English
Vestibulares
2012 – Sul
www.richmond.com.br
PUCPR – Verão – 2012
Read the text from BBC News and answer questions 43, 44 and 45 based on it.
Brazil is South America’s most influential country, an economic giant
and one of the world’s biggest democracies.
It is one of the rising economic powers – otherwise known as BRIC nations –
together with Russia, India and China. Over the past few years it has made major
strides in its efforts to raise millions out of poverty.
The discovery of major offshore oil reserves could propel the country into the top
league of oil-exporting nations.
The exploitation of the Amazon rainforest, much of which is in Brazil, has been
a major international worry, since the wilderness is a vital regulator of the climate.
It is also an important reservoir of plant and animal life. In 2005 the government
reported that one fifth of the Amazon forests had been cleared by deforestation.
However, deforestation has been slowed down by extra policing and pressure from
environmental and consumer groups. Officials estimate that deforestation in 2010
fell to 5,000 sq km for the year, down from 7,000 sq km the year before and a peak
of 27,000 sq km in 2004.
There is a wide gap between rich and poor, but the World Bank has praised the
country for progress in reducing social and economic inequality.
Much of the arable land is controlled by a handful of wealthy families, a situation
which the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) seeks to redress by
demanding land redistribution. It uses direct protest action and land occupation in
its quest.
Brazil’s Aids programme has become a model for other developing countries. It
has stabilised the rate of HIV infection and the number of Aids-related deaths has
fallen. Brazil has bypassed the major drugs firms to produce cheaper, generic Aids
medicines.
Brazil is revered for its football prowess. Its cultural contributions include the
music of classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and Bossa Nova icon Antonio
Carlos Jobim.
Adapted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles. March, 2011.
43 Select the sentence that is INCORRECT in relation to the text.
A) Brazil is considered the most influential country in the Americas.
B) The Brazilian government has managed to reduce deforestation since 2004.
C) Brazil has been praised for its achievements in reducing social and economic inequality.
D) MST uses land occupation in its quest.
E) Villa-Lobos and Tom Jobim are famous for their cultural contributions.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCPR – Verão – 2012
44 In paragraph 7 from the text “Brazil is South America’s most influential country, an
economic giant and one of the world’s biggest democracies”, the noun prowess in the
sentence “Brazil is revered for its football prowess” is a synonym for:
A) Weakness.
B) Victories.
C) Virtue.
D) Fame.
E) Teams.
45 In many paragraphs from the text on Brazil the Present Perfect Simple Tense has been
used in order to show the changes that have been occuring. The idea is that these changes
started some time in the past and have been influencing the present situation in Brazil.
Select the alternatives that present sentences in the Present Perfect Simple Tense:
I.
The BRIC countries have grown tremendously over the last 5 years.
II.
Some developing countries have interesting solutions for recycling.
III. A few European countries have had serious financial difficulties.
IV. Brazil has been working on the reduction of taxes.
A) Alternatives I and II.
B) Alternatives III and IV.
C) Alternatives I and III.
D) Alternatives I and IV.
E) Alternatives II and III.
Read the information and reviews on the movie Contagion and answer questions 46 and 47.
Contagion
Warner Bros. Pictures
Starring: Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Matt Damon
Summary: Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills
within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community
races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At
the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCPR – Verão – 2012
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre(s): Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 105 min
Reviews:
“Contagion is serious, precise, frightening, emotionally enveloping.” The New
Yorker – David Denby (Sep 12, 2011)
“Contagion is the best movie made to date about an epidemic/pandemic.”
ReelViews – James Berardinlli (Sep 10, 2011)
“As a filmmaker Soderbergh requires nothing more of us than a willingness to
enjoy ourselves. He had fun. Why shouldn’t we? With Contagion, the fun begins
with a cough.” Boston Globe – Wesley Morris (Sep 8, 2011)
Adapted from: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/contagion. September, 2011.
46 According to the text, the movie Contagion is about:
A) The lives of ordinary people in a town that has been contaminated by a lethal virus created
by the medical community.
B) The lives of ordinary people in a town that has been contaminated by a disease that has not
been spread by the medical community.
C) An epidemic that has been spreading fast over a some races and towns and which has been
devastating for ordinary people.
D) An epidemic that has spread fast for which doctors and researches are trying to find a cure for.
E) Contagion is a comedy about an epidemic that has spread fast and for which doctors and
researches are trying to find a cure.
47 Choose the CORRECT alternative according to the text on the movie Contagion:
I.
David Denby from The New Yorker says the movie is exact, scary and emotionally involving.
II.
Wesley Morris from the Boston Globe says the filmmaker didn’t enjoy making the movie.
III. James Berardinlli from ReelViews says Contagion is the best movie about an epidemic made
until the present date.
IV. James Berardinlli from ReelViews says Contagion is a great movie about epidemics, but
there have been good ones made before.
A) Alternatives I and II are correct.
B) Alternatives II and III are correct.
C) Alternatives I and IV are correct.
D) Alternatives II and IV are correct.
E) Alternatives I and III are correct.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCRS – Verão – 2012
INSTRUCTION: Answer questions 51 to 55 in relation to text 1.
TEXT 1
If you are one of more than 600 million people on Facebook, it’s likely that you
regularly friend (and sometimes unfriend) others. This extending of language –
verbing of nouns – brings growing pains. Some rail against it.
5
10
Why verb a noun when a perfectly serviceable verb ‘to befriend’ is already a part
of the language? But language grows with need, and ‘to friend’ someone online is
not necessarily the same as ‘to befriend’. Each new verb or noun adds a new shade
to the mosaic of the language.
And it happens all the time. We have the verb ‘serve’ and the noun ‘service’, but
we extend ‘service’ to use it as a verb again because ‘to service’ is not necessarily
the same as ‘to serve’.
Put new verbs into service in your conversation and writing, at work, home,
and beyond. Friend them into your vocabulary, and don’t worry about those who
complain against the verbing of nouns. It has been going on for quite a while now.
15
20
The Oxford English Dictionary has the first citation for the word friend as a verb
from the year 1225. In fact, ‘to friend’ has an older pedigree than ‘to befriend’
(1559).
There was no Facebook, no Web, no computers, not even electricity back in the
13th century. But there was language, and a need to stretch it to fill a need. And
long after Facebook is gone, we’ll continue using language in ways that fit. Here’s
to verbing of nouns (and nouning of verbs)!
(http://wordsmith.org/awad, 468, June 19, 2011)
51 The text is about
A) the influence of new communication media on the development of languages and the making
of dictionaries.
B) the language people use in different contexts, like work or home, and has been in use since
Facebook started to be used.
C) the alteration from one grammatical category of words to another, so as to express something
in a different manner.
D) the changes that have occurred in the English language from the XIII century to the age of
virtual communication.
E) the difference between making friends with people by using devices such as Facebook
nowadays.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCRS – Verão – 2012
52 According to the text, the speakers of English
A) bring models from other languages to invent new words.
B) do not always accept alterations made in their language.
C) use the Oxford English Dictionary to make sure they can use a new word.
D) do not really need these words they come up with.
E) create new words as a substitute for old fashionable ones.
53 From the text, one can gather that the term “friend” is traditionally and most frequently
used as
A) a conjunction, linking sentences.
B) an adverb, modifying a verb.
C) an adjective, modifying a noun.
D) a verb, indicating an action.
E) a noun, referring to a quality.
54 The term “likely” (line 1) indicates
A) probability.
B) intention.
C) necessity.
D) permission.
E) futurity.
55 The expression “Here’s to” (lines 19 and 20) is used for
A) stating a purpose.
B) offering something.
C) introducing what will happen next.
D) wishing success, happiness.
E) referring to a surprising situation.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCRS – Verão – 2012
INSTRUCTION: Answer questions 56 to 60 in relation to text 2.
TEXT 2
5
10
15
The symbols, the memory and the history of the Olympic Games are an important
legacy, since the material things created strengthen the image of the event in the
local population’s memory, along with the memory of viewers everywhere who have
watched the competitions. They also represent a source of income as they are
goods sold during the event.
One of the most effective ways to ensure that the host city will get the legacy of
the Olympic Games is to have the population participate in planning the work to be
done. It is the very community who knows what a neighborhood needs, in terms
of facilities, and how these can be of use after the event. The best legacy is the
one that is incorporated into the life of and brings benefits to the community. The
organization process shared with the community may give the legacy a meaningful
dimension. Learning how to discuss the needs of the community, democratically
facing the differences in interests, and gathering partnerships for the viability of
projects are unique experiences which can alter the relationship of the population
with their politicians in a dramatic way.
RUBIO, K.; MESQUITA, R. M. (2011) Olympic Studies and Olympism – the Brazilian and
the International Scenarios. EDIPUCRS, p. 171.
56 From the text, one understands the writer has a ________ opinion about a country hosting
the Olympic Games.
A) reluctant.
B) negative.
C) neglectful.
D) positive.
E) neutral.
57 According to the text, the role of a country’s population in preparing for Olympic Games is
A) indispensable.
B) irrelevant.
C) accidental.
D) questionable.
E) liable.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
PUCRS – Verão – 2012
INSTRUCTION: In order to answer question 58, read the statements below.
I. The people who plan and organize Olympic Games know everything about the
ways to do it.
II. The citizens are responsible for the income resulting from Olympic Games.
III. The people who live in a host city for Olympic Games know a lot about what’s
best for them.
IV. The host city for Olympic Games can become better after they are held.
58 According to text 2, the only correct statements are
A) I and II.
B) I and III.
C) II and III.
D) II and IV.
E) III and IV.
59 The statements below are related to words used in the text. The only one which is NOT
correct is
A) “strengthen” (line 2) is a synonym for “toughen”.
B) “income” (line 4) could be substituted by “revenue”.
C) “goods” (line 5) means “objects for sale”.
D) “It’s the very community” (line 8) could be replaced by “the community itself”.
E) “viability” (line 13) is the opposite of “feasibility”.
60 The best definition for the verb “facing” (line 13), as it is used in the text, is
A) being opposite to someone/something so that your front is towards them.
B) having to deal with something that is happening or is to happen.
C) not wanting something because it is unpleasant.
D) accepting that a bad situation exists and is the truth.
E) competing against someone who will probably beat you.
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.
Answer Key
PUCPR – Verão – 2012
43 A
44 C
45 C
46 D
47 E
PUCRS – Verão – 2012
51 C
52 B
53 E
54 A
55 D
56 D
57 A
58 E
59 E
60 B
Richmond Publishing — Photocopiable material.