Questões para Concursos

Atenção: As questões de números 47 a 70 referem-se a
conhecimentos linguísticos da língua inglesa.

Choose the correct alternative to fill out the dialogues from 30 to 33.

Atenção : As questões de números 26 a 28 referem-se ao texto abaixo.

Judges Push Brevity in Briefs, and Get a Torrent of Arguments
By ELIZABETH OLSON
OCT. 3, 2016

The Constitution of the United States clocks in at 4,543 words. Yet a number of lawyers contend that 14,000 words are barely enough to lay out their legal arguments.
That’s the maximum word count for briefs filed in federal appellate courts. For years, judges have complained that too many briefs are repetitive and full of outmoded legal jargon, and that they take up too much of their time .
A recent proposal to bring the limit down by 1,500 words unleashed an outcry among lawyers.
Lawyers in criminal, environmental and securities law insisted that briefs’ lengths should not be shortened because legal issues and statutes are more complex than ever.
As a result, the new word limit − which takes effect on Dec. 1 − will be 13,500 words, a reduction of only 500 words. And appellate judges will have the freedom to opt out of the limits.
The new limit may not provide much relief for judges deluged with verbose briefs.
While workloads vary, according to federal court data, the average federal appeals court judge, for example, might need to read filings for around 1,200 cases annually.
That amount of reading − especially bad reading − can thin the patience of even the most diligent judge.
Briefs “are too long to be persuasive,” said Laurence H. Silberman, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
In arguing against a reduction of words, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers urged singling out “bad briefs” rather than only lengthy ones. It advised courts to “post on their court websites short videos outlining how to write a decent brief.”
Robert N. Markle, a federal appellate lawyer, has argued − in his own personal view, not the government’s − that the limit should be reduced to 10,000 words. In a typical case, he said, “nothing justifies even approaching, much less reaching or exceeding 14,000 words.”
Still, he acknowledged that the cut of 500 words “was at least a start.”

(Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/business/dealbook/judges-push-brevity-in-briefs-and-get-a-torrent-of-arguments. html?_r=0 )

Read the text below. Then check the correct answers for questions 26 to 29.
Despite the extraordinary changes of the last few years, one thing appears to remain the same. More people than ever want to learn English. The projections given in this book confirm that English learners are increasing in number and decreasing in age. As a news headline it is not much of a story. We’ve become used to the idea of English growing in popularity across the world. Far from being news, it has become one of the few enduring facts of global modern life – a trend which began in the late 19th century when English was heralded, from Europe to Japan, as the new rising world language.
But at what point do we pause, take a fresh look at what is happening and decide that what is going on now is not just ‘more of the same’. After scrutinising current trends, including those which have not yet reached the statistical yearbooks, I conclude that there has been a significant – even dramatic – qualitative change: one that may be taking the language in a very new direction.

(From Graddol, D., 2006, INTRODUCTION, ENGLISH NEXT, pages 10-11 http://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/ec/files/booksenglish-next.pdf )

Atenção: As questões de números 47 a 70 referem-se a
conhecimentos linguísticos da língua inglesa.

Low Oil Prices Could Be Good
for Electricity and Renewables

By Robert Fares
Since I first wrote about the price of oil last
December, the global oil price has fallen to levels
not seen in over five years. For many, the recent
price decline brings back memories of the 1980s oil
5 price collapse, which followed the 70s oil price spike
and drew attention away from renewable energy
and other alternatives — famously prompting U.S.
President Ronald Reagan to remove the White House
solar panels that had been installed by the previous
10 administration.
Thankfully, this time around, the outlook for
renewable energy isn’t so bleak. In fact, it is possible
low oil prices could actually improve the economics
of renewable energy. It all comes down to the
15 relationship between oil and gas production and the
price of electricity, which directly affects the bottom
line of technologies like wind and solar.
In 1973, the year the Arab Oil Embargo caused
a steep rise in oil prices, the United States produced
20 17 percent of its electricity using petroleum. When the
oil price increased, the price of electricity increased
too. This increase in price prompted greater interest in
domestic sources of electricity, like coal, nuclear, and
renewable energy.
25 Due in part to the turn away from oil in the 70s,
today the United States produces just 0.7 percent of
its electricity using petroleum. Therefore, the price of
oil has no direct impact on the price of electricity. Most
electricity comes from coal (39 percent) and natural
30 gas (27 percent), with the remainder coming from
nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and other renewables.
The fuel with the most direct impact on the price
of electricity is natural gas, because natural gas
generation often sets the price of electricity in the
35 market. To gauge how low oil prices might affect the
price of electricity, it’s really important to think about
how they might affect the price of natural gas.
Although oil and natural gas prices have
decoupled in recent years, there is still an indirect link
40 between the price of oil and the price of natural gas,
because both oil and natural gas are often produced
from the same well. While most U.S. natural gas is
produced from wells drilled for the express purpose
of extracting gas, a portion comes from wells that
45 are drilled to extract oil, but produce natural gas as
a byproduct. This “associated gas” or “casinghead
gas” is often flared in regions like the Bakken in North
Dakota, which has limited pipeline infrastructure.
However, in regions like Texas’s Eagle Ford and
50 Permian Basin, this gas is often injected into the
existing pipeline network. Because drillers are really
after the more-valuable oil, associated natural gas is
often simply dumped into the pipelines at little or no
cost — depressing the overall price of natural gas.
55 The Railroad Commission of Texas, which
regulates the oil and gas industry, collects separate
data on natural gas produced from gas wells and
natural gas produced as a byproduct from oil wells.
These data show that, while overall Texas natural gas
60 production has increased since 2008, the amount
of gas produced from purpose-drilled gas wells has
actually declined. On the other hand, natural gas
associated with oil production has increased markedly
since 2008.
Available at:
low-oil-prices-could-be-good-for-electricity-and-renewables/>.
Retrieved on: Nov. 10th, 2015. Adapted.

Low Oil Prices Could Be Good
for Electricity and Renewables

By Robert Fares
Since I first wrote about the price of oil last
December, the global oil price has fallen to levels
not seen in over five years. For many, the recent
price decline brings back memories of the 1980s oil
5 price collapse, which followed the 70s oil price spike
and drew attention away from renewable energy
and other alternatives — famously prompting U.S.
President Ronald Reagan to remove the White House
solar panels that had been installed by the previous
10 administration.
Thankfully, this time around, the outlook for
renewable energy isn’t so bleak. In fact, it is possible
low oil prices could actually improve the economics
of renewable energy. It all comes down to the
15 relationship between oil and gas production and the
price of electricity, which directly affects the bottom
line of technologies like wind and solar.
In 1973, the year the Arab Oil Embargo caused
a steep rise in oil prices, the United States produced
20 17 percent of its electricity using petroleum. When the
oil price increased, the price of electricity increased
too. This increase in price prompted greater interest in
domestic sources of electricity, like coal, nuclear, and
renewable energy.
25 Due in part to the turn away from oil in the 70s,
today the United States produces just 0.7 percent of
its electricity using petroleum. Therefore, the price of
oil has no direct impact on the price of electricity. Most
electricity comes from coal (39 percent) and natural
30 gas (27 percent), with the remainder coming from
nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and other renewables.
The fuel with the most direct impact on the price
of electricity is natural gas, because natural gas
generation often sets the price of electricity in the
35 market. To gauge how low oil prices might affect the
price of electricity, it’s really important to think about
how they might affect the price of natural gas.
Although oil and natural gas prices have
decoupled in recent years, there is still an indirect link
40 between the price of oil and the price of natural gas,
because both oil and natural gas are often produced
from the same well. While most U.S. natural gas is
produced from wells drilled for the express purpose
of extracting gas, a portion comes from wells that
45 are drilled to extract oil, but produce natural gas as
a byproduct. This “associated gas” or “casinghead
gas” is often flared in regions like the Bakken in North
Dakota, which has limited pipeline infrastructure.
However, in regions like Texas’s Eagle Ford and
50 Permian Basin, this gas is often injected into the
existing pipeline network. Because drillers are really
after the more-valuable oil, associated natural gas is
often simply dumped into the pipelines at little or no
cost — depressing the overall price of natural gas.
55 The Railroad Commission of Texas, which
regulates the oil and gas industry, collects separate
data on natural gas produced from gas wells and
natural gas produced as a byproduct from oil wells.
These data show that, while overall Texas natural gas
60 production has increased since 2008, the amount
of gas produced from purpose-drilled gas wells has
actually declined. On the other hand, natural gas
associated with oil production has increased markedly
since 2008.
Available at:
low-oil-prices-could-be-good-for-electricity-and-renewables/>.
Retrieved on: Nov. 10th, 2015. Adapted.

Words that went extinct

By Kimberly Joki

Dictionaries incorporate new words every year. Some are pop culture inventions like jeggings , photobomb , and meme. Other words, like emoji and upvote , spring up from technology and social media. Dictionaries respond by creating definitions for anyone who cares to know what a twitterer is. And thank goodness they do; you can learn what an eggcorn is simply by turning a few pages in your trusty updated dictionary.
Interestingly, not all newly added words are recent developments. The Oxford English Dictionary June 2015 new words list included autotune, birdhouse , North Korean, and shizzle ! North Korea was founded in 1948. The initial release of the autotuner audio processor was in 1997. Before adding a slang term like shizzle, dictionary publishers weigh the current popularity, predicted longevity, and other factors. Just this year alone, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary welcomed about 1,700 new arrivals.
With more and more words coined every year, dictionaries couldn’t possibly add them all to their existing word banks. Can you imagine a dictionary containing all the words ever used in English? It would be impossible to lift! With each yearly edit, dictionary editors must discard some words to make room for new ones.
(…)
The Sami languages, spoken in Finland, Norway, and Sweden, reportedly include more than 150 words related to snow and ice. In the 1590s, the English language had a word for recently melted snow—snowbroth . Now, English speakers simply call it water or melted snow. In fact, words that are markedly specific seem more vulnerable to extinction. A 19th-century dictionary included Englishable , a term to describe how appropriate a word is for the English language. However, English is a dynamic language, always accepting and abandoning words. Apparently, Englishable itself isn’t Englishable; it’s now obsolete.
Do you favor any infrequently used words? If so, use them now and often. . . A word’s best defense against extinction is regular use.

(Source: http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2015/words-that-went-extinct/)