to achieve a healthier ocean ecosystem?
The U.N. has proposed ambitious sustainable development goals relating to ocean health. They include reducing pollution from agriculture run-off, decreasing untreated sewage and solid waste, rebuilding depleted fish stocks, and protecting and restoring natural habitats.
A healthy ocean ecosystem is a public good—both locally and globally. Mangroves, corals, and salt marshes protect  coastal towns from storms. Oceans store carbon and produce oxygen that benefits us all. And areas of high biodiversity support global fisheries and are essential for resilient and productive oceans.
These natural benefits can remain intact if nations encourage—and even require—participants in the blue economy to reinvest the economic capital created from that economy in the natural capital of marine and coastal ecosystems; namely by restoring degraded habitats, protecting healthy ones, and financing blue economy “greening" efforts.
Channeling the new wealth of a growing blue economy into projects that will build a healthier ocean will require new financial tools. For instance, a global ocean trust fund, eco taxes, or user fees could be managed at the global level (say the U.N., World Bank, or the Global Environmental Facility) or even at a regional level, perhaps through existing regional seas organisations.
But for now the blue economy needs to aim higher than merely to do no harm. Converting blue economic capital into blue natural capital can raise all boats and produce a healthier, more sustainable blue economy.

                       (http://www.economistinsights.com/opinion/blue-growth-beginning-or-endhealthier-ocean)

Text VII questions 38 through 40World Bank Brazil country brief1 With an estimated 167 million inhabitants, Brazil has thelargest population in Latin America and ranks sixth in the world. Themajority live in the south-central area, which includes industrial cities4 such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. 80% of thepopulation now lives in urban areas. Rapid growth in the urbanpopulation has aided economic development but also created serious7 problems for major cities.Brazils miracle years were in the late 1960s and early 1970swhen double digit-annual growth rates were recorded and the structure10 of the economy underwent rapid change.In the 1980s, however, Brazils economic performance waspoor in comparison with its potential. Annual Gross Domestic Product13 (GDP) growth only averaged 1.5 percent over the period from 1980to 1993. This reflected the economys inability to respond tointernational eventsin the late 1970s and the 1980s: the second oil16 shock; increase in international real interest rates; the Latin Americanexternal debt crisis and the ensuing cutoff of foreign credit and foreigndirect investment. This lack of responsiveness reflected the largely19 inward-looking policy orientation that had been in place since the1960s.Economic flexibility was further impaired by provisions of the22 1988 Constitution, which introduced significant rigidities in budgetingand public expenditure. An outcome of these pressures was a steadyrise in the rate of inflation, which reached monthly rates of 50% by the25 middle of 1994.Internet: <http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/Exter/abe36259ca656c4985256914005207e3?OpenDocumen> (with adaptations).The sentence "Rapid growth in the urban population has aided economic development but also created serious problems for major cities" (R.5-7) means the same as