Questões de Inglês - Grammar

Texto para a questão

Samsung developing technology to create fake videos from one single photo.

With new technology like this in development, seeing will no longer mean believing.

news.com.au MAY 28, 2019

Researchers at Samsung’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre in Moscow have created an algorithm that can generate videos using only one image.

The development has caused some worry among technology experts and commentators, ¹who see it as a worrying step towards making fake content creation easier.

In a paper published in the preprint journal ArXiv, and in an accompanying video demo, the algorithm creates a video using a single still image, such as the Mona Lisa painting or a photo of Salvador Dali.

The video can be created using one single image but the more images are used, the better the quality.

A sample of 32 images produces a video of near lifelike accuracy

Current AI systems usually require the algorithm to scan large sets of data of a body and face before it can produce a moving picture based on it.

With this new technology, however, creating fake videos will become a lot easier.

The Samsung algorithm was trained using the publicly available VoxCeleb database which has more than 7000 images of celebrities from YouTube videos.

Since the algorithm recognises common characteristics of a person’s face and body, as opposed to specific traits of a subject, it’s able to quickly extrapolate images with little input.

This method also means that the technology is applicable toward non-celebrities and can be used on anyone, even people ²who died a long time ago and were never captured on video.

The AI is currently only able to produce “talking head” style videos from the shoulders up.

Skeptics of deepfake technology, as it is referred to, worry it will be used to spread misinformation and fake news or to steal people’s identity.

TEXTO:

    What might your office or apartment have in
common with a NASA spaceship? Unfortunately the
answer may be poor air quality. Indoor air pollutants have
been ranked among the top five environmental risks to
[5] public health. Living and working in places rife with air
contaminants and lacking decent ventilation can cause
“Sick Building Syndrome”, which can cause headaches,
dizziness, nausea, and eye, ear, and nose
irritations.Given that people spend more than 90 percent
[10] of their time indoors, air quality matters. Furnishings,
upholstery, synthetic building materials, and cleaning
products in homes and offices can emit a variety of toxic
compounds, like formaldehyde. Indoor air pollution can
also be caused by pollen, bacteria, and molds, as
[15] outdoor air contaminants like car exhaust finds its way
into buildings. All of these are made worse in small
or poorly-ventilated spaces.
    Lucky for us, NASA scientists have been working
to understand this problem and find solutions.The good
[20] news is that there’s an easy and affordable way to
combat the presence of the yucky stuff we may be
breathing in, and it comes right from the natural world:
Use houseplants to clean the air. Plants purify theair,
making them part of what NASA calls “nature’s life
[25] support system,” although plants in bloom may be
contributing their own compounds to the air.
    So, how do houseplants clean the air? Plants
absorb some of the particulates from the air at the same
time that they take in carbon dioxide, which is then
[30] processed into oxygen through photosynthesis. But
that’s not all—microorganisms associated with the
plants are present in the potting soil, and these microbes
are also responsible for much of the cleaning effect.
    Beyond air quality, plants just make people feel
[35] better. For example, hospital patients with plants in their
rooms were more positive and had lower blood pressure
and stress levels. Similarly, indoor plants may make
people smarter by allowing them to stay alert and
reducing mental fatigue.

JANOWIAK, Maria. Disponível em: greatist.com/connect/houseplantsthat-clean-air. Acesso em: 1 nov. 2018. Adaptado.

INSTRUÇÃO: Leia o texto que segue para responder à questão proposta.

THE STORY OF ELLIS ISLAND
Mass migrations have marked the history of the human race ever since people began to dream of a better life 

    Migration is in the news these days, as Donald Trump tries to set up new physical and administrative barriers
against people wanting to enter the USA – mostly from Central America, Asia and Africa. But a century ago, the USA
welcomed immigrants, most of them people from Europe who were migrating in mass, looking for a better life in the
USA. Ellis Island, the small island in New York Harbor was, for millions of would-be immigrants, their first experience
[5] of the promised land.
    The year is 1906, the date November 16th. Franz and Ulrike Schumacher and their three children have just
disembarked from the Hamburg-Amerika line steamship that has carried them across the stormy North Atlantic
Ocean from Germany.
    Like the thousands of other people milling around them, they are totally bewildered, caught up in a mixture of
[10] hope and apprehension, as they crowd into a vast waiting room. The room sounds like the Tower of Babel, for few of
those in it speak a word of English. They speak German, Polish, Dutch, Hungarian, or Russian maybe, yet they have
come, seeking a new life in a new world; and now they are on American soil for the first time. This is America!
America! Or at least it is Ellis Island.
    After interminable hours of waiting, the Schumacher family are finally called to a desk; immigration officials
[15] study their papers, and ask them where they intend to go. They don't ask how long they're planning to stay, however,
since they know the answer already. All those who pass through Ellis Island – and that could mean over 11,000
people per day – are would-be immigrants. They are looking to start a new life in a new world.
    For many, passing through Ellis Island was not so much a matter of stepping into a new world, it was stepping
into a new life, a new character. And so it was that the man who finally led his family through the door and onto the
[20] ferry packed with a jostling crowd of new Americans was not Franz Schumacher any more, but Frank Shoemaker,
even if he still didn't understand more than a couple of words of English.

Disponível em: https://linguapress.com/advanced/ellis-island.htm. Acesso em: 7 out. 2019. Adaptado. 

Read the text below and answer question.

Culture linked to improved health

[1] Trips to the theatre, concerts, art galleries and museums have been linked to better health and
wellbeing, according to researchers in Norway.
A report, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, showed the more
often people engaged in cultural activities the greater their health benefits.
[5] The authors suggest culture could be used to promote good health.
The study interviewed 50,797 adults from Norway. They were asked about their health, and
satisfaction with life, as well as levels of anxiety and depression.
They were also questioned about their involvement in two cultural fields: "creative culture" when
the person does something such as play an instrument, paint or sing, and "receptive culture"
[10] including going to galleries and concerts.
Both types of cultural activity were linked with good health, wellbeing, low stress and low
depression even when other factors, such as social background and wealth, were taken into
account.
In men the effect was most pronounced in those who preferred to get their dose of culture as an
[15] observer rather than doing something more hands on.
The authors said: "The results indicate that the use of cultural activities in health promotion and
healthcare may be justified."
The study, however, cannot say that culture improves health. It could be the case that healthier
people are more likely to take part in cultural activities.
[20] Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, spokesperson for the UK Faculty of Public Health, said: "It's
interesting research, probably working through the release of hormones, like endorphins,
increasing the feeling of wellbeing and reducing anxiety and depression."
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13501294 24 May 2011 Last updated at 10:46 GMT

GLOSSARY
Engaged: envolvidas, comprometidas
Fields: campos
Health: saúde
Increasing: aumentando
Norway: Noruega
Release: liberação
Research: pesquisa
Spokesperson: porta-voz
Wealth: riqueza
Wellbeing: bem-estar

Directions: Read the text below and answer question according to the text.

TEXT

The search for life beyond Earth

    We have always been fascinated by the thought of
alien life elsewhere in the universe. The idea has
provided the basis for a huge wealth of science fiction
stories that have been limited only by our imaginations.
[5] But can other creatures exist in the vast reaches of
space or on other planets or moons? And are there
other intelligent forms of life out there—or are we more
likely to find something much simpler?
Where are all the aliens?
[10]    Our Sun is just one star among billions in our
galaxy. In the last few years, scientists have detected
thousands of planets around other stars and it seems
that most stars have planetary systems. It’s therefore
likely that there will be large numbers of habitable
[15] planets in the Milky Way galaxy and beyond that are
capable of supporting intelligent life. Some of these
intelligent civilisations, if they’re out there, may have
even developed interstellar travel.
Are there other intelligent forms of life out there—or
[20] are we more likely to find something much simpler?
    But Earth hasn’t been visited by any intelligent
aliens (yet?). This apparent high probability of life,
combined with a lack of evidence for its existence, is
called the Fermi Paradox, named for the physicist
[25] Enrico Fermi who first outlined¹ the argument back in
1950. This begs the question: where is everybody?
    Back in 1961, astronomer Francis Drake tried to
rationalise this question by developing an equation that
takes into account² all the factors relevant to finding
[30] alien civilisations and gives an estimate of the number
of civilisations out there in the galaxy that should be
able to communicate with us. It considers factors such
as the rate³ of new star formation, how many planets
around those new and existing stars might be able to
[35] support life, the number of planets supporting intelligent
life, how many of those civilisations might have
technology we can detect, whether they’re likely to
communicate with us here on Earth, and so on.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence
[40]    Scientists and radio astronomers have started the
search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in a
systematic manner. Several international organisations,
including the SETI Institute and the SETI League, are
using radio telescopes to detect signals that might have
[45] been produced by intelligent life.
    In 1995, the SETI Institute started Project Phoenix,
which used three of the most powerful radio telescopes
in the world: the Green Bank radio telescope in West
Virginia, USA; the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico;
[50] and the Parkes radio telescope in NSW, Australia.
During its initial phase, Project Phoenix used the
Parkes telescope to search for signals coming from 202
Sun-like stars as distant as 155 light years away. By the
end of its operations, Project Phoenix had scanned a
[55] total of 800 ‘nearby’⁴ (up to 240 light years away) stars
for signs of life. The project detected some cosmic
noises, but none of that could be attributed to aliens.
    These days, anyone can become involved in the
search for extraterrestrial intelligence through their
[60] personal computer.
    While there’s currently excitement about sending
human crews to Mars, missions beyond the Red Planet
are at this stage pretty much not feasible⁵ the distances
and travel times involved are simply too great.
[65] Basically, all exploration for life beyond Earth will need
to be done using robotic space probes⁶ and landing
rovers. These instruments can provide a huge wealth of
information and are capable of exploring as far away as

Pluto, perhaps even beyond our solar system. But as
[70] for life beyond the solar system, the nearest stars are
several light years away, and even communications by
electromagnetic waves (which all travel at the speed of
light) are essentially going to be a one-way message.
    While we probably won’t find intelligent life too close
[75] to home, there’s a chance we may still find much
simpler life forms. Do we have neighbours beyond
Earth? Time will tell—and the search continues.

(Adapted from https://www.science.org.au/curious/space-time/search-lifebeyond-earth – Access on 16/02/19)

Glossary:
    1. to outline – describe or give the main fact about something
    2. to take into account – consider something
    3. rate – expansion
    4. nearby – short distance away
    5. feasible – appropriate; suitable
    6. space probe – spy satellite