Questões de Concurso Sobre interpretação de texto | reading comprehension em inglês

      It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school certainly is.

      Back in 2013, Hobletts Manor Junior School in Hemel Hempstead received its Oftsed report. Though it was very good, the report suggested the school could be outstanding if its pupils were able to use their ICT skills in more subjects. At the time, the school had a similar IT setup to most other UK primary schools: one ICT suite with limited pupil access. This, says head teacher Sally Short, made it difficult to embed technology across the curriculum in the ways they would like. But with the help of the school’s ICT coordinator and year 4 teacher Alice Baker, the local authority and PC World Business, Mrs Short came up with a shortlist of requirements to bring the school and its teaching style properly into the digital age.

      From ordering to installation, the process took just four weeks and at the end of it the school had a whole host of innovative tech, including an interactive 70inch Smart table, which works like a giant iPad. Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an amazing impact.” The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the kit sometimes.” It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re just checking their answers on them.”

      The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity. Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens. At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden. The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons. “Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology,” says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed that the technology has helped them learn.”

                                                                      (Available in: www.telegraph.co.uk. Adapted.) 

      It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school certainly is.

      Back in 2013, Hobletts Manor Junior School in Hemel Hempstead received its Oftsed report. Though it was very good, the report suggested the school could be outstanding if its pupils were able to use their ICT skills in more subjects. At the time, the school had a similar IT setup to most other UK primary schools: one ICT suite with limited pupil access. This, says head teacher Sally Short, made it difficult to embed technology across the curriculum in the ways they would like. But with the help of the school’s ICT coordinator and year 4 teacher Alice Baker, the local authority and PC World Business, Mrs Short came up with a shortlist of requirements to bring the school and its teaching style properly into the digital age.

      From ordering to installation, the process took just four weeks and at the end of it the school had a whole host of innovative tech, including an interactive 70inch Smart table, which works like a giant iPad. Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an amazing impact.” The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the kit sometimes.” It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re just checking their answers on them.”

      The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity. Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens. At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden. The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons. “Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology,” says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed that the technology has helped them learn.”

                                                                      (Available in: www.telegraph.co.uk. Adapted.) 

      It’s been a long time since attending school consisted of hauling in a large pile of books and sitting still looking at the teacher all day. Students these days are online, connected and digitally savvy. But are we making the most of this? One Hertfordshire school certainly is.

      Back in 2013, Hobletts Manor Junior School in Hemel Hempstead received its Oftsed report. Though it was very good, the report suggested the school could be outstanding if its pupils were able to use their ICT skills in more subjects. At the time, the school had a similar IT setup to most other UK primary schools: one ICT suite with limited pupil access. This, says head teacher Sally Short, made it difficult to embed technology across the curriculum in the ways they would like. But with the help of the school’s ICT coordinator and year 4 teacher Alice Baker, the local authority and PC World Business, Mrs Short came up with a shortlist of requirements to bring the school and its teaching style properly into the digital age.

      From ordering to installation, the process took just four weeks and at the end of it the school had a whole host of innovative tech, including an interactive 70inch Smart table, which works like a giant iPad. Miss Baker devised an interactive activity about the Egyptians and, she says, things like this have made a huge difference to learning. Because more than one person can interact with the Smart table, Mrs Short says her own teaching style has changed: “Before, lessons were purely teacher-led. It’s opening doors we didn’t even know existed and having an amazing impact.” The students were also each given their own Windows 8-enabled tablet; one child was so excited about this that he even burst into tears. The digital natives needed just one session to experiment and they were off. Miss Baker laughs: “They even teach me how to use the kit sometimes.” It might seem as though increased technology decreases concentration but, says Miss Baker, “Pupils are so much more engaged when they’re using the tablets, even if they’re just checking their answers on them.”

      The tech has also allowed the children to be more independent in their learning, but there are security measures in place to ensure Miss Baker has control over content and activity. Miss Baker has Acer Class Management software installed on her tablet. This allows her to see what all the students are doing on their tablets, and also enables her to share slideshows and websites. Handily, she can even lock their screens. At the same time, the entire school network has been upgraded. Pupils and teachers can now access a Wi-Fi connection in the outdoor learning area and there are plans afoot to allow them to use their tech in the nearby woodland and garden. The school is carefully monitoring the impact of the new technology, and has been making careful comparisons on the students’ progress. The teachers hope, too, that the tech will have a positive impact on attendance as students become increasingly engaged in lessons. “Following the installation, we surveyed pupils to gauge their perceptions on technology,” says Miss Baker, “Pupils who have been able to take advantage of the tools provided by PC World Business said that they felt technology was really important and that they will use it when they grow up. Perhaps most importantly, all the students in the class agreed that the technology has helped them learn.”

                                                                      (Available in: www.telegraph.co.uk. Adapted.) 

Refugee judokas searching for peace while fighting for their Olympic dream in Rio 

        More than two and a half years after they came to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the World Judo Championships, two refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still here, in pursuit of an extraordinary Olympic dream. When teams from more than 200 countries march into the Maracanã Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Games on 5 August, Popole Misenga and Yolanda Mabika intend to be among them, walking behind the Olympic flag. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will mount a unique team of refugee athletes which will compete in Rio. It has been a long journey from central Africa and from a war that has claimed an estimated 5.4 million lives. Mabika, now 28, cannot hold back the tears when she remembers the brothers and sisters she has not seen since 1998, when she was evacuated from her home town to the country’s capital, Kinshasa. It was there, as a child, that she first took up judo. Misenga’s mother was murdered when he was just six years old. The young child wandered for days in the Congolese rainforest before he too was rescued and taken to Kinshasa. Like his compatriot, he soon took to judo, a sport which the Congolese government saw as an ideal way of giving some structure to the lives of the country’s countless orphans. In 2010, Misenga won a bronze medal at the under-20 African Judo Championship. But Misenga and Mabika said training conditions were excessively rigorous, with losing judokas beaten and locked in cells. At the 2013 World Judo Championship, Misenga took the opportunity to begin a better life. After escaping from the team hotel, a couple of days later Misenga found himself in the favela community of Cinco Bocas in northern Rio, home to most of the city’s Congolese community of some 900 people. He sent Mabika a message and she also decided to stay. Life in northern Rio has not always been easy for the judokas. It has been a story of odd jobs and informal employment.The two athletes are now training three times a week at the Instituto Reação. The learning curve has been steep. Geraldo Bernardes, the veteran coach of the Brazilian team in four Olympic Games, says that Misenga and Mabika were initially far too aggressive in training. “They were used to being punished and mistreated when they lost,” Geraldo explains. “I had to tell them that training and fighting are different things.”

        Misenga told rio2016.com that he had adjusted to his new surrounds: “I have learnt a lot on the technical side. I can feel in my body that I have learnt what was missing before in my judo.” Their coach says the two judokas are rough diamonds and are still making up for the lost time in their training. Brazil has a strong tradition in the sport and both athletes are hoping that by refining their skills in the country they will make the cut when the IOC decides which athletes (from a shortlist of 43) will form part of Team Refugee in June. In the meantime, both Misenga and Mabika are enjoying their new lives in Rio. The Instituto Reação and the local Estácio de Sá university have given them the opportunity to learn Portuguese, maths and other subjects. Neither of the two judokas has any plan to leave the new home town that has given them so much.

(Available in: http://www.rio2016.com. Adapted.)

Refugee judokas searching for peace while fighting for their Olympic dream in Rio 

        More than two and a half years after they came to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the World Judo Championships, two refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still here, in pursuit of an extraordinary Olympic dream. When teams from more than 200 countries march into the Maracanã Stadium for the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Games on 5 August, Popole Misenga and Yolanda Mabika intend to be among them, walking behind the Olympic flag. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will mount a unique team of refugee athletes which will compete in Rio. It has been a long journey from central Africa and from a war that has claimed an estimated 5.4 million lives. Mabika, now 28, cannot hold back the tears when she remembers the brothers and sisters she has not seen since 1998, when she was evacuated from her home town to the country’s capital, Kinshasa. It was there, as a child, that she first took up judo. Misenga’s mother was murdered when he was just six years old. The young child wandered for days in the Congolese rainforest before he too was rescued and taken to Kinshasa. Like his compatriot, he soon took to judo, a sport which the Congolese government saw as an ideal way of giving some structure to the lives of the country’s countless orphans. In 2010, Misenga won a bronze medal at the under-20 African Judo Championship. But Misenga and Mabika said training conditions were excessively rigorous, with losing judokas beaten and locked in cells. At the 2013 World Judo Championship, Misenga took the opportunity to begin a better life. After escaping from the team hotel, a couple of days later Misenga found himself in the favela community of Cinco Bocas in northern Rio, home to most of the city’s Congolese community of some 900 people. He sent Mabika a message and she also decided to stay. Life in northern Rio has not always been easy for the judokas. It has been a story of odd jobs and informal employment.The two athletes are now training three times a week at the Instituto Reação. The learning curve has been steep. Geraldo Bernardes, the veteran coach of the Brazilian team in four Olympic Games, says that Misenga and Mabika were initially far too aggressive in training. “They were used to being punished and mistreated when they lost,” Geraldo explains. “I had to tell them that training and fighting are different things.”

        Misenga told rio2016.com that he had adjusted to his new surrounds: “I have learnt a lot on the technical side. I can feel in my body that I have learnt what was missing before in my judo.” Their coach says the two judokas are rough diamonds and are still making up for the lost time in their training. Brazil has a strong tradition in the sport and both athletes are hoping that by refining their skills in the country they will make the cut when the IOC decides which athletes (from a shortlist of 43) will form part of Team Refugee in June. In the meantime, both Misenga and Mabika are enjoying their new lives in Rio. The Instituto Reação and the local Estácio de Sá university have given them the opportunity to learn Portuguese, maths and other subjects. Neither of the two judokas has any plan to leave the new home town that has given them so much.

(Available in: http://www.rio2016.com. Adapted.)