Questões de Inglês - Vocabulário | Vocabulary para Concurso

Instruções: Considere o texto a seguir para responder às questões de números 37 a 44.

After nearly a decade of trying, Wal-Mart never cracked the country – failing to become the all-in-one shopping destination for Germans that it is for so many millions of Americans. Wal-Mart's problems are not limited to Germany. The retail giant has struggled in countries like South Korea and Japan as it discovered that its formula for success – low prices, zealous inventory control and a large array of merchandise – did not translate to markets with their own discount chains and shoppers with different habits.

Some of Wal-Mart's problems stem from being a uniquely powerful American enterprise trying to impose its values around the world. At Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., however, the message from these missteps is now registering loud and clear.

Among other things, Wal-Mart now cares (37) whether its foreign stores carry the name derived from its founder, Sam Walton, as the German Wal-Marts do. Seventy percent of WalMart's international sales come from outlets with names like Asda in Britain, Seiyu in Japan or Bompreço in Brazil. Far from being chastened by its setbacks, Wal-Mart is forging ahead with an aggressive program of foreign acquisitions. In a single week last fall, Wal-Mart completed the purchase of the Sonae chain in Brazil, bought a controlling stake in Seiyu of Japan, and became a partner in the Carcho chain in Central America.

Starting from scratch 14 years ago, Wal-Mart International [TO GROW] into a $63 billion business. It is the fastest-growing part of Wal-Mart, with nearly 30 percent sales growth in June, compared with the same month last year. Even subtracting one-time gains from acquisitions, it grew at nearly 12 percent, about double the rate of Wal-Mart's American stores.

Sustaining that pace is critical for Wal-Mart, because high fuel prices have helped sap the buying power of Americans. In June, store traffic in its home market declined. Wal-Mart estimated that its sales in the United States in stores open at least one year would increase only 1 percent to 3 percent in July.

Another problem that has afflicted Wal-Mart in several countries is its inability to compete with established discounters. The obvious lesson is to try to bulk up. In Brazil, Wal-Mart opened only 25 stores in its first decade there and struggled to compete against bigger local rivals. Then, in 2004, it bought Bompreço, giving it a presence in the country's poor, but fastgrowing, northeast.

Wal-Mart did not change the names of the stores, which range from neighborhood grocers to large American-style hypermarkets. But with 295 stores in Brazil, Wal-Mart now ranks third in the market, after Carrefour of France and the market leader, Companhia Brasileira de Distribução.

(Adapted from an article by Mark Landler and Michael Barbaro published in the New York Times, August 2, 2006)

Instruções: As questões de números 56 a 60 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Southwest pilot suspended for slur-laced rant on air-traffic frequency

By Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY

Southwest Airlines says it has suspended a pilot after he went on an obscenity-laden rant from the cockpit, NBC affiliate KPRC Channel 2 of Houston reports.

The March 25 rant was inadvertently broadcast over a Houston air traffic control frequency after the pilot failed to shut off his flight's communications link with air traffic control, a move that also tied up the frequency for other flights in the area, according to NBC 2.

NBC 2 says the unidentified pilot "could be heard talking to his co-pilot in the cockpit, expressing frustration over the airline hiring so many flight attendants that he found to be unsuitable for dating."

An air traffic controller tried to interrupt the pilot's rant several times, though the pilot appeared to be unaware of the attempts.

NBC 2 says the tape became public after "air traffic controllers in Houston first alerted Federal Aviation Administration supervisors on March 25, 2011, around 1:30 p.m. and those supervisors forwarded a tape of the episode to Southwest Airlines to take action against the pilot."

After the rant ended, several other pilots on the frequency were quick to say the rant didn't come from their flight.

Speaking about the incident, the FAA issued a statement to NBC 2 saying "the incident occurred during a phase of flight in which personal conversations are permitted in the cockpit."

However, the FAA did not appear to be pleased with what had happened.

"Nevertheless, the FAA expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews, regardless of the circumstances," the statement concluded.

(Adapted from: http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2011/06/ southwest-pilot/175250/1)

Instruções: As questões de números 53 a 55 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Cumulonimbus (Cb)

Cumulonimbus is a heavy and dense cloud of considerable vertical extent in the form of a mountain or huge tower, often associated with heavy precipitation, lightning and thunder. The mature Cumulonimbus cloud has a distinctive flat, anvil shaped top.

Flight into a Cb is highly dangerous. The only sensible defence against the hazards associated with a Cb is therefore to avoid flying into one in the first place.

− Planning. Predicting an individual Cb cell is difficult but it is possible to predict the conditions which will trigger formation of a Cb. Forecasters are therefore able to advise flight crews and controllers of the likely timing, location, direction of movement, and height of cells and whether or not they may be embedded. Airport authorities can plan aircraft movements to take into account the disruption to operations caused by storms, and approach controllers can consider how they will manage en-route, departing, and arriving traffic when storms are in the vicinity. Flight crews can alter their routings to avoid forecast Cb activity or decide to carry extra contingency fuel in case they have to re-route in flight to avoid the storms or burn additional fuel because of the potential use of aircraft de/anti-icing systems.

− Awareness. Awareness of the conditions which lead to the formation of a Cb, recognition of a developing and mature Cb, and awareness of the signs which indicate the proximity of a Cb will help controllers and flight crews to plan operations to avoid the associated hazards.

− Weather Radar. In addition to visual recognition, Weather Radar is a particularly valuable aid to avoiding Cb clouds. Airborne weather radar enables the flight crew to identify the areas of the storm cloud which hold the largest water droplets, which indicate the areas with strongest updrafts. The area of the cloud with the most severe turbulence is where the updrafts adjoin the downdrafts; ...[C]... the pilot must avoid flying through the edge of the areas of cloud with the largest water droplets. It should be remembered that a large cloud will absorb a great deal of the radar pulse which may therefore not penetrate all of the way through the storm. This can give a false impression that there are no Cb cells beyond the cell immediately ahead of the aircraft.

− In flight avoidance. In certain circumstances, navigating through a line of Cb cells may be the only option open to a pilot, either because his destination is beyond the line of cells or because he is unable to climb over them. In such circumstances, the aircraft may have to diverge from track by many, perhaps hundreds of miles, in order to find a gap in the wall of Cb clouds. The aircraft captain will need to judge the least hazardous track to follow through a line of cells, something which will absorb the whole crew’s attention. The Weather Radar is invaluable in this situation.

If the Cb cell is situated over the destination aerodrome, then the pilot would be well advised to hold off or divert rather than attempt a landing.

(Adapted from http://skybrary.aero/index.php/Cumulonimbus)