Questões de Concurso Sobre inglês

Analyse the dialogues to answer.
Marsha: What did that character want? Cindy: Beats me!
What are the girls talking about?

A new computer worm dubbed “Netsky-D” was clogging e-mail systems around the world after emerging on Monday, a security expert said. The worm is particularly difficult to root out because it lands in e-mail boxes using a number of different subject lines such as “re:details” or “re:here is the document.” “It arrives with an attached pif file (program information file) and  it’s already extremely widespread ” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Plc. He said experts do not think the new virus is as big as MyDoom, which brought havoc to computer users and targeted Microsoft’s Web Site, but that the full extent of Netsky-D’s spread would be known as North America logs on. When opened, the virus pif file will rapidly replicate itself, slowing down computers and e-mail bandwidth.
“We suspect people are more laid back about pif files because they may not have heard of them and may not realize they can contain dangerous code”, Cluley said. “The ...... (56) ...... thing to do with this file is to delete it, don’t open it.” Netsky-B, an earlier variant of the latest worm, was rated the third worst computer virus in February after MyDoom-A and Sober-C, according to Sophos, which writes anti-virus and antispam software.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/technology/02WIRE-EMAIL.html)
 No texto, it’s already extremely widespread significa que 

A new computer worm dubbed “Netsky-D” was clogging e-mail systems around the world after emerging on Monday, a security expert said. The worm is particularly difficult to root out because it lands in e-mail boxes using a number of different subject lines such as “re:details” or “re:here is the document.” “It arrives with an attached pif file (program information file) and  it’s already extremely widespread ” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Plc. He said experts do not think the new virus is as big as MyDoom, which brought havoc to computer users and targeted Microsoft’s Web Site, but that the full extent of Netsky-D’s spread would be known as North America logs on. When opened, the virus pif file will rapidly replicate itself, slowing down computers and e-mail bandwidth.
“We suspect people are more laid back about pif files because they may not have heard of them and may not realize they can contain dangerous code”, Cluley said. “The ...... (56) ...... thing to do with this file is to delete it, don’t open it.” Netsky-B, an earlier variant of the latest worm, was rated the third worst computer virus in February after MyDoom-A and Sober-C, according to Sophos, which writes anti-virus and antispam software.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/technology/02WIRE-EMAIL.html)

A palavra que preenche corretamente a lacuna no texto é 

School in Brazil Wins RIBA Prize for the World’s Best New Building
The school complex, titled ‘Children Village’ is situated in the remote village of Canuanã, in the state of Tocantins in northern Brazil; winning the RIBA International Prize 2018 meant that it topped a shortlist of outstanding entrants from Budapest, Tokyo, and Milan.
By Jack Arnhold - November 23, 2018
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – This Tuesday, November 20th, the judges of the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) announced that the prestigious RIBA International Prize 2018 would be awarded to a school complex entitled ‘Children Village’ situated in the remote Brazilian village of Canuanã and designed by Brazilian architects Aleph Zero and Rosenbaum.
Children Village is a school complex that can house 540 children attending the Canuanã School. Funded by the Bradesco Foundation, the complex was designed by architects Gustavo Utrabo and Petro Duschenes from Aleph Zero in collaboration with Marcelo Rosenbaum and Adriana Benguela from architecture and design studio Rosenbaum.
The architects followed a vision that emphasized both utility and sustainability. They listened to the children and teachers and strived to create a living and working environment that fitted with its inhabitants’ needs: a place where students could feel at home while developing the social bonds needed to thrive in a communal living space. [...]
The Rio Times
Sob a ótica dos aspectos sociointeracionais no processo de produção do texto, considere as seguintes afirmativas:
I. O uso de um número significativo de termos relacionados ao universo infantil se justifica pelo público-alvo, principalmente crianças e adolescentes.
II. As informações veiculadas no primeiro parágrafo do corpo do texto (o que aconteceu, quem está envolvido, onde, quando etc.) são próprias da notícia, gênero textual da esfera jornalística.
III. O objetivo principal do texto é, a partir de segmentos argumentativos, convencer o leitor de que a decisão dos juízes do RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) foi imparcial e justa.
Assinale a alternativa que apresenta as afirmativas corretas:

Reading Comprehension
Cell Phones: Are they dangerous?
Do you have a cell phone? Do you use it a lot? If the answer to these questions is yes, you should read the following information very carefully.
If you keep on using a cell phone, it will probably cause premature ageing, which might be rather difficult to get over. At least this is what most scientists claim. Low-level radiation from the phone may heat up body cells, damaging skin and making it look slightly lined and tired. Scientists say that if you expose cells to the radiation from a cell phone, the natural process that repairs your skin will probably be affected. Furthermore, radiation produces mutations in the cells and these mutations could be related to other health problems.
Cell phone users have also found out that if they use their phone for a long time they feel other symptoms such as fatigue and memory loss. The fatigue may be caused because, when using phones, people suffer an involuntary speeding up of their heart beat. Apart from that, nearly two out of three people interviewed complained of regular headaches from using their phones, although this may be due to bad posture rather than radiation emissions.
The most surprising fact discovered by researchers is that people exposed to the radiation of a cell phone for 45 minutes go to the bathroom twice as much as usual. This proves that radiation has a biological effect on humans.
So if I were you, I would definitely think twice before using a cell phone if I looked in the mirror and saw wrinkles on my face, felt fatigue, had trouble remembering things, or if I started using my bathroom more often than I used to.

The underlined words in the text are all examples of:

British Gas is to offer more than two million smart meter customers free electricity for eight-hour periods at weekends. From this weekend, it is launching a new plan called FreeTime which gives smart meter customers free electricity between 9am and 5pm on Saturday or Sunday. Customers will be able to choose which day of the weekend they would prefer to have the free electricity, when they will be able to mow the lawn or catch up on box sets without this adding to their energy costs. 

Disponível em www.ondemandnews.com. Acesso em: 11 de jul. 2016 (adaptado). 
Durante qual horário a eletricidade é mais barata ou gratuita? 

Older and Better     Many people opt ____________ newer homes because they are cleaner, bigger and often have more amenities. But new research shows old houses ____________ old neighborhoods may be better for your health.   University of Utah researchers found that people who live in older, more walkable neighborhoods are ____________ lower risk for overweight and obesity. The study, to be published in the September issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, tracked the body mass index ____________ nearly a half million Salt Lake County residents in Utah. They found that neighborhoods built before 1950 tended ____________ offer greater overall walkability because they had been designed for pedestrians. Newer neighborhoods often were designed primarily to facilitate car travel, the researchers noted.   “It’s difficult for individuals to change their behavior,” said Ken Smith, co-author of the study and professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. “But we can build environments that promote healthy behavior.”   Dr. Smith and colleagues used census data as well as height and weight information obtained from the drivers’ license records of 453,927 Salt Lake County residents between the ages of 25 and 64. They found that men, on average, weighed ten pounds less if they lived in a walkable neighborhood versus a neighborhood less conductive to walking. The average women weighed six pounds less.   “The data show that how and where we live can greatly affect our health,” Dr. Smith said. “Neighborhoods with higher fractions of residents who walk to work tell us that something beneficial about neighborhood is promoting health.”   The research offers a blueprint for communities on better ways to design new developments to encourage healthful living. And for people shopping for homes, the lesson is to think about not just the house itself but whether the neighborhood is pedestrian-friendly, with sidewalks, bikes and walking paths, low traffic and amenities like coffee shops or convenient stores that are within walking distance.   Last fall, Stanford Medicine Magazine also looked at the effect neighborhoods have on health. Researchers there found that among people who were trying to be more active, living in walkable neighborhoods dramatically improved their odds of exercising for at least two-and-a-half hours week. In one study of people who lived in walkable neighborhoods achieved their goals, compared to just 30 percent of those who lived in pedestrian-unfriendly areas.    Study these sentences: 
‘…old neighborhoods may be better for your health.’  “But we can build environments that promote healthy behavior.”  The words in bold are all examples of:

Bullying Is a Big Problem
Every day thousands of teens wake up afraid to go to school. Bullying is a problem that affects millions of students, and it has everyone worried, not just the kids on its receiving end. Yet because parents, teachers, and other adults don’t always see it, they may not understand how extreme bullying can get.
Bullying is when a person is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power, either in terms of physical strength or social standing.
Two of the main reasons people are bullied are because of appearance and social status. Bullies pick on the people they think don’t fit in, maybe because of how they look, how they act (for example, kids who are shy and withdrawn), their race or religion, or because the bullies think their target may be gay or lesbian.
Some bullies attack their targets physically, which can mean anything from shoving or tripping to punching or hitting, or even sexual assault. Others use psychological control or verbal insults to put themselves in charge. For example, people in popular groups or cliques often bully people they categorize as different by excluding them or gossiping about them (psychological bullying). They may also taunt or tease their targets (verbal bullying).
Verbal bullying can also involve sending cruel texts, messages, or emails or posting insults about a person on Facebook or other sites — practices that are known as cyberbullying.   Studies show that people who are abused by their peers are at risk for mental health problems, such as low self-esteem, stress, depression, or anxiety. They may also think about suicide more.

What is the topic of the text?

Our Kids Don’t Belong in School By Bridget Samburg | Boston Magazine | September 2015
When Milva McDonald sent her oldest daughter to Newton public school kindergarten in 1990, she was disturbed by what she saw. The kids were being tracked, even at that young age. And then there were the endless hours the small children spent sitting at their desks. It felt unnatural. In the real world, you wouldn’t be stuck in a room with people all the same ages with one person directing them, she thought.
During that single year her daughter was in the school system, McDonald saw enough to convince her that she could do better on her own. That would be no small feat: Newton’s public schools have long been rated as among the best in the state (in our Greater Boston rankings this year, they’re 10th.). But she’d always worked part time—she’s now an online editor—and she was fortunate that she could maintain a flexible schedule. So she yanked her daughter out of school, and over the next two decades homeschooled all four of her children—including her youngest, Abigail Dickson, who’s now 16.
McDonald’s first homeschool rule was to throw out the book and let her children guide their learning, at their own pace. In lieu of a curriculum or published guides, McDonald improvised, taking advantage of the homeschooling village that had sprouted up around her. One mother ran a theater group, a dad ran a math group, and McDonald oversaw a creative-writing club. Their children took supplementary classes at the Harvard Extension School and Bunker Hill Community College. “I wanted them to be in charge of their own education and decide what they were interested in, and not have someone else telling them what to do and what they were good at,” she says.
And by any measure, it’s working. McDonald’s daughter Claire—the third of her four children to be homeschooled—will enter Harvard College as a freshman this fall.
Back in the ’90s, McDonald was considered a homeschooling pioneer; now she’s joined by a growing movement of parents who are abstaining from traditional schooling, not on religious grounds but because of another strong belief: that they can educate their kids better than the system can. Though far from mainstream (an estimated 2.2 million students are home-educated in the U.S.), secular homeschooling is trending up. Last year, 277 children were homeschooled in Boston, more than double the total from 2004; in Cambridge the number was 46. (In surrounding towns, the numbers are growing, too: During the 2013–2014 school year, Arlington had 55; Somerville, 36; Winthrop, 5; Brookline, 11; Natick, 36; Newton, 33; and Watertown, 24.)
There’s enough momentum that major cultural institutions—from the Franklin Park Zoo and the New England Aquarium to the Museum of Fine Arts and MIT’s Edgerton Center—now regularly offer classes for homeschoolers. Tellingly, even public school systems are becoming more accommodating. In Cambridge, for example, homeschoolers have the option to attend individual classes in the district’s schools. Some take math or science classes and participate in sports—last year, one homeschooler took music and piano lessons. Carolyn Turk, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning at Cambridge Public Schools, says she’s seeing more of this “hybrid” approach than in the past. “In Cambridge we look at homeschooling as a choice,” she says. “Cambridge is a city of choice.”

The Boston Public Schools, meanwhile, have begun to view homeschooling as one of the many laboratories in which it can explore new teaching methods. “These people are looking to do instructive, nontraditional education. It’s all different types of people from all incomes,” says Freddie Fuentes, the executive director of educational options for Boston Public Schools. Fuentes, who personally helps parents with academic plans, finds that many homeschooling parents want “very deep, expeditionary learning” for their children. “A lot of them are looking at innovative ways of learning,” he says. “We as a school system need to think about innovation and the cutting edge.”
In other words, homeschooling is arriving here in a very Boston-like way: It’s aspirational, intellectual, entrepreneurial, and innovative.

(http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2015/08/25/homeschooling-in-boston/)

Check the alternative in which the underlined word contains the same kind of derivational suffix as the one in the underlined word in “now she’s joined by a growing movement of parents who are abstaining from traditional schooling” (5ᵗʰ paragraph).

Cellular Revolution
There has never been a technological invention that has caught on as rapidly as the cellular phone, global sales of which have risen from 6 million in 1991 to more than a billion units a year now. The total number of global cell phone users exceeded the number of non-users for the first time in history in 2008. (Of course, these statistics distort the real picture, since many people in the more affluent countries own more than one phone while there are still countries in the world where cell phone ownership is near zero.)
Innovation in cell phones has accelerated so much that it is often difficult for consumers to keep up with the new possibilities they provide. Phones are constantly incorporating other products like cameras, radios, MP3 players, GPS navigation systems, portable flash memory drives, even televisions.
There is now a massive range of different products that previously might have been bought separately that can now be part of a cell phone. 
Cellular phones have radically transformed our lives. They have reshaped the way we communicate with one another, they have generated new forms of language, they have become fashion accessories, and they have given us the freedom to do what we want, where we want. In a world where mobile internet access is no longer a matter of science fiction, we can have any information at our finger tips any hour of any day, and we no longer have to feel cut off when we leave the safety of our homes or offices.
Obviously, the rich have been quicker to by cell phones than the poor. But this is true for any consumer product. Cell phone take-up among the poor has actually been far more widespread than that of previous innovations, like color TV, computers, or internet access. As the prices of cellular phones continue to fall and their capabilities continue to expand, they might end up being more successful in bridging the gap between the upper and the lower social classes than relatively expensive computers.
Cell phones have also some negative associations. Just consider all those road accidents waiting to happen as drivers hold a cell phone in one hand, and drive with the other hand. Cell phone thefts now also make up nearly a third of all street robberies in some large urban areas. Some medical research shows cell phone users are more than twice as likely to develop tumors in those parts of the brain nearer their phone ear, although, as of yet, researchers have been unable to find conclusive evidence for any connection with phone usage.
Overall, cell phones have brought more advantages than drawbacks to our lives. As with any invention, we just have to take the bad with the good, and enjoy the benefits they have to offer.


Scanning, Skimming, Predicting and Guessing are examples of:

British Gas is to offer more than two million smart meter customers free electricity for eight-hour periods at weekends. From this weekend, it is launching a new plan called FreeTime which gives smart meter customers free electricity between 9am and 5pm on Saturday or Sunday. Customers will be able to choose which day of the weekend they would prefer to have the free electricity, when they will be able to mow the lawn or catch up on box sets without this adding to their energy costs. 

Disponível em www.ondemandnews.com. Acesso em: 11 de jul. 2016 (adaptado). 
Sobre o que o texto fala? 

Read the text below and answer the questions that follow.
When is it time to stop studying?
It's 10 p.m. and six government employees are out checking the streets of Seoul, South Korea. But these are not police officers searching for teenagers who are behaving badly. Their mission is to find children who are still studying. And stop them. Education in South Korea is very competitive. The aim of almost every schoolchild is to get into one of the country’s top universities. Only the students with the best grades get a place. The school day starts at 8 a.m. and the students finish studying somewhere between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. at night. This is because many go to private academies called hagwon after school. Around 74 percent of all students attend a hagwon after their regular classes finish. A year’s course costs, on average, $2,600 per student. In Seoul, there are more private tutors than schoolteachers, and the most popular ones make millions of dollars a year from online and in-person classes. Most parents rely on private tutoring to get their children into a university. With so much time spent in the classroom, all that students in South Korean high schools do is study and sleep. Some of them are so exhausted that they cannot stay awake the next day at school. It is a common sight to see a teacher explaining the lesson while a third of the students are asleep on their desks. The teachers don’t seem to mind. There are even special pillows for sale that fit over the arms of the chairs to make sleeping in class more comfortable. Ironically, the students spend class time sleeping so that they can stay up late studying that night. The South Korean government has been aware of the faults in the system for some time, but now they have passed some reforms. Today, schoolteachers have to meet certain standards or take additional training courses. However, the biggest challenge for the government is the hagwons. Hagwons have been banned from having classes after 10 p.m., which is why there are street patrols searching for children who are studying after that time. If they find any in class, the owner of the hagwon is punished and the students are sent home. It's a strange world, where some children have to be told to stop studying while others are reluctant to start.
Adapted from: LATHAM-KOENIG, Christina & OXENDEN, Clive. American English File 3 - Workbook. 2"“ edition. Oxford: OUP, 2014.
According to the information provided in the fourth and fifth paragraphs, we can state that:

Analyze the sentences below:
1. Global warming is an increase in earth’s temperature. 2. Renewable energy is a natural and unlimited source of power. 3. Climate change is severe climate events such as tornados. 4. Ozone layer is a kind of wind power.
Choose the alternative which contains the correct affirmative:

TEXT VII: Santísima Señora de San Juan de los Lagos,
We came to see you twice when they brought you to San Antonio, my mother and my sister Yolanda and two of my aunts, Tía Enedina and my Tía Perla, and we drove all the way from Beeville just to visit you and make our requests.
I don’t know what my Tía Enedina asked for, she’s always so secretive, but probably it had to do with her son Beto who doesn’t do anything but hang around the house and get into trouble. And my Tía Perla no doubt complained about her ladies’ problems–her ovaries that itch, her tangled fallopians, her uterus that makes her seasick with all its flipping and flopping. And Mami who said she only came along for the ride, lit three candles so you would bless us all and sweep jealousy and bitterness from our hearts because that’s what she says every day and every night. And my sister Yoli asked that you help her lose weight because I don’t want to wind up like Tía Perla, embroidering altar cloths and dressing saints.
But that was a year ago, Virgencita, and since then my cousin Beto was fined for killing the neighbor’s rooster with a flying Big Red bottle, and my Tía Perla is convinced her uterus has fallen because when she walks something inside her rattles like a maraca, and my mother and my aunts are arguing and yelling at each other same as always. And my stupid sister Yoli is still sending away for even stupider products like the Grasa Fantástica, guaranteed to burn away fat – It really works, Tere, just rub some on while you’re watching TV – only she’s fatter than ever and just as sad.
What I realize is that we all made the trip to San Antonio to ask something of you, Virgencita, we all needed you to listen to us. And of all of us, my mama and sister Yoli, and my aunts Enedina and Perla, of all of us, you granted me my petition and sent, just like I asked, a guy who would love only me because I was tired of looking at girls younger than me walking along the street or riding in cars or standing in front of the school with a guy’s arm hooked around their neck.

So what is it I’m asking for? Please, Virgencita. Lift this heavy cross from my shoulders and leave me like I was before, wind on my neck, my arms swinging free, and no one telling me how I ought to be.
Teresa Galindo   Beeville, Texas
(“The Heath Anthology of American Literature”. Paul Lauter. D.C. Heath and Company / Editora)
Mark the item which corresponds to the reason Teresa Galindo had for her third request to the Santísima Señora de San Juan de los Lagos:

                                                                         How Telecommuting Works
Telecommuting, which is growing in popularity, allows employees to avoid long commutes.
“Brring,” the alarm startles you out of a deep sleep. It’s 8 a.m. on Monday morning. Time to head to the office. You roll out of bed, brush your teeth and stumble your way to the kitchen to grab some coffee.
Moments later, you head to the office, still wearing your pajamas and fluffy slippers. Luckily for you, you don’t have to go far – you work at home. Telecommuting, or working at home, has grown in popularity over the last 20 years.
On an increasing basis, workers are saying “no” to long commutes and opting to work at home. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of employees working from home grew by 23 percent from 1990 to 2000.
Telecommuting workers revel in making their own schedule – allowing them to schedule work around family and personal commitments. With the ready availability of technology tools, like the Internet and home computers, companies are more willing to let employees work from home.
(Adapted from :<http://home.howstuff works.com/telecommuting.htm>Access on 18 January, 2014) 
According to the text, telecommuting refers to:

It is possible to find adjectives with ED suffix and ING suffix (e.g. bored and boring). What is the difference between them? 

As the author describes her experiences and perceptions, the paragraph also reminds that:

The behavioral view on motivation emphasizes

Why I miss technology-free travel
(Monday, Dec 12, 2016. Josh Noel.)
I’ve been a travel writer for almost eight years, but here's the irony: I’m probably a worse traveler now. Back when I was freewheeling and in my early 20s, I’d get into my car every summer with an atlas, a bag stuffed with CDs and very little forethought about where I was headed. 
I’d be gone for two weeks to three months. The extent of the technology I carried was the portable disc player connected to my tape player by a snaking wire. I stayed in pristine riverside campgrounds, quiet roadside motels operated by charming gray-haired couples and on the couches of people I’d met earlier that day. Once I forced myself to pick up a hitchhiker, a peaceful-looking, hippie-type dude. It wasn’t the life-altering experience I’d hoped for; he just needed a ride to work at a restaurant 10 miles up the road. Another time I got to talking with a guy who said he wasn’t sure he’d be able to afford his next tank of gas. I gave him five bucks — all I could spare — and he gave me a pink crystal that he said had special powers or some such. I rode around with that crystal on my dashboard for 15 years until I gave it to a friend who was dying of cancer. I wanted her to have something meaningful to me, and that was it, secured by chance at an Oklahoma rest stop and hauled everywhere I went until it became hers.
I don’t travel so much anymore. As much as I’d like to say it’s because of having a family and a job and obligations weightier than whether to turn left or turn right, it has more to do with the shiny little machines in our pockets. When it comes to conquering the unknown, those shiny little machines can tell us everything about everything: the top 10 hotels, top 10 attractions, top 10 kid-friendly sushi places and the top 10 vegan-and-dog-friendly cafes with Wi-Fi and a pool table. Worse, we’ve mostly given up thinking about how we get from point A to point B. I have mistyped a couple of letters of a street name into Waze, and unquestioningly driven a route that I knew made no sense. But the shiny little machine says it is so! When I realized my mistake, I was furious not because I was going to be late or because I had wasted time, but because I had surrendered my critical thinking about how I got from point A to point B.
So as I can, I build unpredictability into my routine. I walk different ways to work, to the train, to the bus and around our neighborhood with my little son. When traveling, I demand unpredictability. Yes, the quickest route and top-ranked whatever is mighty attractive (especially the quickest route), but when I can build in time for wandering, I do it. When I can spend time finding my way by foot — no apps or phone maps 
— I do that. When I can leave a hotel room with only a minimal plan, I walk out the front door. I duck into a bar. I sip a beer that I can’t find back home. I chat with a local. I ask for a dinner recommendation. And I value that answer over the wisdom of the online crowd every time.
(Available: http://www.chicagotribune.com. Adapted.)
Wi-Fi and restaurants are examples of: