Questões de Concurso Sobre inglês
Foram encontradas 17.054 questões
For questions 43 to 47, refer to the following text:
Time for global business to stop profiting from Amazon destruction by Tica Minami - 13 April, 2016 Huge hydropower dams in the Amazon rainforest aren't just bad for Indigenous communities, biodiversity and the climate – they're bad for the companies involved. Here's why. The Amazon is the world's largest remaining area of tropical rainforest, but every day it gets a little smaller – while big business profits get a little bigger. Over 750,000 km² of Amazon rainforest (an area larger than all of France) has already been destroyed by industrial agriculture, cattle ranching, illegal logging and infrastructure projects. And new threats keep coming: this time in the Tapajós River basin. What's happening in the Tapajós? The Brazilian government is planning a massive hydropower project for the Tapajós basin – over 40 medium or large dams, including one 7.6 km wide mega-dam. This dam alone would flood an area of rainforest the size of New York City, threatening the livelihoods of the Indigenous Munduruku People who have lived along the Tapajós River for centuries. The mega-dam – called São Luiz do Tapajós – doesn't just threaten local communities and ecosystems. It also harms the climate. Building the massive structure produces substantial emissions, as does the decay of flooded rainforest vegetation and soil. Figure 1 So who would want to help build the São Luiz do Tapajós dam? It takes huge amounts of capital and technology from companies all over the world to build a hydropower dam. Greenpeace Brazil has been investigating who might want to profit from this destructive project and released a new report on their findings – and on the risky nature of Amazon hydropower – today. So far, Greenpeace Brazil has found that the São Luiz do Tapajós dam is attracting the interest of a number of Brazilian and foreign energy companies. None of these companies have announced their intentions publicly yet, though. What's at stake for companies who get involved with São Luiz do Tapajós dam? The banks, insurers, suppliers and contractors that become involved in Amazon hydropower projects face serious financial and reputational risks. Hydropower dams attract international attention for their destruction to the environment and impacts on local communities. Moreover, these dams and other large government infrastructure projects have also recently been tied to corruption. Amazon destruction impacts all of us. People must act globally to stop this global project. Brazil's dash for Amazon hydropower is destined to fail its people while enriching a few. Wherever you are in the world, your voice matters. Add your name to help keep the Tapajos alive! |
Disponível em: <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/amazonrainforest-hydropower-tapajos-dam-belo-monte/blog/56142/>. Acesso em: 3 abr. 2016. [Adaptado].
In parsing the following sentence, determine what traditional function each unit in the sentence has, according to this code:
|
N Noun |
A adjective |
P preposition |
V Verb |
PRN pronoun |
AUX auxiliar |
DET determiner |
“Greenpeace Brazil has been investigating who might want to profit from this destructive project”.
For questions 43 to 47, refer to the following text:
Time for global business to stop profiting from Amazon destruction by Tica Minami - 13 April, 2016 Huge hydropower dams in the Amazon rainforest aren't just bad for Indigenous communities, biodiversity and the climate – they're bad for the companies involved. Here's why. The Amazon is the world's largest remaining area of tropical rainforest, but every day it gets a little smaller – while big business profits get a little bigger. Over 750,000 km² of Amazon rainforest (an area larger than all of France) has already been destroyed by industrial agriculture, cattle ranching, illegal logging and infrastructure projects. And new threats keep coming: this time in the Tapajós River basin. What's happening in the Tapajós? The Brazilian government is planning a massive hydropower project for the Tapajós basin – over 40 medium or large dams, including one 7.6 km wide mega-dam. This dam alone would flood an area of rainforest the size of New York City, threatening the livelihoods of the Indigenous Munduruku People who have lived along the Tapajós River for centuries. The mega-dam – called São Luiz do Tapajós – doesn't just threaten local communities and ecosystems. It also harms the climate. Building the massive structure produces substantial emissions, as does the decay of flooded rainforest vegetation and soil. Figure 1 So who would want to help build the São Luiz do Tapajós dam? It takes huge amounts of capital and technology from companies all over the world to build a hydropower dam. Greenpeace Brazil has been investigating who might want to profit from this destructive project and released a new report on their findings – and on the risky nature of Amazon hydropower – today. So far, Greenpeace Brazil has found that the São Luiz do Tapajós dam is attracting the interest of a number of Brazilian and foreign energy companies. None of these companies have announced their intentions publicly yet, though. What's at stake for companies who get involved with São Luiz do Tapajós dam? The banks, insurers, suppliers and contractors that become involved in Amazon hydropower projects face serious financial and reputational risks. Hydropower dams attract international attention for their destruction to the environment and impacts on local communities. Moreover, these dams and other large government infrastructure projects have also recently been tied to corruption. Amazon destruction impacts all of us. People must act globally to stop this global project. Brazil's dash for Amazon hydropower is destined to fail its people while enriching a few. Wherever you are in the world, your voice matters. Add your name to help keep the Tapajos alive! |
Disponível em: <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/amazonrainforest-hydropower-tapajos-dam-belo-monte/blog/56142/>. Acesso em: 3 abr. 2016. [Adaptado].
On Figure 1, which word play conveys the message written in large font? A
For questions 43 to 47, refer to the following text:
Time for global business to stop profiting from Amazon destruction by Tica Minami - 13 April, 2016 Huge hydropower dams in the Amazon rainforest aren't just bad for Indigenous communities, biodiversity and the climate – they're bad for the companies involved. Here's why. The Amazon is the world's largest remaining area of tropical rainforest, but every day it gets a little smaller – while big business profits get a little bigger. Over 750,000 km² of Amazon rainforest (an area larger than all of France) has already been destroyed by industrial agriculture, cattle ranching, illegal logging and infrastructure projects. And new threats keep coming: this time in the Tapajós River basin. What's happening in the Tapajós? The Brazilian government is planning a massive hydropower project for the Tapajós basin – over 40 medium or large dams, including one 7.6 km wide mega-dam. This dam alone would flood an area of rainforest the size of New York City, threatening the livelihoods of the Indigenous Munduruku People who have lived along the Tapajós River for centuries. The mega-dam – called São Luiz do Tapajós – doesn't just threaten local communities and ecosystems. It also harms the climate. Building the massive structure produces substantial emissions, as does the decay of flooded rainforest vegetation and soil. Figure 1 So who would want to help build the São Luiz do Tapajós dam? It takes huge amounts of capital and technology from companies all over the world to build a hydropower dam. Greenpeace Brazil has been investigating who might want to profit from this destructive project and released a new report on their findings – and on the risky nature of Amazon hydropower – today. So far, Greenpeace Brazil has found that the São Luiz do Tapajós dam is attracting the interest of a number of Brazilian and foreign energy companies. None of these companies have announced their intentions publicly yet, though. What's at stake for companies who get involved with São Luiz do Tapajós dam? The banks, insurers, suppliers and contractors that become involved in Amazon hydropower projects face serious financial and reputational risks. Hydropower dams attract international attention for their destruction to the environment and impacts on local communities. Moreover, these dams and other large government infrastructure projects have also recently been tied to corruption. Amazon destruction impacts all of us. People must act globally to stop this global project. Brazil's dash for Amazon hydropower is destined to fail its people while enriching a few. Wherever you are in the world, your voice matters. Add your name to help keep the Tapajos alive! |
Disponível em: <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/amazonrainforest-hydropower-tapajos-dam-belo-monte/blog/56142/>. Acesso em: 3 abr. 2016. [Adaptado].
Considering the threats to the livelihoods of the indigenous people, the power of weather harm represented by the building of the hydropower project for the Tapajós basin is compared to
For questions 43 to 47, refer to the following text:
Time for global business to stop profiting from Amazon destruction by Tica Minami - 13 April, 2016 Huge hydropower dams in the Amazon rainforest aren't just bad for Indigenous communities, biodiversity and the climate – they're bad for the companies involved. Here's why. The Amazon is the world's largest remaining area of tropical rainforest, but every day it gets a little smaller – while big business profits get a little bigger. Over 750,000 km² of Amazon rainforest (an area larger than all of France) has already been destroyed by industrial agriculture, cattle ranching, illegal logging and infrastructure projects. And new threats keep coming: this time in the Tapajós River basin. What's happening in the Tapajós? The Brazilian government is planning a massive hydropower project for the Tapajós basin – over 40 medium or large dams, including one 7.6 km wide mega-dam. This dam alone would flood an area of rainforest the size of New York City, threatening the livelihoods of the Indigenous Munduruku People who have lived along the Tapajós River for centuries. The mega-dam – called São Luiz do Tapajós – doesn't just threaten local communities and ecosystems. It also harms the climate. Building the massive structure produces substantial emissions, as does the decay of flooded rainforest vegetation and soil. Figure 1 So who would want to help build the São Luiz do Tapajós dam? It takes huge amounts of capital and technology from companies all over the world to build a hydropower dam. Greenpeace Brazil has been investigating who might want to profit from this destructive project and released a new report on their findings – and on the risky nature of Amazon hydropower – today. So far, Greenpeace Brazil has found that the São Luiz do Tapajós dam is attracting the interest of a number of Brazilian and foreign energy companies. None of these companies have announced their intentions publicly yet, though. What's at stake for companies who get involved with São Luiz do Tapajós dam? The banks, insurers, suppliers and contractors that become involved in Amazon hydropower projects face serious financial and reputational risks. Hydropower dams attract international attention for their destruction to the environment and impacts on local communities. Moreover, these dams and other large government infrastructure projects have also recently been tied to corruption. Amazon destruction impacts all of us. People must act globally to stop this global project. Brazil's dash for Amazon hydropower is destined to fail its people while enriching a few. Wherever you are in the world, your voice matters. Add your name to help keep the Tapajos alive! |
Disponível em: <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/amazonrainforest-hydropower-tapajos-dam-belo-monte/blog/56142/>. Acesso em: 3 abr. 2016. [Adaptado].
The text discusses some drawbacks for the companies involved in building up Amazon hydropower dams. One of them is the
In the sentence “Oh, dear, you must have heard my mantelpiece story, almost everyone ______”, the appropriate verb form for the ellipsis is
Read the following text to answer question 41.
Disponível em: <http://dir.indiamart.com/faridabad/advertisement-designing-services.html>. Acesso em: 2 abr. 2016.
The image shows a motto which contains a deviation from standard English grammar in that it
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
Consider the statements below:
I. The verbs 'claimed' (line 20), 'pointed out' (line 23), and 'affirmed' (line 24) are verbs of saying;
II. The sentence 'Alaska contained nothing' (line 20) can be rewritten as 'Alaska did not contain anything';
III. The sentence 'Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash' (lines 37) means that the Baron won that sum of money only after the negotiations were finished.
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The word 'pay' may be both a noun, as in 'the pay' (line 19) and a verb, as in 'to pay' (line 35) without having to change its spelling. The same may occur to all the words bellow, EXCEPT for:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The clauses 'the castigations would have been comical' and 'had they not influenced American thinking...' present the same grammatical relation as in:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The sequence 'was not easily diverted' (line 28) presents the same passive voice structure in all of the following, EXCEPT for:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The feature voiceless for the 'th' sound in the word 'worthless' (line 38), considering their ideal phonological pronunciation, is the same as in the following pair of words:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
The sentence 'But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target' (line 28) could be paraphrased only by the following sentence:
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions 34 to 40.
- The transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States formed one of those unbelievable incidents of
- history because by 1867, Russia was nervously eager to get rid of it, while the United States still
- recovering from the Civil War and immersed in the impending impeachment of President Johnson,
- refused to accept it on any terms.
- At this impasse an extraordinary man monopolized center stage. He was not a Russian, a fact which
- would become important more than a century later, but a soi-disant baron of dubious background; half
- Austrian, half Italian, and a charmer who was picked up in 1841 for temporary duty representing Russia in
- the United States and who lingered there till 1868. In that time, Edouard de Stoeckl, parading himself as a
- nobleman, although no one could say for sure how or when or even if he had earned his title, became
- such an ardent friend of America that he married an American heiress and took upon himself the task of
- acting as marriage broker between Russia, which he called homeland, and the United States, his adopted
- residence.
- He faced a most difficult task, for when the United States showed hesitancy about accepting Alaska,
- support for the sale withered in Russia, and later when Russia wanted to sell, half a dozen of the most
- influential American politicians led by Secretary of State William Seward of New York looked far into the
- future and saw the desirability of acquiring Alaska to serve as America's artic bastion, yet the hard-
- headed businessmen in the Senate, the House and the general public opposed the purchase with all the
- scorn they could summon. 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Seward's Folly' were two of the gentler jibes. Some
- critics accused Seward of being in the pay of the Russians; others accused De Stoeckl of buying votes in
- the House. One sharp satirist claimed that Alaska contained nothing but polar bears and Eskimos, and
- many protested that America should not accept this useless, frozen domain even if Russia wanted to give
- it away.
- Many pointed out that Alaska had no wealth of any kind, not even reindeer, which proliferated in other
- northern areas, and experts affirmed that an arctic area like this could not possibly have any minerals or
- other deposits of value. On and on went the abuse of this unknown and somewhat terrifying land, and the
- castigations would have been comical had they not influenced American thinking and behavior and
- condemned Alaska to decades of neglect.
- But an ingenious man like Baron de Stoeckl was not easily diverted from his main target, and with
- Seward's unflinching support and admirable statesmanship, the sale squeaked by with a favorable margin
- of one vote. By such a narrow margin did the United States come close to losing one of her potentially
- valuable acquisitions, but of course, had one viewed Alaska from the vantage point of frozen Fort Nulato
- in 1867, with the thermometer at minus-fifty-seven and about to be attacked by hostile Athapascans, the
- purchase at more than $7,000,000 would have seemed a poor bargain.
- Now the comedy intensified, became burlesque, for although the U.S Senate had bought the place,
- the U.S. House refused to appropriate the money to pay for it, and for many tense months the sale hung
- in the balance. When a favorable vote was finally taken, it was almost negated by the discovery that
- Baron de Stoeckl had disposed of $125,000 in cash for which he refused to give an accounting. Widely
- suspected of having bribed congressmen to vote for land that was obviously worthless, the baron waited
- until the sale was completed, then quietly slipped out of the country, his life's ambition having been
- achieved.
- One congressman with a keen sense of history, economics and geopolitics said of the whole affair:
- 'If we were so eager to show Russia our appreciation of the help she gave us during the Civil War, why
- didn't we give her the seven million and tell her to keep her damned colony? It'll never be of any use to
- us.'
Excerpt from: MICHENER, James A. Alaska. Fawcett Books: New York, 1988, p. 369 - 370.
Considering the whole excerpt, it is possible to say that:
I. the author depicts the historical facts, but shows his opinion by using irony;
II. the author describes the process by which the USA bought the Alaska territory, which belonged to Russia.
III. the statements ‘One sharp satirist' (line 20) and 'One congressman' (line 41) express the author’s own opinions and the ideas of historical characters whose names were not worth mentioning respectively.
According to Brown (2001, p.54), “it is appropriate [...] to focus on what we do know, what we have learned, and what we can say with some certainty about second language acquisition. We can then clearly see that a great many of a teacher’s choices are grounded in established principles of language learning and teaching. By perceiving and internalizing connections between practice (choices we make in the classroom) and theory (principles derived from research), our teaching is likely to be enlightened”.
The author divided twelve principles into three categories: cognitive, affective and linguistic.
Choose the alternative in which ALL the principles correspond to the given category
“During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, a revolution took place that affected much of the language teaching used in the twentieth century. The revolt was primarily against the stultifying methods of grammatical explanation and translation of texts which were then popular [...]. In its place, the pioneers of the new language teaching [...] emphasized [...] the naturalness of language learning” (COOK, 2013, p.3).
This new proposal generated some common assumptions that have been considered questionable in the past recent years.
Choose the alternative that DOES NOT correspond to any of these assumptions:
“Since the 1990s, research and theories from cognitive psychology have become increasingly central to our understanding of second language development. Some of these theories use the computer as a metaphor for the mind, comparing language acquisition to the capacities of computers for storing, integrating, and retrieving information. Some draw on neurobiology, seeking to relate observed behaviour as directly as possible to brain activity” (LIGHTBOWN; SPADA, 2013, p.108).
The current cognitive perspectives related to second language development are: Information Processing, Usage-based learning and The competition model. Correlate these perspectives with their main propositions:
1. Information Processing
2. Usage-based learning
3. The competition model.
A. This perspective sees second language acquisition as the building up of knowledge that can eventually be called on automatically for speaking and understanding. It has suggested that learners must pay attention (use cognitive resources) at first to any aspect of the language that they are trying to learn or produce. The model also suggests that there is a limit to how much information a learner can pay attention to.
B. This perspective emphasizes the frequency with which the learners encounter specific features in the input and the frequency with which language features occur together. According to this view learners develop a stronger and stronger network of associations or connections between these features as well as between language features and the contexts in which they occur.
C. This perspective is based on the hypothesis that language acquisition occurs without the necessity of a learner's focused attention or the need for any innate brain module that is specifically for language; it can be described as an explanation for language acquisition that takes into account not only language form but also language meaning and language use.
Choose the alternative which CORRECTLY correlates these perspectives with their main propositions:
“Since computers started to be introduced in language learning (and in education in general) people have rightly asked whether the investment we are making in these technologies gives us value for money. As digital technologies have taken a hold in society in general, this particular question is not asked quite so often, but it is still important to make sure that the technologies that we have available are used effectively” (MOTTERAM, 2013, p. 7).
According to the latest research on the use of technology for second language learning and teaching, it is INCORRECT to state that:
“L2 learning strategies are specific behaviors or thought processes that students use to enhance their own L2 learning” (OXFORD, 2003, p. 8).
Considering the six main categories of L2 learning strategies identified by Oxford (1990, apud OXFORD, 2003), it is CORRECT to affirm that:
“The field of English for specific purposes (ESP), which addresses the communicative needs and practices of particular professional or occupational groups, has developed rapidly in the past forty years to become a major force in English language teaching and research. ESP draws its strength from an eclectic theoretical foundation and a commitment to research-based language education which seeks to reveal the constraints of social contexts on language use and the ways learners can gain control over these” (HYLAND, 2006, p.2).
Some of the major perspectives that currently influence ESP are:
1. Needs analysis
2. Ethnography
3. Critical approaches
4. Contrastive rhetoric
5. Social constructionism
6. Discourse analysis
Correlate each perspective with its general ideas about ESP.
( ) This perspective draws attention to the fact that we are members of several such cultures simultaneously and critically highlights the conflicts inherent in these multiple memberships. In particular it emphasizes the potential clashes between the discourse conventions of professional and ethnic cultures. The question of who establishes the linguistic conventions of professional communities and whose norms are used to judge them is a central issue in ESP, and researchers have questioned the traditional view that those familiar with other conventions need to conform to Anglo-American norms when engaging in professional and particularly academic genres.
( ) This perspective suggests that knowledge and social reality are created through daily interactions between people and particularly through their discourse. It takes a critical stance towards taken-for-granted knowledge and, in opposition to positivism and empiricism in traditional science, questions the idea of an objective reality. It says that everything we see and believe is actually filtered through our theories and our language, sustained by social processes, which are culturally and historically specific. Discourse is therefore central to relationships, knowledge, and scientific facts as all are rhetorically constructed by individuals acting as members of social communities. The goal of ESP is therefore to discover how people use discourse to create, sustain, and change these communities; how they signal their membership; how they persuade others to accept their ideas; and so on.
( ) This perspective says that the use of systematic means to define the specific sets of skills, texts, linguistic forms, and communicative practices that a particular group of learners must acquire is central to ESP, informing its curricula and materials and underlining its pragmatic engagement with occupational, academic, and professional realities. It is a crucial link between perception and practice, helping ESP to keep its feet on the ground by tempering any excesses of academic theory-building with practical applications.
( ) It is a sophisticated theory of language concerned with the relationship between language and the functions it uses to perform in social contexts. In this view, language consists of a set of systems from which users make choices to most effectively express their intended meanings, and this fits neatly with ESP’s aims to demystify the academic and professional genres that will enhance or determine learners’ career opportunities.
( ) This perspective has helped to develop a growing sense in ESP that a social-theoretical stance is needed to fully understand what happens in institutions to make discourses the way they are. Increasingly, studies have turned to examine the ideological impact of expert discourses, the social distribution of valued literacies, access to prestigious genres, and the ways control of specialized discourses are related to status and credibility.
( ) This perspective considers that the members of discourse communities and the physical settings in which they work (with detailed observations of behaviors together with interviews and the analysis of texts) are the two main focuses of study which may provide a fuller picture of what is happening.
Choose the alternative which CORRECTLY correlates each perspective with its general ideas about ESP from top to bottom.
Brown (2004, p.19) states five principles of language assessment: “practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback”.
Read the statements below about these principles and check if they are correct or incorrect.
I. A test is practical when it stays within appropriate time constraints, is relatively easy to administer, has a scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific and time-efficient, and is not excessively expensive.
II. A reliable test is consistent and dependable. If the teacher gives the same test to the same student or matched students on two different occasions, the test should yield similar result. There are a number of factors that may contribute to the unreliability of a test: fluctuations in the student, in scoring, in test administration, and in the test itself.
III. Face validity will likely be high if learners encounter: expected format with familiar tasks, clear directions, reasonable level of difficulty, etc.
IV. Authenticity may be presented in the following ways: the language in the test is as natural as possible; items are contextualized; topics are meaningful (for the students); etc.
V. Language testing washback is a kind of positive reinforcement; the teacher praises the students for their correct answers and “forgets” their mistakes.
In relation to the previous statements, choose the CORRECT alternative:
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