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Sobre aspectos linguísticos | linguistic aspects em inglês
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Saint Patrick's Day, also known as The Feast of Saint Patrick, is a traditional holiday celebrated every year on March 17th, the day the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, died.
Patrick, who was born in the fourth century, lived in the British Isles, a land that had been invaded and conquered first by the Romans and then by Germanic tribes. At the age of 16, Patrick was captured and taken as a slave from the British Isles to what is now Ireland. He lived there for several years herding sheep. He was a religious boy, and he prayed that he would someday return to his homeland.
Legend has it that one night while he was praying, a voice told him to escape from the farm, and find a ship that was waiting for him in a harbor two hundred miles aways. Patrick got to the ship, sailed to Europe, and disembarked in what is now probably France. He ---1--- several of the ship's crew through a dangerous forest, praying all the time. Neither Patrick nor any member of his crew was captured. When some of the men were about to die of starvation, wild animals appeared to them to eat. Events such as these appeared to be miracles and gave rise to later legends surrounding Patrick.
Finally finding his way home, Patrick felt that he was called by God to perform an important mission. He believed it was his duty to go back to Ireland and convert the Celtic people to the Christian Religion.
Patrick arrived in England and became a missionary, traveling from village to village and talking about his faith. Once, several members of a tribe approached Patrick and told him that they found it difficult to understand and believe in the Holy Trinity. Patrick thought a moment, then stooped down and picked one of the plentiful shamrocks growing wild around Ireland. “Here are three leaves", he said, “yet it is one plant. Imagine the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as each of these leaves. Here they are, yet they are one plant." The tribesmen understood, because Patrick had used a familiar object to explain. From that time on, the shamrock has been a revered symbol of Ireland.
There are lots of stories about Patrick. One of them is about him forcing snakes out of the entire country of Ireland. Even though there are many different stories about how he accomplished such a task, it is probably not true. Patrick died on March 17th, and the Irish people set aside the day to mourn. He became the patron saint of Ireland. Mourning turned to commemorating him and celebrating his life.
Because of Saint Patrick, lots of cities around the world with a large population of Irish have parades. Green is one of the national colors of Ireland. Green stripes are painted on the streets where the parade will travel. People wear green shirts, ties, hair ribbons, and hats. There are even pubs which serve green beer on that day.
Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian holiday in the early seventeenth century. It is now observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Lutheran Church. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Not only that, but it also celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.
Source: adapted from http://www.inglesnapontadalingua.com.br/2014/03
“Disease and malnutrition are closely linked”.
What is hunger?
Acute hunger or starvation are often highlighted on TV screens: hungry mothers too weak to breastfeed their children in drought-hit Ethiopia, refugees in war-torn Syria queuing for food rations, helicopters airlifting high energy biscuits to earthquake victims in Haiti or Pakistan.
These situations are the result of high profile crises like war or natural disasters, which starve a population of food. Yet emergencies account for less than eight percent of hunger's victims.
Daily undernourishment is a less visible form of hunger – but it affects many more people, from the shanty towns of Jakarta in Indonesia and the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to the mountain villages of Bolivia and Nepal. In these places, hunger is much more than an empty stomach.
For weeks, even months, its victims must live on significantly less than the recommended 2,100 kilocalories that the average person needs to lead a healthy life.
The body compensates for the lack of energy by slowing down its physical and mental activities. A hungry mind cannot concentrate, a hungry body does not take initiative, a hungry child loses all desire to play and study.
Hunger also weakens the immune system. Deprived of the right nutrition, hungry children are especially vulnerable and become too weak to fight off disease and may die from common infections like measles and diarrhea. Each year, almost 7 million children die before reaching the age of five; malnutrition is a key factor in over a third of these deaths
(Source: Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, IGME, 2012 in http://www.wfp.org).
What causes hunger?
The world produces enough to feed the entire global population of 7 billion people. And yet, one person in eight on the planet goes to bed hungry each night. In some countries, one child in three is underweight. Why does hunger exist? There are many reasons for the presence of hunger in the world and they are often interconnected. Here are six that we think are important.
Poverty trap
People living in poverty cannot afford nutritious food for themselves and their families. This makes them weaker and less able to earn the money that would help them escape poverty and hunger. This is not just a day-to-day problem: when children are chronically malnourished, or ‘stunted’, it can affect their future income, condemning them to a life of poverty and hunger. In developing countries, farmers often cannot afford seeds, so they cannot plant the crops that would provide for their families. They may have to cultivate crops without the tools and fertilizers they need. Others have no land or water or education. In short, the poor are hungry and their hunger traps them in poverty.
Lack of investment in agriculture
Too many developing countries lack key agricultural infrastructure, such as enough roads, warehouses and irrigation. The results are high transport costs, lack of storage facilities and unreliable water supplies. All conspire to limit agricultural yields and access to food. Investments in improving land management, using water more efficiently and making more resistant seed types available can bring big improvements. Research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization shows that investment in agriculture is five times more effective in reducing poverty and hunger than investment in any other sector.
Climate and weather
Natural disasters such as floods, tropical storms and long periods of drought are on the increase – with calamitous consequences for the hungry poor in developing countries. Drought is one of the most common causes of food shortages in the world. In 2011, recurrent drought caused crop failures and heavy livestock losses in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. In 2012 there was a similar situation in the Sahel region of West Africa. In many countries, climate change is exacerbating already adverse natural conditions. Increasingly, the world’s fertile farmland is under threat from erosion, salination and desertification. Deforestation by human hands accelerates the erosion of land which could be used for growing food.
War and displacement
Across the globe, conflicts consistently disrupt farming and food production. Fighting also forces millions of people to flee their homes, leading to hunger emergencies as the displaced find themselves without the means to feed themselves. The conflict in Syria is a recent example. In war, food sometimes becomes a weapon. Soldiers will starve opponents into submission by seizing or destroying food and livestock and systematically wrecking local markets. Fields are often mined and water wells contaminated, forcing farmers to abandon their land. Ongoing conflict in Somalia and the has contributed significantly to the level of hunger in the two countries. By comparison, hunger is on the retreat in more peaceful parts of Africa such as Ghana and Rwanda.
Unstable markets
In recent years, the price of food products has been very unstable. Roller-coaster food prices make it difficult for the poorest people to access nutritious food consistently. The poor need access to adequate food all year round. Price spikes may temporarily put food out of reach, which can have lasting consequences for small children. When prices rise, consumers often shift to cheaper, less-nutritious foods, heightening the risks of micronutrient deficiencies and other forms of malnutrition.
Food wastage
One third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is never consumed. This food wastage represents a missed opportunity to improve global food security in a world where one in 8 is hungry. Producing this food also uses up precious natural resources that we need to feed the planet. Each year, food that is produced but not eaten guzzles up a volume of water equivalent to the annual flow of Russia’s Volga River. Producing this food also adds 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, with consequences for the climate and, ultimately, for food production.
text VI
This is the first chapter of the mythic Star Wars saga.
Set thirty years before the original Star Wars film, Episode I introduces young Anakin Skywalker, a boy with special powers, unaware that the journey he is beginning will transform him into the evil Darth Vader.
Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise old Jedi from the original series, is a determined young apprentice and Palpatine, well known as the evil Emperor, is an ambitious Senator in the Galactic Republic.
It is a time when the Jedi Knights are the guardians of peace in a turbulent galaxy and a young Queen fights to save her people. In the shadows an evil force is waiting for the right moment to strike.
(Reinildes Dias. Reading Critically in English, 3rd ed. UFMG 2002.)
1.Saga.
2.Unaware.
3.Strike.
4.Evil.
5.Wise.
6.Journey.
( ) Bad.
( ) Trip.
( ) Attack.
( ) Tale.
( ) Oblivious
( ) Prudent.
The correct sequence is
Introducing the perfect chemistry between a green technology and a blue world
There is a formula for a healthy new world. That's why Braskem invested millions in
research to become the first company in the world to use Brazilian sugar cane as a natural
plastic source, collaborating with the reduction of the GHG emissions. Its commitment to
a sustainable development resulted in a benchmark eco-efficient process that estimulates
the markets in which Braskem operates and generates new opportunities.
The world dreamed. Braskem made it happen.
(Newsweek/Issues 2012, Special Edition, cover. Adaptado.)
Considering all the pronouns shown in the comic strip, we could say that:
Self-repairing software tackles malware
University of Utah computer scientists have developed software that not only detects and eradicates never-before-seen viruses and other malware, but also automatically repairs damage caused by them. The software then prevents the invader from ever infecting the computer
again.
A3 is a software suite that works with a virtual machine - a virtual computer that emulates the operations of a computer without dedicated hardware. The A3 software is designed to watch over the virtual machine's operating system and applications, says Eric Eide, University of Utah research assistant professor of computer science leading the university's A3 team with U computer science associate professor John Regehr. A3 is designed to protect servers or similar business-grade computers that run on the Linux operating system. It also has been demonstrated to protect military applications.
The new software called A3, or Advanced Adaptive Applications, was co-developed by Massachusetts-based defense contractor, Raytheon BBN. The four-year project was completed in late September.
There are no plans to adapt A3 for home computers or laptops, but Eide says this could be possible in the future.
"A3 technologies could find their way into consumer products someday, which would help consumer devices protect themselves against fast-spreading malware or internal corruption of software components. But we haven't tried those experiments yet," he says.
Unlike a normal virus scanner on consumer PCs that compares a catalog of known viruses to something that has infected the computer, A3 can detect new, unknown viruses or malware automatically by sensing that something is occurring in the computer's operation that is not correct. It then can stop the virus, approximate a repair for the damaged software code, and then learn to never let that bug enter the machine gain.
While the military has an interest in A3 to enhance cybersecurity for its mission-critical systems, A3 also potentially could be used in the consumer space, such as in web services like Amazon. If a virus or attack stops the service, A3 could repair it in minutes without having to take the servers down.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
"[...]computer scientists have developed software that not only detects and eradicates never-before-seen viruses and other malware, but also automatically repairs damage caused by them".
The words underlined express a meaning of:
“The theme of this short story make us see the beauty in another vision.” (source: a real student’s essay)
The sentence should be rewritten as the following alternative:
“It begins with the Giant coming back to his garden after a seven-year trip. When arriving they see that children play in his garden." (source: a real student's essay)
The mistake that directly affects the cohesion of the extract is the/a:
“There is a way of proceeding in conceptual matters whose method is to define away any inconvenient difficulty." (Biber et al, 1999, p. 617)
The alternative with the correct answer and comment is: