Questões de Concursos Inglês

The true potential of technology to change behavior

Technology could successfully change behaviours where decades of campaigns and legislation have failed. With the quantified self already walking among us and the internet of things within easy reach, digital technology is creating unprecedented opportunities to encourage, enable and empower more sustainable behaviours.

If we are to unlock the power of technology we must be more ambitious than simply digitising analogue strategies or creating another communications channel.

The true potential of technology lies in its ability to do things that nothing else can do. In behaviour change terms, the potential to succeed where decades of education programmes, awareness campaigns and product innovation have failed; to make a difference where government policy and legislation has had limited impact.

Using behavioural insights, it is possible to highlight the bottlenecks, drop out points and achilles heels of traditional behaviour change efforts — the reasons why we have failed in the past — and apply the unique possibilities of technology to these specific challenges.

Overcoming our limitations

Luckily, the history of the human race is almost defined by its ability to invent stuff that bolsters its feeble capabilities. That stuff is, of course, what we generically refer to as 'technology'. And in the same way that the internal combustion engine and the light bulb allow us to overcome our relatively feeble powers of motion and perception, so digital technology can be directed to overcoming our relatively feeble powers of reasoning, selfcontrol, motivation, self-awareness and agency—the factors that make behaviour change so difficult.

Herein lies the true potential of technology: not in the laboratory or the workshop, but in an understanding of the behavioural dynamics that define the human condition, both generally and within the context of a specific user-group, market segment or community.

Fonte: JOHNSON, Steven. Recognising the true potential of technology to change behaviour. Disponível em:<https://www.theguardian.com/sustainablebusiness/behavioural-insights/true-potential-technology-change-behaviour>. Acesso em: 23 ago. 2017. (Adaptado).

Text 1 – How children learn languages

Questions 31 to 39

How long does it take to learn a language?

Text 1

The Courage to Be Imperfect

Perfectionism, self-examination and the kissing of frogs

Michael J. Formica

Posted July 9, 2009

Someone once said that there are two kinds of people in the world - those who are right... And nowhere are we more inclined to want to be right than with regard to ourselves. In fact, more often than not, we want to be perfect. What this striving for perfection often leads to is a kind of social paralysis.

If we are constantly focused on making the right decision, we will sometimes find ourselves in a place ranging from morbid indecision to outright fear. Getting it right, making the good choice and avoiding the faux pas endorse in us a rigidity of character and action that is limiting and, in derailing our momentum, deflects our potential evolution.

The willingness to be wrong or, as more properly suggested here, the courage to be imperfect, allows us the opportunity to discover many things about ourselves. Without exercising this courage, we put ourselves into a straightjacket of sorts, setting our thoughts and actions in a dismally fettered pattern.

This line of thinking was prompted by a conversation that I had with a client yesterday where in she had come to the conclusion that she was a bit of a perfectionist. What she had puzzled out for herself was that her perfectionism, rather than serving her, was actually hindering her ability to be flexible, open to new possibilities and clear about what she wanted for herself and her life.

At some point, I suggested that the fairy tale about the princess kissing frogs to find the prince was a good metaphor for stepping outside of one's comfort zone and "trying something on for size' without an overly self-conscious regard for the potential consequences of the choice. She mentioned that a few days earlier she had seen the trailer for a movie in which the princess kissed a frog and turned into a frog herself. Brilliant.

If we are unwilling to kiss a few frogs - to explore the possibilities that are presented to us in anticipation of finding something unexpected - then we, ourselves, may turn into frogs. That is, become stuck in our place and condemned to something that is not us. We can, without the willingness to be open to making mistakes, limit ourselves right into a state of personal inauthenticity.

Available

in:<https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/enlightened-living/200907/the-courage-be-imperfect>

Leia o fragmento de texto a seguir e responda a questão.

Cultural stereotypes are fixed ideas that people have about what specific social groups or individuals are like, especially an idea that is wrong. Other terms that are associated with the term stereotype are prejudice and cliché. The term has a Greek origin: stereos means solid or firm and typos mean blow, impression, engraved, or mark. The term was first used in the printing business. The first modern English use of the term was in 1850, meaning “image perpetuated without change.”

Because stereotypes are standardized and simplified ideas of groups based on some prejudices, they are not derived from objective facts but rather from subjective and often unverifiable ideas. As Sociologist Charles E. Hurst states, “one reason for stereotypes is the lack of personal, concrete familiarity that individuals have with persons in other racial or ethnic groups. Lack of familiarity encourages the lumping together of unknown individuals”.

The existence of stereotypes may be explained by the need for groups of people to view themselves as more normal or superior to other groups. Consequently, stereotypes may be used to justify ill-founded prejudices or ignorance and prevent people of stereotyped groups from entering or succeeding in various activities or fields. The stereotyping group is, generally, reluctant to reconsider their attitudes and behavior towards the stereotyped group.

Stereotypes may affect people negatively. This includes forming inaccurate and distortedimages and opinions of people. Stereotypes may also be used for scapegoating or for making general erroneous judgments about people. Some stereotyping people may feel comfortable when they prevent themselves from emotional identification with the stereotyped group, which leads to xenophobic or racist behavior. Finally, another serious consequence of stereotypes is the feeling of inferiority that the stereotyped people may have, which may impair their performance.

Fonte: HURST, Charles. Social Inequality: Forms, Causes and Consequences. Boston: Pearson Education, 2007.

Read text V to answer question .

TEXT V

There are no excuses for racism.

Racism take$ many forms and can happen 1 __ many places. lt includes prejudice, discrimination ar hatred directed at someone because of their colour, ethnicity or national origin.

People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. However, it doesn't need to involve violent or intimidating behaviour. Take racial name-calling and jokes. Or consider situations when people may be excluded from groups or activities because of where they come 2 _______.

Racism can be revealed through people's actions as well as their altitudes. !t can also be reflected in systems and institutions. But sometímes it may not be revealed at ali. Not ali racism is obvious. For examp!e, someone may look 3 _______ a list of job applicants and decide not to interview people with certain surnames.

Racism is more than just words, beliefs and actions. lt includes ali the barriers that prevent people from enjoying dignity and equality because of their race.