Questões de Concurso Comentadas sobre palavras conectivas | connective words em inglês

Available at:<https://www.ua-magazine.com/2021/05/12/robots-the--next-generation-of-soccer-players>. Retrieved on: July 4th, 2021.

Adapted.

QUESTION

Technological change – from consumers to producers

Chris Pim

   Over the last 20 years, there has been a tremendous shift in the way that users integrate technology into their personal lives. These changes have taken time to filter down into the educational sector, but slowly teachers have realised the need to adapt their practice in order to reflect the changing nature of technological use in the wider world.

   In the past, technology has predominately been used to source and consume information, whereas today‟s learners have become particularly adept at creating and collaboratively developing content for a wide variety of purposes, for example so-called Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, forums and wikis. Moreover, children and young people are now becoming increasingly interested in the concept of „content curation‟ –selecting, sifting, showcasing and sharing content with friends, family and peers.

   The change from a „read Web‟ to a „read/write Web‟ has encouraged teachers to become increasingly inventive in their approach to engaging technologically savvy learners who want to publish their work within an ever expanding arena.

(…)

PIM, Chris. Emerging Technologies, emerging minds: digital innovations within the primary sector. In MOTTERAM, Gary (Ed.) Innovations in learning technologies for English language teaching. London: British Council, 2013. 

The Operations Function

Although somewhat ‘invisible’ to the marketplace the operations function in a typical company accounts for well over half the employment and well over half the physical assets. That, in itself, makes the operations function important. In a company’s organization chart, operations often enjoys parity with the other major business functions: marketing, sales, product engineering, finance control (accounting), and human resources (personnel, labor relations). Sometimes, the operations function is organized as a single entity which stretches out across the entire company, but more often it is embedded in the district, typically product-defined divisions into which most major companies are organized.

In many service businesses, the operations function is typically more visible. Service businesses are often organized into many branches, often with geographic responsibilities – field offices, retail outlets. In such tiers of the organization, operations are paramount.

The operations function itself is, often divided 

.................two major groupings .................tasks:

line management and support services. Line management generally refers.................those managers directly concerned................the manufacture of the product or the delivery of the service. They are the ones who are typically close enough to the product or service that they can ‘touch’ it. Line management supervises the hourly, blue-collar workforce. In a manufacturing company, line management frequently extends to the stockroom (where material, parts, and semi-finished products – termed ‘work-in-process inventory – are stored), materials handling, the tool room, maintenance, the warehouse (where finished goods are stored), and distribution, as well as the so-called ‘factory floor’. In a service operation, what is considered line management can broaden considerably. Often, order-taking roles, in addition to orderfilling roles, are supervised by service line managers.

Support services for line management’s operations can be numerous. Within a manufacturing environment, support services carry titles such as quality control, production planning and scheduling, purchasing, inventory control, production control (which determines the status of jobs in the factory and what to do about jobs that may have fallen behind schedule), industrial engineering (which is work methods oriented), manufacturing engineering (which is hardware-oriented), on-going product engineering, and field service. In a service environment, some of the same roles are played but sometimes under vastly different names.

Thus, the managers for whom operational issues are central can hold a variety of titles. In manufacturing, the titles can range from vice-president – manufacturing, works manager, plant manager, and similar titles at the top of the hierarchy, through such titles as manufacturing or production manager, general superintendent, department manager, materials manager, director of quality control, and down to general foreman or foreman. Within service businesses, ‘operations manager’ is sometimes used but frequently the title is more general – business manager, branch manager, retail manager, and so on.

SCHMENNER, Roger W. Production/Operations Management. 5th Edition. Prentice-Hall, 1993.

The Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power

Since the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011, a debate has been raging (1) the future of atomic energy. Consequently, the safety risks have been well publicized in the global media. But do the risks outweigh the damage that could be done to the planet because of our ongoing addiction to fossil fuels?

Even environmentalists don’t have the answer. They are split over nuclear (2) , and its pros and cons. Some say it is neither safe nor economical because it produces potentially (3) radioactive waste, and reactors are so costly to build. However, others believe nuclear energy is a necessary evil. They say we should continue using it until (4) energy sources, like wind turbines and solar panels, can meet global demand. Supporters also argue that nuclear energy helps cut down on carbon emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, which are linked to global warming and pollute the environment. They say this is because nuclear reactors produce a tiny fraction of the carbon dioxide generated by burning coal.

But perhaps the biggest hurdle for atomic energy to overcome is its image problem. Despite industry claims of a strong safety record, critics remain unconvinced because each reactor annually produces up to 30 tons of nuclear waste, which can continue to be radioactive and hazardous for thousands of years. Furthermore, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 left the public with vivid images of the impact of a nuclear meltdown, including deformed babies, mutated vegetables, and abandoned towns.

While nuclear reactors may continue to be installed in some countries for decades to come, after Fukushima others have decided to rethink their energy policies. For example, the German government has revealed plans for a “green” renewable energy plan, even though it has relied on nuclear power for up to 23 percent of its consumption in the past. It has been announced that all seventeen nuclear power plants would be phased out by 2022. The policy will also promote energy-saving measures encouraging people to insulate their homes, recycle, and reduce waste. Experts argue it could be a risky strategy because Germany doesn’t have natural gas or oil supplies, and coal supplies have been depleted.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, there is just one nuclear plant at Angra dos Reis. Nuclear power represents only three per cent of Brazil’s energy production. After sharp oil price rises in the 1970s, the country’s leaders anticipated future energy supply problems. So they concentrated on developing alternative energy sources including biofuel, hydroelectric schemes, and wind power. 

This approach seems to be working because by May 2012 plans to build more nuclear reactors were shelved by Brazilian officials. The move was welcomed by environmental lobby groups, which had feared a potential ecological catastrophe in case of an accident. If a big country like Brazil, which is the tenth largest energy consumer in the world, can survive and improve its economy without much nuclear power, maybe others can do so, too.

A Brief and Simplified Description of Papermaking

The paper we use today is created from individual wood fibers that are first suspended in water and then pressed and dried into sheets. The process of converting the wood to a suspension of wood fibers in water is known as pulp making, while the manufacture of the dried and pressed sheets of paper is formally termed papermaking. The process of making paper has undergone a steady evolution, and larger and more sophisticated equipment and better technology continue to improve it.

The Wood yard and Wood rooms

The process at Androscogging began with receiving wood in the form of chips or of logs 4 or 8 feet in length. From 6 AM to 10 PM a steady stream of trucks and railroad cars were weighted and unloaded. About 40 percent were suplied by independents who were paid by weight their logs. The mill also received wood chips from lumber mills in the area. The chips and logs were stored in mammoth piles with separate piles for wood of different species (such as pine, spruce, hemlock).

When needed, logs were floated in flumes......(1).....the wood yard.....(2).....one of the mill’s three wood rooms. There, bark was rubbed......(3)........in long, ribbed debarking drums by tumbling the logs against one another. The logs then fell into a chipper;......(4)......seconds a large log was reduced to a pile of chips approximately 1 inch by 1 inch by 1/4 inch.

The chips were stored in silos. There were separate silos for softwoods (spruce, fir, hemlock, and pine) and hardwoods (maple, oak, beech, and birch). This separate and temporary storage of chips permitted the controlled mixing of chips into the precise recipe for the grade of paper being produced.

The wood chips were then sorted through large, flat vibrating screens. Oversized chips were rechipped, and ones that were too small were collected for burning in the power house. (The mill provided approximately 20 percent of all its own steam and electricity needs from burning waste. An additional 50 percent of total electricity needs was produced by harnessing the river for hydroelectric power.)

Once drawn from the silo into the digesters, there was no stopping the flow of chips into paper. 

Pulpmaking

The pulp made at Androscoggin was of two types: Kraft pulp (produced chemically) and ground wood pulp (produced mechanically). Kraft pulp was far more important to the high quality white papers produced at Androscoggin, accounting for 80 percent of all the pulp used. Kraft pulp makes strong paper. (Kraft is German for strength. A German invented the Kraft pulp process in 1884.) A paper’s strength generally comes from the overlap and binding of long fibers of softwood; only chemically was it initially possible to separate long wood fibers for suspension in water. Hardwood fibers are generally smaller and thinner and help smooth the paper and make it less porous.

The ground wood pulping process was simpler and less expensive than the Kraft process. It took high quality spruce and fir logs and pressed them continuously against a revolving stone that broke apart the wood’s fibers. The fibers, however, were smaller than those produced by the Kraft process and, although used to make newsprint, were useful at Androscoggin in providing “fill” for the coated publication gloss papers of machines 2 and 3, as will be described later.

^(A)The chemical Kraft process worked by dissolving the lignin that bonds wood fibers together. ^(B) It did this in a tall pressure cooker, called a digester, by “cooking” the chips in a solution of caustic soda (NaOH) and sodium sulfide (Na²S), which was termed the “white liquor.” ^(C)The two digesters at Androscoggin were continuous digesters; chips and liquor went into the top, were cooked together as they slowly settled down to the bottom, and were drawn off the bottom after about three hours. ^(D) By this time, the white liquor had changed chemically to “black liquor’’; the digested chips were then separated from this black liquor. ^(E)

In what was known as the “cold blow” process, the hot, pressurized chips were gradually cooled and depressurized. A “cold liquor’’ (170°F) was introduced to the bottom of the digester and served both to cool and to transport the digested chips to a diffusion washer that washed and depressurized the chips. Because so much of the lignin bonding the fibers together had been removed, the wood fiber in the chips literally fell apart at this stage.

The black liquor from the digester entered a separate four-step recovery process. Over 95 percent of the black liquor could be reconstituted as white liquor, thereby saving on chemical costs and significantly lowering pollution. The four-step process involved (1) washing the black liquor from the cooked fiber to produce weak black liquor, (2) evaporating the weak black liquor to a thicker consistency, (3) combustion of this heavy black liquor with sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄ ), and redissolving the smelt, yielding a “green liquor” (sodium carbonate + sodium sulfide), and (4) adding lime, which reacted with the green liquor to produce white liquor. The last step was known as causticization.

Meanwhile, the wood-fiber pulp was purged of impurities like bark and dirt by mechanical screening and by spinning the mixture in centrifugal cleaners. The pulp was then concentrated by removing water from it so that it could be stored and bleached more economically.

By this time, depending on the type of pulp being made, it had been between 3 1/2 and 5 hours since the chips had entered the pulp mill. 

All the Kraft pulp was then bleached. Bleaching took between 5 and 6 hours. It consisted of a three-step process in which (1) a mix of chlorine (Cl₂ ) and chlorine dioxide (CIO₂ ) was introduced to the pulp and the pulp was washed; (2) a patented mix of sodium hydroxide (NaOH), liquid oxygen, and hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ) was then added to the pulp and the pulp was again washed; and (3) chlorine dioxide (ClO₂ ) was introduced and the pulp washed a final time. The result was like fluffy cream of wheat. By this time the pulp was nearly ready to be made into paper.

From the bleachery, the stock of pulp was held for a short time in storage (a maximum of 16 hours) and then proceeded through a series of blending operations that permitted a string of additives (for example, filler clay, resins, brighteners, alum, dyes) to be mixed into the pulp according to the recipe for the paper grade being produced. Here, too, “broke” (paper wastes from the mill itself) was recycled into the pulp. The pulp was then once again cleaned and blended into an even consistency before moving to the papermaking machine itself.

It made a difference whether the broke was of coated or uncoated paper, and whether it was white or colored. White, uncoated paper could be recycled immediately. Colored, uncoated paper had to be rebleached. Coated papers, because of the clays in them, could not be reclaimed.

TEXT I-

ENEM and the Language Policy forEnglish in the Brazilian Context

Andrea Barros Carvalho de Oliveira

1.INTRODUCTION

In the present article, I report the results of a doctoral research that focused on the language policy for English in Brazil, considering specifically the role of Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (hereinafter ENEM) in this policy. Thus, taking into account the sociopolitical aspects of the teaching processes, learning, and use of English as a foreign language, we sought to identify the possible impact of ENEM on the status of English language as a school subject.

ENEM was initially conceived as a final exam to evaluate students at the end of basic education. However, it has been modified over the last few years to work as an entrance examination for public and private universities. In addition, the use of this exam in several governmental programs aimed at higher education access was preponderant to make it a high stakes exam in the educational scenario.

 According to the literature on language examination exams, especially those considered to be high stakes, are seen as an intrinsically political activity (ALDERSON; BANERJEE, 2001). These exams can be used as educational policy tools as well as to promote a specific language related to local language policy objectives.

The theoretical conception of Language Policy (hereinafter LP) adopted in this investigation refers to Shohamy (2006). This author postulates that, although there is an official LP established in legislation and official documents, it is also necessary to consider the existence of a “real” LP, or “de facto” LP, which is put into practice through mechanisms, resources such as traffic signs, rules and laws related to official bodies, language exams, among others. Besides mechanisms, the beliefs or representations about the language that are shared in the community ought to be considered as well. The importance of mechanisms is that they reveal the true aims of LPas established by the government for a specific language, which are not always explicit in Brazilian law.

The research, the results of which are presented in this article, covered the three components of Shohamy’s theoretical model, namely: legislation, mechanisms (in this case, an exam, ENEM), and representations or beliefs about language. To obtain a sample of representations about English language, interviews were conducted with the students from an ENEM preparatory course for university entrance, with two teachers of English and two coordinators from public schools.

 In the present article, I begin with a review of the expanded conception of LPelaborated by Shohamy, as it is the theoretical basis of this research. Second, I analyze some documents and laws regarding English teaching in Brazil. In addition to these documents, the English questions of ENEM (2016) were taken in consideration. Finally, I present an overview of the representations about English language that emerged from the interviews which constituted the empirical data of my doctoral thesis.

ALDERSON, J. C; BANERJEE, J. Language Testing and Assessment. Language Testing, [S.l.], n. 34, 2001, p. 213-236.

SHOHAMY, E. Language Policy: Hidden Agendas and New Approaches. London; New York: Routledge, 2006. (Adapted from: OLIVEIRA, A.B.C. ENEM and the Language Policy for English in the Brazilian Context. In.: Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada. vol.19 no.2 th Belo Horizonte Apr./June 2019 Available at: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-63982019000200361 Accessed on October 20 , 2019)

English in Brazil: Insights from the Analysis of Language Policies, Internationalization Programs and the CLIL Approach

Abstract: The paper proposes a reflection on the role of English in the globalized world and its teaching/learning in Brazil. With that aim, the study reviews language policies and internationalization programs in Brazil regarding the role of foreign languages in general and of English in particular. The theoretical framework includes a review of an English language teaching (ELT) approach used mainly in Europe, as a result of globalization and internationalization, the Content and Language Integrated Approach (CLIL). In order to support this reflection, a case study was carried out to examine pre-service English teachers’ beliefs on the use of CLIL in Brazil. The results of study show that pre-service English teachers understand the importance of the CLIL approach though they are aware of the various obstacles to its implementation in that context. The study suggests a review of language policies in Brazil so as to ensure a convergence between them and internationalization policies and approaches, at all levels of education. Regarding the ELT approach analyzed, the study concludes that despite the difficulties associated with the implementation of CLIL in Brazil, it represents a relevant alternative in that context.

Keywords: English language teaching (ELT), Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), Language policies, Internationalization, Brazil

Source:

FINARDI, Kyria; LEÃO, Roberta; PINHEIRO, Livia Melina. English in Brazil: Insights from the Analysis of Language Policies, Internationalization Programs and the CLILApproach. In: Education and Linguistics Research, 2016, Vol. 2, No. 1. Available at:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kyria_Finardi/publication/297653683_English_in_Brazil_Insights_from_the_Analysis_of_Language_Policies_Internationaliz ation_Programs_and_the_CLIL_Approach/links/5814871508aeffbed6bdf5ba/English-in-Brazil-Insights-from-the-Analysis-of-Language-Policiesth Internationalization-Programs-and-the-CLIL-Approach.pdf . Accessed on September 29th , 2020.

Text I

While viruses do not respect borders, their spread and their chances of survival have long depended greatly on the laws, policies and acts of states. However, not all states are up to the job, writes Adam Roberts. 

A.J.P. Taylor often observed that great events can have very small causes. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is fresh evidence for this proposition. The cause is in all likelihood tiny and accidental: a genetic mutation in a virus, which then spreads into the human population. Like earlier epidemics throughout history, it could have happened with no human intentionality. Its consequences are already momentous and will be even more so before it is over.

The novel coronavirus can easily be seen as a profoundly anti-democratic force. In its first eight months, from early January to mid-August, it produced over 20 million cases of the COVID-19 disease. That disease has killed over 800,000 people and counting; put millions out of work; drastically curtailed travel; precipitated states of emergency; and caused citizens to be placed under detailed and intrusive administrative control, demonstrations to be banned, and elections to be rescheduled or postponed. Bitter disagreements have arisen about when and how to ease restrictions on movement. COVID-19 has generated a revival of conspiracy theories and unjustified recriminations, and prompted absurd denials of medical reality by certain political leaders. Among states, the pandemic has actually heightened some long-existing disputes, most notably those on trade and other matters between China and the United States. The capacity of the United Nations system to address epidemics has been called into question, not least in harsh American criticisms of the World Health Organization (WHO).

It is too simple to cast the pandemic crisis merely as a narrative of rampant authoritarianism versus embattled democracy. The long history of pandemics, earthquakes and other disasters reminds us of the enduring complexity of disaster management, and of the many controversies surrounding it, including the causes of and responses to plagues. States respond in different ways, raising questions regarding the relative effectiveness of democratic versus authoritarian states. International health organisations, especially the WHO, have important roles in dealing with epidemics, whether regional or global. Yet their formal powers are limited and their effectiveness depends on state cooperation. Epidemics, and action to control them, do sometimes play a part in increased authoritarianism, but they can also give rise to more positive initiatives of various kinds.

Adapted from: https://www.iiss.org/. Accessed on March 20, 2021.