Questões de Concursos

Read the text below entitled `Half the nation, a hundred million citizens strong´ so as to answer questions 19 to 21:

Half the nation, a hundred million citizens strong
Source: www.economist.co.uk
Sep 11th, 2008 (Adapted)

It remains hard to defi ne, and attempts to do so often seem arbitrary. But in Brazil, the middle class describes those with a job in the formal economy, access to credit and ownership of a car or motorbike. According to the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), a research institute, this means households with a monthly income ranging from 1,064 reais ($600) to 4,561 reais. Since 2002, according to FGV, the proportion of the population that fi ts this description has increased from 44% to 52%. Brazil, previously notorious for its extremes, is now a middle–class country.
This social climbing is a feature mainly of the country´s cities, reversing two decades of stagnation that began at the start of the 1980s. Marcelo Neri of FGV suggests two factors behind the change. The fi rst is education. The quality of teaching in Brazil´s schools may still be poor, but those aged 15–21 now spend on average just over three more years studying than their counterparts did in the early 1990s.
The second is a migration of jobs from the informal "black" economy to the formal economy. The rate of formal job creation is accelerating, with 40% more created in the year to this July than in the previous 12 months, which itself set a record. Together with cash transfers to poor families, this helps to explain why ? in contrast with economic and social development in India or China ? as Brazil´s middle class has grown, so the country´s income inequality has lessened.

Chinese Woman Opens Plane’s Emergency Exit for Some Fresh Air

A flight was delayed for an hour and a woman detained by police after she opened the emergency exit for “a breath of fresh air” before the flight took off in central China’s Hubei province, mainland media reported. The incident happened on Xiamen Air Flight MF8215 from Wuhan to Lanzhou, which was scheduled to take off at 3.45 p.m. on September 23.

Cabin crew had briefed the woman, who was in her 50s, about the rules when sitting next to the emergency exit and reminded her not to touch the button that opened the emergency exit. However, the woman said she needed some fresh air and touched the button to open the exit when the stewardess turned around to help others, the report said. The woman was taken away and the flight was delayed for an hour. Opening the emergency exit can be considered to be disturbing public order in an aircraft, which is punishable by police detention and a fine.

In July last year, a woman who was flying for the first time mistook the emergency door for a lavatory door before her plane took off in Nanjing. The emergency slide was released and the flight was delayed for two hours. The woman was detained for 10 days. Some passengers have paid a heavy price for releasing the emergency slide, which may take days and considerable expense to repair and reinstall. In January 2015, a man who opened an emergency door after a plane landed in Chongqing had to pay 35,000 yuan (150,000 baht) in compensation to the airline.

In June, a man from Hubei who was returning to China from Bangkok on a Thai Lion Air Flight opened an emergency exit before take-off. After apologising repeatedly, according to witnesses, he was held by Thai authorities for one day and given a fine of 500 baht before being deported.

Adapted from https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1762629/chinese-woman-opens-planes-emergency-exit-for-somefresh-air

Read the text below to answer question 17–18.

Alzheimer?s disease

Alzheimer?s disease (AD) is a form of dementia, which is a brain disorder. It damages nerve cells in the brain. This affects your ability to remember things, think clearly, and care for yourself. AD begins slowly, and symptoms get worse with time. Eventually, a person with AD might need help in many areas, including eating and getting dressed. For some people in the early or middle stages of the disease, medicine might help symptoms, such as memory loss, from getting worse for a limited time. Other drugs may help people feel less worried or depressed. Dealing with Alzheimer?s disease can be extremely difficult, but planning ahead and getting support can lighten the load. AD usually begins after age 60, and risk goes up with age. The risk is also higher if a family member has had AD. Scientists are working to better understand AD. Ongoing studies are looking at whether some things can help prevent or delay the disease. Areas that are being explored include exercise, eating omega–3 fatty acids, and keeping your brain active. Alzheimer´s disease.
Available in: http://www.womenshealth.gov

Mr. Law´s invention

Less than a year ago the judges on the reality programme Dragon´s Den rejected his invention. Now inventor Rob Law is having the last laugh after a product considered "worthless" on the BBC television programme for young entrepreneurs has proved a huge commercial hit. Mr. Law, 29, from Bath, spent 11 years – and 17,000 pounds of his own money – refining his design for a wheelie suitcase which doubles up as a child´s ride-on toy. The plastic Trunki case is designed to allow youngsters aged three to six to take their own bag on holiday – and sit on it when they are tired. But when Mr. Law appeared on Dragons´ Den last September, he was given a hard time by the famously unfriendly panel of investors. Businessman Theo Paphitis ridiculed the product after managing to pull off one of the straps. His colleague Deborah Meadon, head of a holiday firm, declared bluntly that there was no market for the case. And the notoriously brusque tele-communications tycoon Peter Jones declared: "I meet people like you all the time – you think you have something. I tell you, you don´t". The panel declined Mr. Law´s offer to give up 10 percent of his new company in return for a 100,000 pounds investment – an offer which valued the firm at 1 million. However, it now appears that the experts were wrong. After a succession of positive press reviews, Mr. Law has sold 85,000 of his trunki suitcases. It is marketed in 22 countries via a network of distributors. Retailing at 25 pounds, it has proved a hit at several high street stores. Mr Law said: "When I went on to the programme I was full of confidence that I was going to get the investment I needed. But they were rude and obnoxious and just focused on the strap, which was actually something that was easily fixed. I was terrified that by appearing on the programme I may have ruined my company before it even started. But afterwards we had loads of hits on the website from people who said they thought it was a brilliant idea. Now I am absolutely delighted to have proved the Dragons wrong. It just goes to show you should never give up. Mr. Law also revealed that during filming he managed to sell two of the suitcases to Australian panellist Richard Farleigh, who wanted to invest 100,000 pounds in return for half of the company. But Mr. Law rejected the deal. He declined to say exactly how much the company – which is 100% owned by him - is now worth, but said it was more than a million.

(Adapted from New English File Upper, Oxford, 1996)

Judge the following item on translation and semiotics.

Read the text below entitled `While Rome burns´ in order to answer questions 22 to 25:

While Rome burns
Source: www.economist.co.uk
Sep 25th, 2008 (Adapted)

American plans to buy up assets that are clogging the fi nancial system lack detail but no one doubts that a massive government intervention is coming. In Europe jittery investors have no such reassurance. European governments have yet to respond publicly to calls from Hank Paulson, the treasury secretary, to follow his lead. They look set to keep faith with the approach that they have used to handle the crisis so far ? staving off liquidity worries by allowing banks to use facilities at central banks to swap their assets in exchange for ready cash. That makes many watchers nervous. The crisis in America has dramatically grown from one of liquidity to one of solvency as well. Lehman Brothers had access to the Federal Reserve´s discount window, after all, but still went under. The burning question now is whether banks have enough capital. On some measures, European banks look pretty well capitalized. The average tier–one ratio, which measures capital based on the riskiness of bank assets, stood at 8% in the fi rst half of the year. That looks solid enough, if you assume that banks have a good handle on risk.