Questões Militares

                                                        Text 3

                                   Xerox and the Icarus Paradox

                                                                                                             Schilling, Melissa A.

Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, Mc Graw-Hill International Edition, Fourth Edition

      According to Greek mythology, when King Minos imprisoned the crafstman Daedalus and his son Icarus, Daedalus built wings of wax and feathers so that he and his son could fly to their escape. Icarus was so enthralled by his wings and drawn to the light of the sun that despite his father's warning, he flew too high. The sun melted his wings, crashing Icarus to death in the sea. This was the inspiration for the now well-known Icarus Paradox – that which you excel at can ultimately be your undoing. Success can engender overconfidence, carelessness, and an unquestioning adherence to one's way of doing things.

      For example, in the 1960s and 1970s, Xerox had such a stranglehold on the photocopier market that it did not pay much attention when new Japanese competition began to infiltrate the market for smaller, inexpensive copiers. Xerox management did not believe competitors would ever be able to produce machines comparable to Xerox's quality and cost. However, Xerox was dangerously wrong. By the mid-1970s, Xerox was losing market share to the Japanese at an alarming rate. When Canon introduced a copier that sold for less than Xerox's manufacturing costs, Xerox knew it was in trouble and had to engage in a major benchmarking and restructuring effort to turn the company around.

                                                     Text 1

                                                         TEXT III

        A new Aviation English Test Speaks of Pilots’ voices and aviation safety

In addition ___(1) the development ___(2) various tests ___(3) response ___(4) the ICAO’s language proficiency requirement, a new test has been designed using flight simulators, ___(5) consideration of both the test takers and the ICAO’s fundamental focus ___(6) aviation safety. The test provides a familiar and work-related testing environment ___ (7) pilots, an efficient and cost-effective test system ___(8) airlines, and international credibility and valid evaluation tools to states, while fully covering both aviation and plain English Assessment needs.

                         (Jason Park and Tyler Kong ALTEON Training Asia LLC Seoul, Korea.) 

                                                     TEXT II

                                      LANGUAGE TEACHING

Languages are taught and learned in various places, some in informal settings, others in formal contexts, such as classrooms. It is common knowledge that regardless of the method used, second language learners achieve mastery of the target language to varying degrees. Although 10 individuals may be in the same language class for a year, their eventual proficiency level and profile will be different from one another. This is the result of a combination of the factors briefly mentioned above, compounded with the pedagogical methods that the learner has encountered. Generally speaking, it can be stated that most individuals learn to communicate basic information through a conversation in the target language in the first few years of active language study (provided that there are opportunities to use the language to create personal meaning). It is important to note that mere exposure or contact with the target language in most cases is not sufficient to result in productive language skills.

                                  (http://www.aeservices.net/English/newsletters/Oct2007.html#B2)