Questões de Inglês

Athens rehearses the nightmare of default

By Joshua Chaffin in Athens


Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens
chamber of commerce, sat in his office – around
the corner from where protesters were hurling
chunks of marble at riot police – and
contemplated what was once unthinkable: that
Greece would default on its debt and then be
forced into a messy exit from the euro.
“All hell would break loose,” Mr Michalos said,
sketching a society that would quickly run short of
fuel, food, medicine and necessities. “You would
have social upheaval.”
Since the crisis began, it has been widely held that
a default would prove disastrous not only for
Greece but also for the entire European Union,
and that it was to be avoided at all costs.
That assumption is being questioned as never
before. Some officials argue that the blowback
from a Greek default might not be so debilitating,
after all.
“I am not advocating a Greek default, hard or soft
– but I’m not excluding the possibility of it if the
Greeks don’t get their acts together, Europe is
prepared... I think we’ve taken the necessary
measures.” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Europe
minister, told the Financial Times.
That view is by no means unanimous among
Greece’s creditors. François Fillon, French prime
minister, on Friday had a stinging rebuke for those
who would consider it. “To put in play the default
of Greece is completely irresponsible,” he told
broadcaster RTL.
Stéphane Deo, European economist at UBS,
warned that a Greek default could wreak havoc
across the continent, including bank runs.
In rumour-prone Athens, business leaders,
politicians and economists are aghast at open
discussion of default. “It would be a nightmare,”
said Yannis Stournaras, head of the Foundation
for Economic and Industrial Research, an Athens
think-tank. “You would see serial defaults... Banks
would collapse completely. There would be no
banks.”
An important factor in any default would be the
reaction of the European Central Bank. It might be
possible to keep Greece in the eurozone and
contain the damage if the ECB were to provide a
lifeline to the country’s banks, some analysts
believe.
But it is also possible Frankfurt would decide it
could no longer accept Greek government bonds
as collateral. Without ECB liquidity – cut-off from
financial markets – Athens would have to print
drachmas to pay its bills.
The new currency would plunge in value against
the euro. That would trigger another wave of
defaults for businesses and citizens, unable to pay
outstanding debts in euros. Litigation, and even
deeper recession, would probably ensue.
Platon Monokroussos, research head at Eurobank
EFG, believes a Greek default might even cascade
into a full-]blown EU exit, because government
would probably try to impose capital controls,
close borders and take measures that violated EU
law.
Greece’s mainstream politicians appear aware of
this. Lucas Papademos, the prime minister,
warned MPs that the country faced “catastrophe”
if it did not approve a sweeping austerity package
tied to the loan.
Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of
Greeks determined to remain in the eurozone
despite enduring two years of austerity and
economic contraction.
However, there is a minority – particularly on the
far left – that wants out. Their chief argument,
endorsed by some well-known foreign
economists, is that a devalued drachma would
lower wages and instantly make Greece more
competitive.
They tend to point to Argentina, which broke its
peg with the dollar more than a decade ago,
defaulted on its foreign debt and has since fared
far better than many expected.
Yet that comparison overlooks the fact that the
Greek economy – unlike Argentina’s – boasts a
small production base and few exporters. Most of
its companies rely on imports, which would rocket
in cost. Sceptical, too, are ordinary citizens. “We
are not Argentina,” Mr. Stournaras said. “We are
not even self-sufficient in agriculture.”
(Adapted from: Financial Times http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/76d064c6-5992-11e1- 8d36]00144feabdc0.html#axzz1mlF7WlTl)


In paragraph 1 (lines 2-4), we are told that "around the corner from where protesters were hurling chunks of marble at riot police". It would be correct to say that

a) the protests in Athens were peaceful and non-violent.
b) the protesters took advantage of the situation to steal marble statues.
c) Riot Police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots.
d) the protesters made a circle and cornered the riot police.
e) the president of the Chamber of Commerce was safe, since his office was far away from the demonstrations.

A resposta correta é:

Arctic E&P activity heats up

By Jessica Tippee

Assistant Editor



Not Mexico, not Brazil. The next offshore frontier
is the Arctic, according to Andrew Reid, CEO of energy
analysts Douglas-Westwood Company. “More than
400 fields have been discovered to date in the Arctic,
providing reserves in excess of 240 Bboe (billions of
barrels of oil equivalent)” Reid said. He was a guest
speaker at a recent conference of the International
Association of Drilling Contractors ( IADC ), an agency
that has exclusively represented the worldwide oil and
gas drilling industry since 1940. Reid also affirmed
that “There is no doubt that further drilling activity in
this region could have a major impact on offshore
production in the foreseeable future.”

Meanwhile, Infield Systems Ltd. has identified
more than 130 Bboe in discovered oil, gas, and
condensate reserves throughout the offshore arctic
and sub-arctic regions. Around 114 Bboe are gas
reserves, and 16 Bbbl (billions of barrels) are oil.
Infield’s additional report on offshore arctic oil and gas
prospects through 2017 includes current and future
offshore oil and gas developments within the Arctic
Circle, and in the “sub-arctic” regions of Sakhalin
Island, the Jeanne d’Arc basin offshore eastern
Canada, and the Cook Inlet off Alaska.
Arctic capital expenditure should increase more
than $7 billion annually through 2017. Russia, with
its reserves, should largely drive this expenditure,
especially during 2013-2015, assuming the
Shtokman project goes ahead. This project includes
a comprehensive development of satellites in the
Barents Sea, and joint development of the
Prirazlomnoye and Dolginskoye oil fields in the
Pechora Sea.

Prirazlomnaya is the first offshore ice-resistant
stationary platform designed and built in Russia
measuring 126 m (413 ft) wide by 126 m long. With a
weight of 117,000 tons, the platform can accommodate
a crew of up to 200, and provide year-round operation.
The platform is designed to withstand temperatures
that can drop to -50º C (-58º F) during winter, and ice
formation – the location is typically free from ice for
110 days each year.

The platform will provide drilling, production, and oil
storage services, along with preparation and shipment
of final products from the Prirazlomnoye field. Gazprom
expects to drill up to 40 directional wells. Dutch
contractor Tideway has been dumping 100,000 metric
tons of stone (110,231 tons) as an erosion protection
system around the platform to secure it to the seabed.
The development is targeting annual production of
more than 6 million tons (43.8 MMbbl). Associated
produced gas will be used for the platform’s needs.
Production operations are scheduled to start this year.

Offshore Magazine. May 2, 2012 . Volume 72, Issue 5 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



According to Text, the platform will NOT provide

a) gas storage
b) oil drilling
c) transportation of final products
d) preparation of final products
e) up to 40 directional wells

A resposta correta é:

Parking in New York sends you to ecstasy or rips your
heart out. Which is to say, it’s a natural continuation of family life.
Most of the time it is joyous. Joy is an odd word to use in
connection with parking, but some of my happiest moments have
come in connection with finding a good parking space. Often
enough, though, it is terrible — so it feels like an even balance, and
for this reason, parking the car is always an occasion of great
suspense.

Take one recent evening, a Wednesday: we arrived in our
neighborhood at the end of an ambitious expedition, our bedtime
schedule long lost. There had been a truly fantastic sunset that we
witnessed coming down the Henry Hudson Parkway, but our
pleasure was diminished by the fact that the baby was asleep in the
car. It was after 8 P. M. He would need to be woken and bathed.
The only question was if Evangeline — five years old — might still
get to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour.

The answer lay with the fate of the parking.

We approached our block, our building. A tremor of hope
that a miracle would occur moved through my wife and me, battling
despair as the alternative scenario. I asked her the usual question,
like the riddle of the Sphinx: “Do you want to get out with the kids
or do you want to drive around with me looking for a spot?”

She doesn’t find this choice easy. I don’t blame her. In this
sense I have it easy — I will park the car. It is a necessity. She is an
excellent driver but this parking duty feels fatherly, hunter-gatherer,
stoic.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

The author mocks his wife"s driving skills.

A resposta correta é:

Internet Architects Warn of Risks in Ultrafast Networks


If nothing else, Arista Networks proves that two people can make more than $1 billion each building the Internet and still be worried about its reliability.
David Cheriton, a computer science professor at Stanford known for his skills in software design, and Andreas Bechtolsheim, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, have committed $100 million of their money, and spent half that, to shake up the business of connecting computers in the Internet"s big computing centers.
As the Arista founders say, the promise of having access to vast amounts of data instantly, anywhere, is matched by the threat of catastrophe. People are creating more data and moving it ever faster on computer networks. The fast networks allow people to pour much more of civilization online, including not just Facebook posts and every book ever written, but all music, live video calls, and most of the information technology behind modern business, into a worldwide "cloud" of data centers. The networks are designed so as to be always available, via phone, tablet, personal computer or an increasing array of connected devices.
Statistics dictate that the vastly greater number of transactions among computers in a world 100 times faster than today will lead to a greater number of unpredictable accidents, with less time in between them.
Mr. Bechtolsheim says that because of the Internet"s complexity, the global network is impossible to design without bugs. Very dangerous bugs, as he describes them, capable of halting commerce, destroying financial information or enabling hostile attacks by foreign powers.
More transactions also mean more system attacks. Even though he says there is no turning back on the online society, Mr. Cheriton worries most about security hazards. "I ...... the claim that the Chinese military can take it down in 30 seconds, no one can prove me wrong," he said.
The common connection among computer servers, one gigabit per second, is giving way to 10-gigabit connections, because of improvements in semiconductor design and software. Speeds of 40 gigabits, even 100 gigabits, are now used for specialty purposes like consolidating huge data streams among hundreds of thousands of computers across the globe, and that technology is headed into the mainstream. An engineering standard for a terabit per second, 1,000 gigabits, is expected in about seven years.


(Adapted from. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/)

For Mr. Bechtolsheim,

a) the global network should be periodically swept for bugs.
b) although bugs can cause serious problems, they are never dangerous enough to negatively affect commerce.
c) given the Internet"s complexity, dangerous bugs are unlikely to spread across the global network.
d) hostile attacks are not to be feared by internet users since foreign powers can be hired to prevent them.
e) one cannot ignore that the global network is vulnerable to bugs.

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

The novelty of fining students who play truant is shocking to most people in the USA.

A resposta correta é:

05/01/2012
Understand legal issues when using CBCT scans
by Stuart J. Oberman, USA

Dentists are legally and ethically obligated to do no harm to their patients. Improper diagnosis after using a CBCT (conebeam computed tomography) does not align with this standard because delay of diagnosis leads to delay of treatment. This is not in the best interest of the patient because it can lead to an inferior prognosis. Also, not every patient requires a CBCT scan; therefore, it is the dentist’s responsibility to determine whether a CBCT scan is necessary by using reasonable, careful judgment in light of the patient’s medical and dental history and thorough examination. The dentist should do a cost-benefit analysis before requesting a CBCT scan. When doing so, the dentist should consider whether the likely benefit to the patient exceeds the ionizing radiation risk and the financial cost.
Dentists’ scope of legal responsibility to diagnose
When using CBCT, as with other diagnostic tools, the dentist’s responsibility is not limited to the area of interest being diagnosed or treated. The treating dentist is legally responsible for diagnosing any disease that falls within the scope of the dentist’s license, which is normally broad in scope, encompassing all diseases and lesions of the jaw and related structures. As for a dentist’s responsibility for diagnosing a disease that falls outside the scope of the dentist’s license, the answer is not clear. Thus, it is always a good idea to be cautious and assume the responsibility to recognize any abnormality that appears anywhere on the CBCT scan. If adentist is unsure of thescan results, he or she should consult with specialists in the field or refer thepatient to aspecialist.



A tradução adequada para delay, dentro do contexto, é

a) erro.
b) atraso.
c) exatidão.
d) previsão.
e) precariedade.

A resposta correta é:

Soda consumption increases risk of stroke

and vascular disease

By John Phillip



Americans drink more than 216 liters of carbonated
soft drinks each year, a number that continues to
increase at an alarming rate. Many people use lowcalorie
diet soda in a futile effort to lose weight. Yet
they find that these drinks have the opposite effect
leading them to be overweight or obese.

The high acid content in most carbonated
beverages removes calcium and other critical nutrients
from the bone and tissues, significantly increasing
disease risk over years of consumption.

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness
Institute and Harvard University have reported the
result of a study in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, the first to examine soda’s effect on stroke
risk and vascular diseases.

Past studies have linked sugar-sweetened
beverage consumption with weight gain, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gout and
coronary artery disease, but current research has
implicated diet soft drink consumption with increased
disease risk and weight gain due to depletion of
essential minerals.

Lead study author Dr Adam Bernstein noted
“Soda remains the largest source of added sugar in
the diet. What we’re beginning to understand is that
regular intake of these beverages sets off a chain
reaction in the body that can potentially lead to many
diseases, including stroke. Researchers analyzed
soda consumption among 43,371 men and 84,085
women over a time span of nearly thirty years. During
that time, 2,938 strokes were documented in women
while 1,416 strokes were documented in men.”

Despite the millions of dollars spent by soda
marketers to instill the virtues of drinking soda,
there is nothing healthy about consuming any type
of carbonated beverage. Moreover, the study did
note that drinking coffee was associated with a 10%
lower risk of stroke, compared to drinking sweetened
beverages.
Regarding low calorie drinks, researchers
concluded “older adults who drank diet soda daily
had a 43% increased risk of heart attacks or strokes
compared to those that never drank diet soda”.

The suggestion is to substitute carbonated
beverage consumption with an antioxidant packed
cup of green tea or coffee to significantly reduce risk
of strokes and vascular diseases.

Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections Magazine. May 12, 2012 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



According to Text, a detrimental habit among Americans is a(n)

a) decreasing number of people taking calcium supplements.
b) decreasing amount of high acid nutrients in the daily diet.
c) decreasing amount of overweight and obese people looking for medical assistance.
d) increasing intake of soda each year.
e) increasing number of people on a low calorie diet .

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Nowadays in LA students may be fined if they skip classes more than twice.

A resposta correta é:

Athens rehearses the nightmare of default

By Joshua Chaffin in Athens


Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens
chamber of commerce, sat in his office – around
the corner from where protesters were hurling
chunks of marble at riot police – and
contemplated what was once unthinkable: that
Greece would default on its debt and then be
forced into a messy exit from the euro.
“All hell would break loose,” Mr Michalos said,
sketching a society that would quickly run short of
fuel, food, medicine and necessities. “You would
have social upheaval.”
Since the crisis began, it has been widely held that
a default would prove disastrous not only for
Greece but also for the entire European Union,
and that it was to be avoided at all costs.
That assumption is being questioned as never
before. Some officials argue that the blowback
from a Greek default might not be so debilitating,
after all.
“I am not advocating a Greek default, hard or soft
– but I’m not excluding the possibility of it if the
Greeks don’t get their acts together, Europe is
prepared... I think we’ve taken the necessary
measures.” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Europe
minister, told the Financial Times.
That view is by no means unanimous among
Greece’s creditors. François Fillon, French prime
minister, on Friday had a stinging rebuke for those
who would consider it. “To put in play the default
of Greece is completely irresponsible,” he told
broadcaster RTL.
Stéphane Deo, European economist at UBS,
warned that a Greek default could wreak havoc
across the continent, including bank runs.
In rumour-prone Athens, business leaders,
politicians and economists are aghast at open
discussion of default. “It would be a nightmare,”
said Yannis Stournaras, head of the Foundation
for Economic and Industrial Research, an Athens
think-tank. “You would see serial defaults... Banks
would collapse completely. There would be no
banks.”
An important factor in any default would be the
reaction of the European Central Bank. It might be
possible to keep Greece in the eurozone and
contain the damage if the ECB were to provide a
lifeline to the country’s banks, some analysts
believe.
But it is also possible Frankfurt would decide it
could no longer accept Greek government bonds
as collateral. Without ECB liquidity – cut-off from
financial markets – Athens would have to print
drachmas to pay its bills.
The new currency would plunge in value against
the euro. That would trigger another wave of
defaults for businesses and citizens, unable to pay
outstanding debts in euros. Litigation, and even
deeper recession, would probably ensue.
Platon Monokroussos, research head at Eurobank
EFG, believes a Greek default might even cascade
into a full-]blown EU exit, because government
would probably try to impose capital controls,
close borders and take measures that violated EU
law.
Greece’s mainstream politicians appear aware of
this. Lucas Papademos, the prime minister,
warned MPs that the country faced “catastrophe”
if it did not approve a sweeping austerity package
tied to the loan.
Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of
Greeks determined to remain in the eurozone
despite enduring two years of austerity and
economic contraction.
However, there is a minority – particularly on the
far left – that wants out. Their chief argument,
endorsed by some well-known foreign
economists, is that a devalued drachma would
lower wages and instantly make Greece more
competitive.
They tend to point to Argentina, which broke its
peg with the dollar more than a decade ago,
defaulted on its foreign debt and has since fared
far better than many expected.
Yet that comparison overlooks the fact that the
Greek economy – unlike Argentina’s – boasts a
small production base and few exporters. Most of
its companies rely on imports, which would rocket
in cost. Sceptical, too, are ordinary citizens. “We
are not Argentina,” Mr. Stournaras said. “We are
not even self-sufficient in agriculture.”
(Adapted from: Financial Times http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/76d064c6-5992-11e1- 8d36]00144feabdc0.html#axzz1mlF7WlTl)


In paragraph 5 (lines 22-24), Alexander Stubb says that "Europe is prepared... I think we"ve taken the necessary measures."
The following utterances are appropriate to such a situation, EXCEPT

a) I believe we"ve taken the necessary steps.
b) I believe we"ve measured the problem.
c) I think we"ve done our homework.
d) We did everything we could.
e) We"ve taken the necessary actions.

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

The article admits there are two ways of dealing with the problem of truancy.

A resposta correta é: