Questões de Concurso Sobre sinônimos | synonyms em inglês

O texto a seguir apresenta lacunas numeradas de 41 a 51, das quais foi omitida uma ou mais palavras. Assinale a alternativa que apresenta a palavra ou expressão que completa corretamente cada uma das lacunas numeradas, tanto quanto à correção gramatical como quanto ao sentido e estruturação do texto.

Why talk about language teaching methods at all? In recent years, a number of writers have criticized the very concept of (41) in our field. “Let’s just focus on learners and teachers and everything else will fall into place,” they seem to suggest. Some say that teachers see methods as prescriptions for classroom behavior and follow them too (42) , too inflexibly. By contrast, others argue that in planning their lessons, (43) don’t really think about codified methods at all. In the one view, methods and the prefabricated materials that embody them (44) teachers to mere technicians; in the other, teachers are mere improvisers in the here-and-now, with no use for general statements about how (45) acts may fit together. Either view should make any writer about methods and materials stop and think.

Having stopped and (46) , I find myself giving a single reply to both of the above objections: Language teachers are simply not “mere.” They are neither mere technicians (47) mere improvisers. They are professionals who make their own decisions, informed by their own (48) but informed also by the findings of researchers and by the accumulated, distilled, crystallized experience of their peers.

Let me then suggest three questions that we might well ask about “method,” together with my proposed answers:

What is a “method”? A method is more concrete than (49) . An approach is a set of understandings about what is at stake in learning and also about the equipment, mechanical or neurological, that is at work in learning. At the same time, a method is more abstract than a teaching act, which is a one-time event that can be recorded on videotape and on the neurocortexes of learners.

Is it possible to evaluate or to profit from an approach without embodying it in some kind of (50) ? Possible, perhaps, to some limited degree, but not easy.

Is it possible to improvise teaching acts apart from some more or less conscious approach? Possible, perhaps, but rare.

“Method,” then, seems to occupy a strategic mid-position between approach and (51) . For this reason, whoever would either think usefully about teaching or would teach thoughtfully can profit from learning about methods.

_{(E. W. Stevick, Working with Teaching Methods)}

As questões de números 31 a 35 referem-se ao texto a seguir.

Teaching Children Literacy Skills in a Second Language

by ANNE EDIGER

In recent years, there has been increased focus on the teaching of reading and other literacy skills to children, both in North America and abroad. Part of this may relate to the recognition that reading is probably the most important skill for second language (L2) learners in academic contexts, and part of it may come from an increase in the numbers of children worldwide who are learning English as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL or EFL). It may also be a result of the recent implementation of standards in much of public education in the United States and Canada, a movement built upon the belief that basic literacy instruction should be a fundamental component of public education.

Another possible factor contributing to an increased focus on literacy instruction to children in EFL contexts may be the growing numbers of countries that are moving toward making English language instruction mandatory from a younger age. Given the portability of books and other reading materials (as well as the increasing availability of reading material over the Internet), reading is gradually being recognized as a valuable source of language input, particularly for students in learning environments (as in some EFL contexts) in which fluent speakers of English are generally not available to provide other kinds of language input.

Notions of literacy are expanding as well. Although many different definitions of literacy can be found in the literature on the subject, and reading still seems to be primary to most of them, the teaching of writing and oral skills is increasingly being integrated with reading instruction for both native English speakers (NES) and English language learners (ELLs). Many of the new standards, both for ELLs and NES children, also integrate expectations for the development of all four language skills — reading, writing, listening, and speaking. In fact, increasingly, the large-scale standardized tests ask students to bring together all of these skills, requiring students to demonstrate competence in synthesizing information from multiple sources, or bringing information they have heard or read into written.

_{(Marianne Celce-Murcia (ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Adapted)}

Instruction: Answer questions 36 to 40 based on the following text.

Klingon to Dothraki: Invented languages gain popularity

1. The idea of invented languages is not new. People have been trying to create new tongues
2. for a long time. One of the most famous examples is Esperanto, created by Ludwik Zamenhof
3. in 1887 which he hoped would become __ globally spoken unifying language. The fact that it
4. is based on 16 very simple rules and took words from languages already present makes it very
5. easy to learn. This was a conscious decision by Zamenhof who hoped that if everyone spoke
6. one language, there would be fewer wars and conflicts.
7. So far, none of the existing constructed languages has achieved a large number of
8. speakers. Klingon, the invented language of Star Trek has around 20-30 speakers. Na’vi, the
9. language created for the movie “Avatar” has one fluent speaker, 10 intermediate speakers,
10. and over forty novices. Dothraki, which was crafted specifically for __ series Game of Thrones,
11. boasts seven intermediate speakers and around a hundred novices. For now, Garadálava has
12. exactly one speaker: Fynn Schlemminger himself.
13. However Esperanto is a notable exception: it’s estimated that the language has around
14. some 1,000 native speakers, and many parents teach it to their children. TV series, movies,
15. books, and especially the Internet have given invented languages a chance like never before.
16. According to the BBC, Esperanto, which was created almost exactly 100 years ago, is currently
17. experiencing a boost, mostly thanks to the language learning app Duolingo, and a highly
18. engaged online community. Wikipedia is also available in this language.
19. With the amount of time and effort it takes to learn a new language, it is rather unlikely
20. that __ invented tongue will achieve world domination in the same way English has. But it is
21. clear that there is rising interest in creating new languages. “Yes, there might be more of them
22. in the future, or more people will try their hand at it,” said Carpenter.

Fonte: adaptado de http://www.euronews.com/2018/04/25/from-klingon-to-dothraki-is-inventing-your-own-language-that-hard-

TEXT IV

Garfield

Disponível em: <http://fredisrich.blogspot.com.br/2009_02_01_archive.html>. Acesso em: 15 out. 2016.

INSTRUCTIONS – Read the following text carefully and then choose the correct alternatives that answer the questions.

THE SADDEST TWEETERS LIVE IN TEXAS

Melody Kramer for National Geographic - Published May 29, 2013

Researchers analyzed ten million tweets to map happiness in the U.S.

Average word happiness for geotagged tweets in U.S. states collected in 2011. Redder states have higher averages and bluer states have lower averages.

Image courtesy Mitchell et al, PLoS ONE

The town of Beaumont is known as "Texas … with a little something extra." But the industrial town along the Gulf Coast now has a more dubious distinction: It's been named the saddest city in America—at least, if you're measuring sadness on Twitter.

That's according to a group of researchers at the Vermont Complex Systems Center, who analyzed over 80 million words from more than ten million geotagged tweets written throughout 2011. The results of their study, published Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE, showed that the happiest tweeters in the U.S. live in Napa, California, and their sad counterparts live mostly in the Rust Belt and along the Gulf Coast border.

"You can infer a lot of information about an area based on what people are writing on Twitter," says Christopher Danforth, a mathematician and a co-author of the study.

Danforth explains how his team measured the emotional state of a tweet: They created a simple computer algorithm to analyze the words within the tweets themselves. Each word was measured on a happiness scale, which his team had previously created using paid workers from Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. The workers were asked to score more than 10,000 common English words on a happiness scale from 1 to 9. Words like "laughter," "love," "rainbow," and "smile" made the top of the list; at the very bottom—unsurprisingly—were words like "terrorist," "ugly," "cancer," "die," and "fatal."

A GEOGRAPHY OF HAPPINESS

Using that list, researchers then collected tweets from more than 300 separate cities and towns across the United States and created an algorithm to assess how frequently "happy" words occurred vs. how frequently "sad" words occurred in different places. For example, people in Napa were much more likely to tweet the word "hope" than were their counterparts living along the Gulf Coast.

"The differences in the words people used told us a lot about the cities themselves," says Lewis Mitchell, a mathematician and the study's lead author. "Essentially we were able to create a geography of happiness."

Many of the places at the very top of the list— Hawaii, Maine, and Napa—are also top vacation spots. A previous study by the same researchers indicated that people tend to use less-negative words when they're far away from home. But other places near the top of the list—like Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Spokane, Washington—aren't really tourist destinations.

The researchers say they plan to look at tourism's role in a future study. They also plan to analyze tweets in other languages. The current study looks only at tweets written in English, which could skew data in parts of the United States where many people tweet in Spanish.

In addition, the researchers plan to look at profanity more closely. Their current findings suggest that one of the major driving forces in a city's happiness—or lack thereof—is how frequently people use curse words in their tweets.

"People curse more and more as the day goes on," says Danforth, "but there are definitely places where profanity is more common. In the South, more people are cursing on Twitter. It's a tapestry of negative words."

TRENDING SADDER

He notes that many of the cities close to the bottom of their happiness list also rank low on other lists that measure factors like health outcomes and quality of life.

"The people at the bottom of our list live in states that are more socioeconomically depressed and where more natural disasters occur," he says."There are higher rates of poverty, and the median incomes are lower."

This might explain why places like Beaumont and Shreveport, Louisiana, have sadder tweets. But it doesn't explain one surprising finding: Tweets across the country are getting sadder, in general.

"If you go through all of the demographics since 2008, it's getting sadder everywhere," says Mitchell. "There's a strong downward trend. We don't know why this is."

He recently made a Twitter account— @geographyofhapp—that tracks the happiest and saddest cities on Twitter on a daily basis. But his own personal Twitter account—@dr_pyser— remains cheerfully optimistic.

"I try to be more conscious of what I'm talking about online and the way I talk about it," says Mitchell. "I try to put my best self out there."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/05/130529-saddest-happieststates-twitter-texas-maine-hawaii-california/y

Read the text to answer 31, 32 and 33.

What does ‘inclusive practises’ mean and

how can we ensure that all our classrooms

and work environments are truly inclusive?

Inclusion is about how we structure our schools, our classrooms and our lessons so that all our students learn and participate together. An inclusive classroom is one that creates a supportive environment for all learners, including those with learning differences and one that can also challenge and engage gifted and talented learners by building a more responsive learning environment. Inclusivity also means respecting people from all backgrounds and cultures. By teaching our students the importance of this, we can create a much more tolerant and understanding environment, not just in the classroom and school but also in wider society. An inclusive school or classroom can only be successful when all students feel they are truly part of the school community. This can only happen through open, honest discussion about differences and understanding and respecting people from all abilities and backgrounds. An inclusive environment is one where everyone feels valued. Some of the practises which might promote inclusivity are:

1) Create a supportive, respectful environment: promote diversity and fairness.

2) Have high expectations of all your students. Research shows that students respond better when they feel that their teacher has faith in their abilities and is not focusing on their inabilities.

3) Create a supportive peer culture both inside and outside the classroom. This is when you empower learners to respect and trust each other, making empathy and caring ‘fashionable’ and reinforcing positive and pro-social attitudes by encouraging learners to help each other.

4) Plan learning which includes participation from everyone and encourages success. You can do this by creating an environment which is ‘personalised to students’ needs and by talking about learning that focuses on what students can do and what they would like to do next.

5) Take a ‘community’ approach to learning and teaching. Inclusive values are developed through a student’s lived experience and their exposure to other cultures and world-views. Bring your community into the classroom and take your classroom out to the community.

(Available in: https://www.cambridge.org › elt › blog › 2017/11/15. Adapted.)

How centuries of priceless treasures were saved at Notre Dame

_{(https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/notre-dame-art-saved-intl/index.html)}

Jean-Marc Fournier didn't have much time. As flames ripped through Notre Dame cathedral's medieval roof on Monday evening, the Paris fire brigade chaplain had a single mission -- to rescue two of its most sacred relics.

The problem was that the Crown of Thorns, revered as having been worn by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion, and the tabernacle, containing the Eucharist or holy sacrament, were locked inside a safe in the church's treasury that no one knew how to open.

"We couldn't get the codes... we couldn't get hold of the people who had them," Fournier said Wednesday.

Finally, as the flames high above crept closer to Notre Dame's famous spire, a church officer appeared with the crypt key, and the chaplain and firefighters rushed in.

Inside, red-hot embers and debris drifted down from the vast rib-vaulted ceiling. Fournier watched as a team of firefighters broke open the safe and extracted the crown. Made of rushes bound by gold threads, it has been encased in a crystal tube since eighteen ninety-six.

The chaplain joined a human chain of firefighters, emergency workers and antiquities experts to pass the crown and other irreplaceable treasures out of the burning church and into safety. Their efforts in those first few hours would save hundreds of years of art, history and heritage that Fournier said "belongs to humanity and the world at large."

Instruction: Answer questions 41 to 53 based on the following text.

Why Learning Is A New Procrastination

1. The tremendous world of online courses, blogs, social media, free eBooks, podcasts, and
2. webinars provides the best ever opportunity to broaden your knowledge in almost every sphere
3. you can imagine. Thanks to technological advancement and the instant access to the internet,
4. everyone can now study from home. It seems like it would be foolishly not to seize this
5. opportunity and improve your skills and knowledge. Moreover, you are kind of forced to do so
6. since the contemporary world has raised the bar higher than ever before. It literally invited you
7. to gather the pace and ___________ even more.
8. It is not surprising that, ultimately, you try to be everywhere and do everything. No doubt,
9. you do your best to constantly gather tiny bits of information from as many channels as
10. possible, because you are afraid that you will fall behind if you stop. After all, you enter a
11. learning crunch mode. You do not afford to miss anything and try to read every book you could
12. get your hands on. You listen to every single podcast your smartphone could download and take
13. every online course your paycheck would allow to take.
14. All in all, you learn. As much as possible. As intense as you manage to. You learn how to
15. write and publish a new book. You learn how to launch a successful blog. You learn how to hit
16. your goal on Kickstarter. You learn how to build the next “unicorn”. You learn how to land a job
17. of your dream. You learn how to successfully sell thousands of items on Amazon. You learn how
18. to make millions of dollars in passive income.
19. However, the problem is that you do everything except taking action. All those activities do
20. not take you closer to the things you want to accomplish. Better knowledge does not make you
21. more influential, powerful, and successful unless you apply it. The key secret to success is not
22. ________ expertise, but the ability to use it.
23. Knowledge is worthless unless it is applied. Needless to say that studying is crucial.
24. However, the thing is that it should take the entirely new form now. You should stop learning
25. from someone else’s experiences, knowledge, failures, and wins and start learning from your
26. own mistakes, adventures, ___________, and bold actions.
27. Learning has become a major trend of the 21st century. Sadly, it has also become a new
28. form of procrastination. You consciously postpone the first step justifying this by your eagerness
29. to broaden the knowledge and learn new things. You put the start date off justifying this by
30. your desire to pick up new skills that would help you succeed faster. You procrastinate over
31. chasing your own aspirations because doing the things on your own and creating your own story
32. of success is far more complicated than reading about someone else’s one. Meanwhile, no one
33. would really reproach you for wasting your time. Also, you feel comfortable about staying within
34. this zone of ease and convenience forever.
35. However, the point is that you already have and know everything you need to start off. In
36. fact, there is nothing more you need to learn in order to take the first step. Embrace the truth.
37. No matter how good your theoretical knowledge is, you will face a lot of obstacles while
38. applying it. You will have to deal with issues that have never been described or covered in any
39. book. You will have to look for the solutions and make the spontaneous decisions that no one
40. probably has ever thought of. You will have to design your own road to success.
41. Transform your learning process from the continuous the procrastination into an
42. unstoppable process of absorbing invaluable expertise based on your own experience. It might
43. seem counterintuitive, but the old-fashioned way of learning is what holds you back. This is
44. what makes your triumphs suck.
45. Constant learning, evaluating of ideas, thinking, and visualizing your journey towards your
46. major aspirations will not take you far from the place you are now. Actions will. You can sit and
47. research, and research, and research, while someone else is already reaping huge rewards for
48. his or her fruitful and hard work. Stop learning now. Become bold enough to take the first step
49. and start learning from your own experience.

Source: https://medium.com/the-coffeelicious/why-learning-is-a-new-procrastination-104b53107e8b

What is the cycle tourism?

Cycle tourism, cycle travelling, bike tourism… Many names for the same big passion. The cycle tourism is a form of tourism by bicycle that seems to gain ________ more attention even ________ people who are not passionate cyclists.

Who decide to travel by bike are not interested in getting fit, in how long takes to get to a place and in the athletic training: on the contrary the cycle tourism is a way of travelling that allow people to get to know places and people with a more human pace, not just to visit places but above all to live your destinations.

You can travel by bicycle for a few days or also for a few weeks, to go for a day tour or for a weekend in an art city for instance. The advantages of cycle tourism are many; the very reasonable travelling costs, more freedom in planning your trip even when travelling, more authentic way of travelling and exploring and the chance to do something for the environment.

Like many other forms of eco-sustainable tourism, the cycle tourism is convenient, it is good for your spirit and the planet!

(Fonte: Bikenbike - adaptado.)

Instruction: Answer to questions 38 to 47 based on the text below. The Highlights throughout the text are cited in the questions.

Caribou

01 ____Large hoofed animals belonging to the deer family, caribou and reindeer are actually the

02 same species — Rangifer tarandus. There are differences between caribou and reindeer though.

03 Caribou are native to North America, whereas reindeer are native to northern Europe and Asia.

04 Alaska does have some reindeer, however, imported from Siberia in the late 19th and early 20th

05 centuries.

06 ____Some people use the term "reindeer" to refer to domesticated work animals, such as those

07 pulling Santa's sleigh, but there are both wild and domestic herds of reindeer. Caribou, on the

08 other hand, are wild-living and long-migrating. Indigenous groups herd reindeer and use them for

09 their meat. That's also likely why reindeer evolved to be stockier than caribou.

10 ____Caribou make one of the world's great large-animal migrations. As summer approaches,

11 they head north along well-trod annual routes. Some herds may travel more than 600 miles to

12 get to their summer grazing grounds. They'll spend the summer months feeding on the abundant

13 grasses and plants of the tundra. This is also when they give birth. When the first snows fall each

14 year, the caribou turn back south. Herds of female caribou, called cows, leave several weeks

15 before the males, which follow with yearling calves from the previous birthing season.

16 ____They are taller and lankier than reindeer, likely because they evolved to make these long

17 migrations. They are the only deer in which males and females both have antlers—though only

18 some females have them. Cows have one calf each year, which can stand after only a few minutes

19 and move on with its mother by the next day.

20 ____Caribou are classified as vulnerable to extinction, one step above endangered. Because

21 they're migratory, changes in the landscape, such as the appearance of new fences or other

22 human development on their migration routes, can be especially disruptive. Climate change is

23 also a threat. As the Arctic warms, they become more susceptible to diseases and parasites,

24 which could quickly spread through a herd.

(Available in: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/caribou – text adapted especially

for this test).

Instruction: answer questions 51 to 58 based on the following text.

Eve Rodsky’s deck of cards could help you find domestic bliss

1. Eve Rodsky was fed up. For years she, like many other women, had shouldered the burden
2. of invisible labor at home. Rodsky, a Harvard-educated lawyer and organizational management
3. specialist who advises families and charitable foundations, was tired of being the “she-fault”
4. parent. So, she started a spreadsheet titled “Shit I do.” “After months and months of
5. crowdsourcing this beautiful, giant spreadsheet, I sent this to my husband and said, ‘Can’t wait
6. to discuss.'”
7. Rodsky shared the spreadsheet on Facebook. Soon, she was receiving messages from
8. strangers who had seen it, detailing the domestic indignities they faced. She wanted to channel
9. that frustration into something productive, and then Rodsky realized she could apply
10. organizational management principles to the home. When Sarah Harden, the CEO of the media
11. and production company Hello Sunshine, met Rodsky, she realized Rodsky was onto something
12. novel. “After 40 to 50 years of talking about the problems, she was working on a solution. [At
13. Hello Sunshine], (...) We like to be on the problem-solving end of the conversation rather than
14. wallowing” said Harden.
15. The result is Rodsky’s book, Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too
16. Much to Do (and More Life to Live), which came out in October. (Hello Sunshine inked a unique
17. deal with Rodsky as a venture partner, which means the company helped sell the book to a
18. publisher and will take a cut of its profits.) A key piece of Rodsky’s solution is gamifying the
19. notion of fair play with a set of cards. “So this is based on a 100 card game. You’re holding cards
20. that represent all that you do for your home and family.”
21. The author believes the cards can help couples navigate their domestic balance by helping
22. them to talk about home life (which most people don’t do) and take full ownership of the tasks
23. (concept, planning, and execution). The ultimate goal of redistributing domestic work, according
24. to Rodsky, is to free up time for what she calls “unicorn space” — the stuff that might feel like a
25. luxury or pipe dream to most parents. “This is about making time for the things we actually care
26. about — who we were before we had kids,” she said. “What are our passions and purpose,
27. beyond being a parent and a partner and a worker? The more we spend time arguing about who
28. does what, the less time we have for the things that truly matter.”

Adapted from: https://www.fastcompany.com/90425669/eve-rodskys-deck-of-cards-could-help-you-find-domestic-bliss

Text for items from 16 to 20.

1 Nowadays, occupational therapists have access

to many technological features that aid patients in

overcoming their physical limitations.

4 While many traditional OT methods are still

highly effective, using technology can help with patient

engagement, especially in the case of young children.

7For example, a child whose treatment includes drawing

or coloring can use an iPad, instead of crayons, messy

markers and coloring books to practice these skills.

10 Elderly patients can use virtual assistants, like

Alexa or Siri, to control their environment without having

to get up or ask others for help. While teaching patients

13 how to use a virtual assistant may sound unconventional,

keep in mind the goal of occupational therapy is to help

someone become more independent, which is something

16 a virtual assistant does.

Internet: (with adaptations).

Scientists study the world’s oldest person

1. After being bewildered by the “super grandmother’s” great health at 116 years old,
2. scientists are studying Maria Branyas, the world’s oldest person, in an attempt to unearth the
3. secret to a long life. Mr. Branyas was born __ San Francisco __ 1907, and __ the age of eight,
4. she moved __ Catalonia, Spain, where her family was originally from. Ms. Branyas, known to her
5. X followers as the “Super Catalan Grandma”, has lived in the region ever since and has resided
6. in the same nursing home, Residència Santa María del Tura, for the last 22 years.
7. She has agreed to undergo scientific testing, which researchers hope will further their
8. understanding of certain illnesses associated with old age, such as neurodegenerative or
9. cardiovascular diseases. Despite her age, Ms. Branyas has no health complications other than
10. mobility issues and hearing (she suffered permanent hearing loss when she was a child). She also
11. still has a great memory: “She has a completely lucid head,” scientist Manel Esteller told ABC, a
12. Spanish outlet. “She remembers with impressive clarity episodes of her when she was only four
13. years old, and she does not present any cardiovascular disease, common in elderly people.”
14. Esteller, who studies genetics and how it applies to health conditions, became curious about how
15. Ms. Branyas’ genetic makeup might affect her aging. After a long talk with Ms. Branyas, Mr.
16. Esteller believes there must be more to her longevity than meets the eye.
17. The remarkable woman has not had an easy life; she survived an earthquake while she
18. was in the US, a major fire, both world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish Flu pandemic,
19. and more recently, COVID-19 in 2020. Despite the various pandemics, wars, and family losses
20. she has endured, her longevity has made scientists question what her secret could be. “We know
21. Maria’s chronological age, 116 years, but we must determine her biological age,” Esteller said to
22. ABC, believing that “she is much younger” physically. The scientist has taken biological samples
23. of saliva, blood, and urine from Ms. Branyas, which are thought to be the “longest-lived” biological
24. samples and have great scientific value, Josep Carreras, the head of a leukemia research institute,
25. said to ABC. The samples will be compared with the 116-year-old’s middle daughter, who is 79
26. years old.
27. Ms. Branyas often has been asked what her secret is to her long life, and she uses her X
28. account to post her advice for others. She attributed her longevity to “order, tranquillity, good
29. connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no
30. regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people”. However, she also credits a great
31. amount of luck. “It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members
32. of her family who are over 90 years old,” said Esteller. The rare biological samples will assess her
33. genes, which will hopefully advance the research of drugs that could help diseases associated
34. with age and cancer. As for Ms. Branyas, she said on her X account that she is “very happy she
35. can be useful for research and progress”.

(Available in: https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/lifestyle/maria-branyas-oldest-person-alive-spain-b2436228.html – text especially adapted for this test).