Questões de Inglês - Reading/Writing

A questão referem-se ao texto a seguir.

Origins of Corn

 Corn, also known as maize, is the most important food crop of the Americas, cultivated by hundreds of different tribes. A large number of Indian myths deal with the origin of corn and how it came to be grown by humans. Many of the tales center on a "Corn Mother" or other female figure who introduces corn to the people. Those women goddesses are associated with fertility.

 The Zuni people of the southwestern United States have a myth about eight corn maidens. The young women are invisible, but their beautiful dancing movements can be seen when they dance with the growing corn as it waves in the wind.

 Native Americans of the Southeast hold a Green Corn Dance to celebrate the New Year. This important ceremony thanking the spirits for the harvest. It involves rituals of purification and forgiveness and a variety of dances. Finally, the new corn can be offered to a ceremonial fire, and a great feast follows.

 Corn played an important mythological role in many tribes as well – in some cultures, Corn was a respected deity, while in others, corn was a special gift to the people from the Creator or culture hero. In addition to its importance as a food source, corn also played a ceremonial role in many tribes, with sacred corn pollen or cornmeal being used as ritual adornment and spiritual offerings.

(Texto adaptado, disponível em: . Acesso: 25 jun. 2017)

Vocabulário

Female – feminina, mulheres

Maidens – moças, donzelas

Growing – crescendo

Waves – fazem ondas

Cornmeal – comida feita com milho

Harvest – colheita

Happiness

It was almost nightfall. The whole day: rain, torrents of rain. Drenched to the bone, I arrived in a

little Calabrian village. I had to find a hearth where I could dry out, a corner where I could sleep.

The streets were deserted, the doors bolted. The dogs were the only ones to scent the stranger’s

breath; they began to bark from within the courtyards. The peasants in this region are wild and

[5]  misanthropic, suspicious of strangers. I hesitated at every door, extended my hand, but did not

dare to knock.

O for my late grandfather in Crete!, who took his lantern each evening and made the rounds of

the village to see if any stranger had come. He would take him home, feed him, give him a bed for

the night, and then in the morning see him off with a cup of wine and a slice of bread. Here in the

[10]  Calabrian villages there were no such grandfathers.

Suddenly I saw an open door at the edge of the village. Inclining my head, I looked in: a murky

corridor with a lighted fire at the far end and an old lady bent over it. She seemed to be cooking.

I crossed the threshold and entered. I reached the fire and sat down on a stool which I found in

front of the hearth. The old lady was squatting on another stool, stirring the meal with a wooden

[15]  spoon. I felt that she eyed me rapidly, without turning. But she said nothing. Taking off my jacket,

I began to dry it. I sensed happiness rising in me like warmth, from my feet to my shins, my thighs,

my breast. Hungrily, avidly, I breathed in the delicious smell of the steam rising from the pot.

Once more I realized to what an extent earthly happiness is made to the measure of man. It is not

a rare bird which we must pursue at one moment in heaven, at the next in our minds. Happiness

[20]  is a domestic bird in our own courtyards.

As soon as we finished, she prepared a bed for me on a bench to the right of the table. I lay down,

and she lay down on the other bench opposite me. Outside the rain was falling by the bucketful.

For a considerable time I heard the water cackle on the roof, mixed with the old lady’s calm, quiet

breathing. She must have been tired, for she fell asleep the moment she inclined her head. Little

[25]  by little, with the rain and the old lady’s respiration, I too slipped into sleep. When I awoke, I saw

daylight peering through the cracks in the door.

The old lady had already risen and placed a saucepan on the fire to prepare the morning milk.

I looked at her now in the sparse daylight. Shriveled and hump, she could fit into the palm of

your hand. Her legs were so swollen that she had to stop at every step and catch her breath.

[30]  But her eyes, only her large, pitch-black eyes, gleamed with youthful, unaging brilliance. How

beautiful she must have been in her youth, I thought to myself, cursing man’s fate, his inevitable

deterioration. Sitting down opposite each other again, we drank the milk. Then I rose and slung

my carpetbag over my shoulder. I took out my wallet, but the old lady colored deeply.

“No, no,” she murmured, extending her hand.

[35]  As I looked at her in astonishment, the whole of her wrinkled face suddenly gleamed.

“Goodbye, and God bless you,” she said. “May the Lord repay you for the good you’ve done me.

Since my husband died I’ve never slept so well.”

NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS* http://grammar.about.com 

Leia o texto a seguir e responda à questão.

Prison without guards or weapons in Brazil

    Tatiane Correia de Lima is a 26-year-old mother of two who is serving a 12-year sentence in Brazil. The South American country has the world’s fourth largest prison population and its jails regularly come under the spotlight for their poor conditions, with chronic overcrowding and gang violence provoking deadly riots.

    Lima had just been moved from a prison in the mainstream penitential system to a facility run ______(1) the Association for the Protection and Assistance to Convicts (APAC) in the town of Itaúna, in Minas Gerais state. Unlike in the mainstream system, “which steals your femininity”, as Lima puts it, at the APAC jail she is allowed to wear her own clothes and have a mirror, make-up and hair dye. But the difference between the regimes is far more than skin-deep.

    The APAC system has been gaining growing recognition as a safer, cheaper and more humane answer to the country’s prison crisis. All APAC prisoners must have passed through the mainstream system and must show remorse and be willing to follow the strict regime of work and study which is part of the system’s philosophy. There are no guards or weapons and visitors are greeted by an inmate who unlocks the main door to the small women’s jail.

    Inmates are known as recuperandos (recovering people), reflecting the APAC focus ______(2) restorative justice and rehabilitation. They must study and work, sometimes in collaboration with the local community. If they do not - or if they try to abscond - they risk being returned to the mainstream system. There have been physical fights but never a murder at an APAC jail.

Adapted from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44056946

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

SOME OF THE INTERNET'S CRAZIEST CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Michael Jackson Is Still Alive

  The advent of the internet hasn't just cooked up¹

new conspiracy theories, it's also accelerated existing

ones. If you refuse to believe that it was the Iranians that

[5] killed him, perhaps you'll be convinced that MJ is actually

still alive. Proof? His own daughter Paris Jackson took a

photo of him. Seriously. What do you mean you don't

see him? He's right there in the back seat, stacked²

under that pile of clothes wearing his iconic hat. Believe,

[10] man. Thriller Vol.2 to drop next year.

    The Moon Doesn't Exist

  It's no good looking at it, night after night. The

moon doesn't exist. It's a hologram, put there by persons

unknown. Of course, serial conspiracy theorist David

[15] Icke has a theory. There are also countless YouTubers

keeping an eye out, one of whom has gone as far as

"looking at it regularly for a year".

    Jay Z Is A Time-Travelling Vampire

  There are vast regions of the internet devoted to

[20] explaining why Jay Z is part of the Illuminati. Hence³

when this photo, which was taken in New York in 1939,

appeared last year, he was accused of being a timetraveller.

And a vampire. This video lists other old-time

celebrity lookalikes⁴, as well as suggesting that

[25] Hollywood stars don't age because they're the immortal

bloodsucking undead. Not because they're stuffed⁵ with

botox, then?

    The Earth Is Hollow

  Don't give up, readers. We're halfway through

[30] this list. We can make it to the end. Dig⁶ deep. Well, not

too deep. You see, the Earth is hollow⁷ and accessible

via portals at the north and south poles. Luckily though,

it's quite habitable down there, providing excellent living

quarters⁸ for the lost Viking colonies of Greenland and

[35] the Nazis, while "aliens" are in fact just visitors from the

subterranean areas.

    Siri Can Predict The Apocalypse

  Amazing as it may seem, given that it can't do

anything else you actually ask it to do, Siri can predict

[40] the apocalypse. When asked "What day is 27th July

2014?", Apple's assistant replied, "The opening of the

gate of Hades", aka⁹ The End Of The World. That date

has now passed without issue¹⁰. Say what you like about

the maligned MS Office paperclip, but at least he didn't

[45] scaremonger¹¹ that the end was near.

    We All Live In The Matrix And Billionaires Want To Break Us Out Of It

  The New Yorker’s Tad Friend claims that many

people in Silicone Valley are obsessed with the idea that

[50] we're all living in a Matrix-like simulation, and some are

taking that obsession a stage further: “Two tech

billionaires have gone so far as to secretly engage

scientists to work on breaking us out of the

simulation.”Here's hoping Mark Zuckerberg is 'The One',

[55] yeah?

    Hitler Is Still Alive

  "Hitler is still alive" rumours have circulated since

the 1970s, fuelled by the fact that his crony Josef

Mengele hid in South America. Stories like this one,

[60] however, speculate the 125-year-old Hitler has been

responsible for various world disasters, including 9/11

and the 2010 Gulf oil spill, which happened on his

birthday. Other theories say he died in 1984 in Brazil,

aged 94. Or in Argentina, aged 73.

(Adapted from http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/20-of-the-internets-craziestconspiracy-theories/Acesso em: 14 de fev 2017)

Glossary:

1 - cook up – to invent a story, a plan, etc.

2 - stacked – covered with things

3 - hence – the reason, the explanation for

4 - lookalikes – similar in appearance

5 - stuffed – filled with something

6 - dig – to make a hole in the ground

7 - hollow – a hole or empty space

8 - quarter – a place to live

9 - aka – abbreviation for also known as

10 - issue – problem

11 - scaremonger – a person that creates stories that cause public fear

When it comes to politics and ‘fake news,’
facts aren’t enough

The myth that vaccines cause autism has persisted,
even though the facts paint an entirely different story.

    In today’s political climate, it sometimes feels like we can’t even agree on basic facts. We bombard each other with statistics and figures, hoping that more data will make a difference. A progressive person might show you the same climate change graphs over and over while a conservative person might point to the trillions of dollars of growing national debt. We’re left wondering, “Why can’t they just see? It’s so obvious!”

    Certain myths are so pervasive that no matter how many experts disprove them, they only seem to grow in popularity. There’s no shortage of serious studies showing no link between autism and vaccines, for example, but these are no match for an emotional appeal to parents worried for their young children.

    Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London, studies how our minds work and how we process new information. In her upcoming book, The Influential Mind, she explores why we ignore facts and how we can get people to actually listen to the truth. Tali shows that we’re open to new information – but only if it confirms our existing beliefs. We find ways to ignore facts that challenge our ideals. And as neuroscientist Bahador Bahrami and colleagues have found, we weigh all opinions as equally valid, regardless of expertise.

    So, having the data on your side is not always enough. For better or for worse, Sharot says, emotions may be the key to changing minds.

(Shankar Vedantam. www.npr.org. Adaptado.)