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

Read the text below entitled “Brazil's big challenge ahead of Rio 2016” so as to answer question:

Brazil´s big challenge ahead of Rio 2016

Source: www.guardian.com.uk (Adapted)

Aug 26th, 2012

    Many Brazilians watched the closing ceremony of the London Olympics with trepidation. “Do you think we will be able to manage anything more than a couple of carnival fl oats, some football and traffi c jams?” mused one of my friends.

    It is a few years since I have heard such expressions of national self-doubt. When I fi rst arrived in Brazil, almost 10 years ago, the country had just elected its fi rst leftwing president, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. Both the currency and stock exchange were in freefall as investors took fright.

    Lula's fi rst term in offi ce combined cautious economic orthodoxy and some critical social reforms. The minimum wage was raised signifi cantly and an innovative cash transfer called Bolsa Família introduced for poor families. A start was also made in reforming the Brazilian justice system. At the same time the government kept an eye on public spending, ran a primary budget surplus and began to reduce the national debt.

    These days the scenario has been changing. Economic growth stalled last year, choked by a hugely overvalued currency. This year looks even worse, as export demand has been hit by the global recession. While the government's success in reducing its still astronomically high inequality was a spur to domestic demand, economic growth was underpinned by the export of primary commodities such as soya, coffee and iron ore.

Read the text below entitled “Brazil's big challenge ahead of Rio 2016” so as to answer question:

Brazil´s big challenge ahead of Rio 2016

Source: www.guardian.com.uk (Adapted)

Aug 26th, 2012

    Many Brazilians watched the closing ceremony of the London Olympics with trepidation. “Do you think we will be able to manage anything more than a couple of carnival fl oats, some football and traffi c jams?” mused one of my friends.

    It is a few years since I have heard such expressions of national self-doubt. When I fi rst arrived in Brazil, almost 10 years ago, the country had just elected its fi rst leftwing president, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. Both the currency and stock exchange were in freefall as investors took fright.

    Lula's fi rst term in offi ce combined cautious economic orthodoxy and some critical social reforms. The minimum wage was raised signifi cantly and an innovative cash transfer called Bolsa Família introduced for poor families. A start was also made in reforming the Brazilian justice system. At the same time the government kept an eye on public spending, ran a primary budget surplus and began to reduce the national debt.

    These days the scenario has been changing. Economic growth stalled last year, choked by a hugely overvalued currency. This year looks even worse, as export demand has been hit by the global recession. While the government's success in reducing its still astronomically high inequality was a spur to domestic demand, economic growth was underpinned by the export of primary commodities such as soya, coffee and iron ore.

Read the text below entitled “Facing headwinds, Dilma changes course” so as to answer question:

Facing headwinds, Dilma changes course

Source: www.economist.com (Adapted)

Aug 18th, 2012 

    The government announces plans to privatise infrastructure, and disappoints striking bureaucrats. In recent years Brazil's government has been able to avoid tough spending choices. Faster economic growth and falling tax evasion have translated into steadily rising revenues, allowing the federal government to hire more workers and pay them more, as well as to boost pensions and social transfers. But the fat times are over. In 2011 economic growth was only 2.7%; this year 2% looks optimistic. Tax revenues are rising only a little faster than infl ation. The government can no longer satisfy everyone.

The noisiest demands come from public-sector workers. Teachers at federal universities have been on strike for three months; they have recently been joined by federal police, tax offi cials and staff at some regulatory agencies. The strikers'demands would swell the government's salary bill by up to 50%; infl ation is running at 5.2%.

Atenção: Para responder à questão, considere o texto abaixo.

    The sole proprietor of a plumbing shop was sentenced to 13 months in prison, three years of supervised release for tax evasion and ordered to pay approximately $130,000 in restitution to the IRS. The business owner willfully attempted to evade paying his federal income taxes by skimming gross receipts of his plumbing business and paying personal expenses from his business accounts and claiming them as business expenses.

    As part of his tax evasion scheme, he instructed several of his employees to solicit checks from clients payable in his name, rather than in the name of the business. He then cashed these checks and did not deposit the monies into his business’ bank account. Since this money was not recorded on the books of the business, nor deposited into the business’ account, he did not include these gross receipts on his income tax return. He also deducted personal expenses as business expenses thereby substantially reducing his tax for tax years 2003 through 2006.

(Adapted from http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/tax-info/fed-taxes/tax-avoidance-and-tax-evasion.aspx)

Atenção: Para responder à questão, considere o texto abaixo.

    In the United States of America, an income tax audit is the examination of a business or individual tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state tax authority. The IRS and various state revenue departments use the terms audit, examination, review, and notice to describe various aspects of enforcement and administration of the tax laws.

    The purpose of a tax audit or a return examination is to determine  reports filed with the taxing authorities are correct. The tax agencies identify and resolve taxpayer errors.

    There are several different methods used to select individuals and businesses for examination.

    Employers and financial institutions, among other organizations, are required by law to send documentation (W-2's and 1099's, for example) to the IRS. The IRS uses software to ensure that the numbers on a tax return match the numbers the IRS receives from third parties. If the documentation does not match, the return may be examined.

    When a tax return is filed, the IRS uses computer software called the Discriminant Index Function System (DIF) to analyze the return for oddities and discrepancies. Once the return has been processed through DIF, it is given a score. If the DIF score is high enough (i.e. a large amount of oddities or discrepancies are found), that tax return may be selected for examination. The formulas the IRS use to create the DIF software and analysis are a closely guarded secret.

    Filed tax returns are also subjected to an evaluation called the UIDIF, or the Unreported Income Discriminant Function System. This evaluation involves the analysis of tax returns based on a series of factors to determine a tax return's potential for unreported income. Returns that are found to have a high UIDIF score (i.e. the likelihood of unreported income) and a high DIF score may be selected for examination. The IRS formulas used to calculate UDIF are secret, but it is commonly thought that the IRS uses statistical comparisons between returns to determine UIDIF potential.

    The IRS selects a certain amount of income tax returns to be audited each year through random selection. No errors need to be found for the Enforcement branch to examine a tax return. Random selection exams tend to be more extensive and time-consuming than other forms of review.

    The practice of random selection has been a source of controversy for many years. The practice was suspended for a short time in the early 2000s amid criticism that the audits were too burdensome and intrusive. The IRS revived the practice in the fall of 2006.

(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_audit)

Atenção: Para responder à questão, considere o texto abaixo.

    In the United States of America, an income tax audit is the examination of a business or individual tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state tax authority. The IRS and various state revenue departments use the terms audit, examination, review, and notice to describe various aspects of enforcement and administration of the tax laws.

    The purpose of a tax audit or a return examination is to determine  reports filed with the taxing authorities are correct. The tax agencies identify and resolve taxpayer errors.

    There are several different methods used to select individuals and businesses for examination.

    Employers and financial institutions, among other organizations, are required by law to send documentation (W-2's and 1099's, for example) to the IRS. The IRS uses software to ensure that the numbers on a tax return match the numbers the IRS receives from third parties. If the documentation does not match, the return may be examined.

    When a tax return is filed, the IRS uses computer software called the Discriminant Index Function System (DIF) to analyze the return for oddities and discrepancies. Once the return has been processed through DIF, it is given a score. If the DIF score is high enough (i.e. a large amount of oddities or discrepancies are found), that tax return may be selected for examination. The formulas the IRS use to create the DIF software and analysis are a closely guarded secret.

    Filed tax returns are also subjected to an evaluation called the UIDIF, or the Unreported Income Discriminant Function System. This evaluation involves the analysis of tax returns based on a series of factors to determine a tax return's potential for unreported income. Returns that are found to have a high UIDIF score (i.e. the likelihood of unreported income) and a high DIF score may be selected for examination. The IRS formulas used to calculate UDIF are secret, but it is commonly thought that the IRS uses statistical comparisons between returns to determine UIDIF potential.

    The IRS selects a certain amount of income tax returns to be audited each year through random selection. No errors need to be found for the Enforcement branch to examine a tax return. Random selection exams tend to be more extensive and time-consuming than other forms of review.

    The practice of random selection has been a source of controversy for many years. The practice was suspended for a short time in the early 2000s amid criticism that the audits were too burdensome and intrusive. The IRS revived the practice in the fall of 2006.

(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_audit)

Atenção: Para responder à questão, considere o texto abaixo.

    In the United States of America, an income tax audit is the examination of a business or individual tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state tax authority. The IRS and various state revenue departments use the terms audit, examination, review, and notice to describe various aspects of enforcement and administration of the tax laws.

    The purpose of a tax audit or a return examination is to determine  reports filed with the taxing authorities are correct. The tax agencies identify and resolve taxpayer errors.

    There are several different methods used to select individuals and businesses for examination.

    Employers and financial institutions, among other organizations, are required by law to send documentation (W-2's and 1099's, for example) to the IRS. The IRS uses software to ensure that the numbers on a tax return match the numbers the IRS receives from third parties. If the documentation does not match, the return may be examined.

    When a tax return is filed, the IRS uses computer software called the Discriminant Index Function System (DIF) to analyze the return for oddities and discrepancies. Once the return has been processed through DIF, it is given a score. If the DIF score is high enough (i.e. a large amount of oddities or discrepancies are found), that tax return may be selected for examination. The formulas the IRS use to create the DIF software and analysis are a closely guarded secret.

    Filed tax returns are also subjected to an evaluation called the UIDIF, or the Unreported Income Discriminant Function System. This evaluation involves the analysis of tax returns based on a series of factors to determine a tax return's potential for unreported income. Returns that are found to have a high UIDIF score (i.e. the likelihood of unreported income) and a high DIF score may be selected for examination. The IRS formulas used to calculate UDIF are secret, but it is commonly thought that the IRS uses statistical comparisons between returns to determine UIDIF potential.

    The IRS selects a certain amount of income tax returns to be audited each year through random selection. No errors need to be found for the Enforcement branch to examine a tax return. Random selection exams tend to be more extensive and time-consuming than other forms of review.

    The practice of random selection has been a source of controversy for many years. The practice was suspended for a short time in the early 2000s amid criticism that the audits were too burdensome and intrusive. The IRS revived the practice in the fall of 2006.

(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_audit)

Reality Television

    Reality television is a genre of television programming which, it is claimed, presents unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people rather than professional actors. It could be described as a form of artificial or "heightened" documentary. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000.

    Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning programmes produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism- focused productions such as Big Brother.

    Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer and that such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.

    Part of reality television's appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary situations. For example, on the ABC show, The Bachelor, an eligible male dates a dozen women simultaneously, travelling on extraordinary dates to scenic locales. Reality television also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, outwardly in talent and performance programs such as Pop Idol, though frequently Survivor and Big Brother participants also reach some degree of celebrity.

    Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description for several styles of program included in the genre. In competition-based programs such as Big Brother and Survivor, and other special-living-environment shows like The Real World, the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out. Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviours and conflicts. Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word "reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It really is unscripted drama."

Reality Television

    Reality television is a genre of television programming which, it is claimed, presents unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people rather than professional actors. It could be described as a form of artificial or "heightened" documentary. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000.

    Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning programmes produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism- focused productions such as Big Brother.

    Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer and that such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.

    Part of reality television's appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary situations. For example, on the ABC show, The Bachelor, an eligible male dates a dozen women simultaneously, travelling on extraordinary dates to scenic locales. Reality television also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, outwardly in talent and performance programs such as Pop Idol, though frequently Survivor and Big Brother participants also reach some degree of celebrity.

    Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description for several styles of program included in the genre. In competition-based programs such as Big Brother and Survivor, and other special-living-environment shows like The Real World, the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out. Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviours and conflicts. Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word "reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It really is unscripted drama."

Reality Television

    Reality television is a genre of television programming which, it is claimed, presents unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people rather than professional actors. It could be described as a form of artificial or "heightened" documentary. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the current explosion of popularity dates from around 2000.

    Reality television covers a wide range of television programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning programmes produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism- focused productions such as Big Brother.

    Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer and that such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.

    Part of reality television's appeal is due to its ability to place ordinary people in extraordinary situations. For example, on the ABC show, The Bachelor, an eligible male dates a dozen women simultaneously, travelling on extraordinary dates to scenic locales. Reality television also has the potential to turn its participants into national celebrities, outwardly in talent and performance programs such as Pop Idol, though frequently Survivor and Big Brother participants also reach some degree of celebrity.

    Some commentators have said that the name "reality television" is an inaccurate description for several styles of program included in the genre. In competition-based programs such as Big Brother and Survivor, and other special-living-environment shows like The Real World, the producers design the format of the show and control the day-to-day activities and the environment, creating a completely fabricated world in which the competition plays out. Producers specifically select the participants, and use carefully designed scenarios, challenges, events, and settings to encourage particular behaviours and conflicts. Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and other reality shows, has agreed with this assessment, and avoids the word "reality" to describe his shows; he has said, "I tell good stories. It really is not reality TV. It really is unscripted drama."