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Questão 3344

PUC

(PUC - RS - 2007)

COCONUT TREE, COCO PALM

A thousand ⁷years ago, the coconut ⁸tree did not even exist in Tahiti. ¹It was the pioneering Polynesians who ⁹first brought this ²¹plant with them in their migrations. A ²tree of ¹⁰life in every sense of the ¹¹phrase, its nut ¹²supplies water, milk and ³edible pulp; its "heart" is eaten in salads; its ²²trunk serves as ²³framework for Tahitian ²⁴huts, and its palms are ⁴woven as ²⁵roofing.

¹⁵Then, of course, there is the coconut ¹⁶which, when cut in two and dried ¹⁸in the sun, produces oil. ⁵Plait three ⁶blades of grass and ¹³dip ¹⁹into this oil, ¹⁴light... And you have a lamp. A lamp which not ²⁰so very long ago was still used ¹⁷throughout the islands.

Nouns in English can be divided into "countable" or "uncountable" (e.g.: apple X water). In order to indicate some kind of "measurement" in the case of uncountable nouns, another noun is required (e.g.: "glasses" or "liters" of water).

Accordingly, the expression below that is equivalent to the structure "blades of grass" (ref. 6) is

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Questão 3378

PUC

(PUC-Rio - 2007)

IN CRISES, PEOPLE TEND TO LIVE, OR DIE, TOGETHER

Shankar Vedantam

How the disaster starts does not matter: ¹It could be a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, ⁵it could be the sea receding rapidly ahead of an advancing tsunami, it could be smoke billowing through a nightclub. Human beings in New York, Sri Lanka and Rhode Island all do the same thing in such situations. They turn to each other. They talk. ¹⁵They hang around, trying to arrive at a ¹⁰shared understanding of what is happening.

¹⁶When we look back on such events with the benefit of hindsight, this apparent inactivity can be horrifying. "Get out now!" we want to scream at those people in the upper stories of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, as ⁶they ¹¹huddle around trying to understand what caused an explosion in the North Tower at 8:46 on a Tuesday morning in September. ¹⁷"You only have 16 minutes before your exit will be cut off," we want to tell them. "Don't try to understand what is happening. Just go."

²Experts who study disasters are slowly coming to realize that rather than try to change human behavior to adapt to building codes and workplace rules, it may be necessary to adapt technology and rules to human behavior.

For all the disaster preparations put in place since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the behavior of people confronted with ambiguous new information remains one of the most serious challenges for disaster planners.

¹⁸Computer models ¹²assume that people will flow out of a building like water, emptying through every possible exit. But the reality is far different. People talk. They confer. They go back to their desk. They change their mind. They try to exit the building the way they came in, rather than through the nearest door.

Building engineers at the World Trade Center had estimated that escaping people would move at a rate of more than three feet per second. On Sept. 11, 2001, said Jason Averill, an engineer at the National Institute for Standards and Technology who studies human behavior during evacuations, people escaped at only one-fitfh that speed. Although the towers were only one-third to one-half full, the stairwells were at capacity, he said. ³Had the buildings been full, Averill said, about 14,000 people would probably have died.

That is because the larger the group, the greater the effort and time needed to build a common understanding of the event and a consensus about a course of action, said sociologist Benigno E. Aguirre of the University of Delaware. If a single person in a group does not want to take an alarm seriously, he or she can ¹³impede the escape of the entire group.

The picture of what happened on Sept. 11 is very different from ¹⁴conventional assumptions about crowd behavior, in ⁷which it is assumed that people would push each other out of the way to save their own lives. In actuality, ⁴human beings in crisis behave more nobly - and ⁸this could also be their undoing. ¹⁹People reach out not only to build a shared understanding of the event but also to help one another. In so doing, they may delay their own escape. This may be why groups often perish or survive together - people are unwilling to escape if someone they know and care about is left behind.

This may be why in fire disasters, Aguirre said, entire families often perish. "The most important factor for human beings is our affinitive behavior," he said. "You love your child and wife and parents; ⁹that is what makes you human. In conditions of great danger, many people continue to do that. … People will go back into the fire to try to rescue loved ones."

Adapted from the Washington Post Monday, September 11, 2006; Page A02

Check the ONLY option that indicates the appropriate reference.

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Questão 3409

PUC

(PUC Minas - 2007)

THE KITE RUNNER

As anyone who has read the best-selling novel "The Kite Runner" knows, springtime in Kabul is announced by flocks of kites. But these aren't the kites of lazy weekend picnics. They are flying machines. The Afghan tendency for competition and gambling means that almost anything offers opportunity for a fight, from dogs to cocks, and even kites. The object of this cruel ballet is to slice your opponents' string with yours, sending the defeated paper jewel spiraling to the streets below. Packs of boys too poor to buy their own kites, race for it so that they too can enter the dispute. They are the kite runners.

In a country where most success stories are haunted by failure, about the only thing going right these days is the kite making industry. One of the impulsive moves of the Taliban regime, along with the banning of music and the requirement that all men grow beards, was a total prohibition of kite flying. In the first days after the fall of the Taliban in December 2001, men shaved, music was played on car stereos and kites took to the air. For Noor Agha, Kabul's best kite maker, business has been soaring ever since.

Agha has been feverishly at work producing hundreds of kites for use in China on the set of the highly anticipated adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner". Agha says he treats every kite he is making for the movie as a work of art, marking each with his name and signature scorpion image. Even though few of the kites will be used in competition, he incorporates in their manufacture the techniques he has developed through years of flying and fighting. "Making kites is my job," he says. "Fighting them is my disease."

(Adapted from: Time, February 22, 2007)

The fact that Agha has been feverishly at work indicates that

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Questão 3410

PUC

(PUC Minas - 2007)

THE KITE RUNNER

As anyone who has read the best-selling novel "The Kite Runner" knows, springtime in Kabul is announced by flocks of kites. But these aren't the kites of lazy weekend picnics. They are flying machines. The Afghan tendency for competition and gambling means that almost anything offers opportunity for a fight, from dogs to cocks, and even kites. The object of this cruel ballet is to slice your opponents' string with yours, sending the defeated paper jewel spiraling to the streets below. Packs of boys too poor to buy their own kites, race for it so that they too can enter the dispute. They are the kite runners.

In a country where most success stories are haunted by failure, about the only thing going right these days is the kite making industry. One of the impulsive moves of the Taliban regime, along with the banning of music and the requirement that all men grow beards, was a total prohibition of kite flying. In the first days after the fall of the Taliban in December 2001, men shaved, music was played on car stereos and kites took to the air. For Noor Agha, Kabul's best kite maker, business has been soaring ever since.

Agha has been feverishly at work producing hundreds of kites for use in China on the set of the highly anticipated adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner". Agha says he treats every kite he is making for the movie as a work of art, marking each with his name and signature scorpion image. Even though few of the kites will be used in competition, he incorporates in their manufacture the techniques he has developed through years of flying and fighting. "Making kites is my job," he says. "Fighting them is my disease."

(Adapted from: Time, February 22, 2007)

The Taliban regime

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Questão 3411

UFPEL

(UFPel - 2007)

TEXTO 1

BULLYING

BULLYING HURTS... inside and out!

Bullying is a common experience for many children and adolescents. Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, and at least 10% are bullied on a regular basis.

Bullying behavior can be physical or verbal. Boys tend to use physical intimidation or threats, regardless of the gender of their victims. Bullying by girls is more often verbal, usually with another girl .......... the target. Recently, bullying has even been reported in online chat rooms and through e-mail.

Children who are bullied experience real suffering that can interfere with their social and emotional development, .......... their school performance. Some victims of bullying have even attempted suicide RATHER THAN continue to endure such harassment and punishment.

Children and adolescents who bully thrive on controlling or dominating others. They have often been the victims of physical abuse or bullying themselves. Bullies may also be depressed, angry or upset about events at school or at home. Children targeted by bullies also tend to fit a particular profile. Bullies often choose children who are passive, easily intimidated, or have few friends. Victims may also be smaller or younger, and have a harder time defending themselves.

If you suspect your child is bullying others, it's important to seek help for him or her as soon as possible. Without intervention, bullying can lead to serious academic, social, emotional and legal difficulties. Talk to your child's pediatrician, teacher, principal, school counselor or family physician. If the bullying continues, a comprehensive evaluation by a child and adolescent psychiatrist or other mental health professional should be arranged. The evaluation can help you and your child understand what is causing the bullying, and help you develop a plan to stop the destructive behavior.

If you suspect your child may be the victim of bullying, ask him or her to tell you what's going on. You can help by providing lots of opportunities to talk with you in an open and honest way.

It's also important to respond in a positive and accepting manner. Let your child know it's not his or her fault, and that he or she did the right thing by telling you. Other specific suggestions include the following:

- Ask your child what he or she thinks should be done. What's already been tried? What worked and what didn't?

- Seek help from your child's teacher or the school guidance counselor. Most bullying occurs on playgrounds, in lunchrooms, and bathrooms, on school buses or in unsupervised halls. Ask the school administrators to find out about programs other schools and communities have used to help combat bullying, .......... peer mediation, conflict resolution, and anger management training, and increased adult supervision.

- Don't encourage your child to fight back. Instead, suggest that he or she try walking away to avoid the bully, or that they seek help from a teacher, coach, or other adult.

- Help your child practice what to say to the bully so he or she will be prepared the next time.

- Help your child practice being assertive. The simple act of insisting that the bully leave him alone may have a surprising effect. Explain to your child that the bully's true goal is to get a response.

- Encourage your child to be with friends when traveling back and forth from school, during shopping trips or on other outings. Bullies are less likely to pick on a child in a group.

If your child becomes withdrawn, depressed or reluctant to go to school, or if you see a decline in school performance, additional consultation or intervention may be required. A child and adolescent psychiatrist or other mental health professional can help your child and family and the school develop a strategy to deal with the bullying. Seeking professional assistance earlier can lessen the risk of lasting emotional consequences for your child.

http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Bullying§ion=Facts+for+Families

TEXTO 2

HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES SAY GUNMAN WAS BULLIED

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Long before he killed 32 people in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Seung-Hui Cho was bullied by fellow high school students who mocked his shyness and the strange way he talked, former classmates said.

Cho, 23, a senior English major at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, killed 32 people in two attacks before taking his own life Monday. He sent a large multi-media package outlining his grievances against religion and the wealthy to NBC News, but police said Thursday that the material added little to their investigation.

The text, photographs and video in the package bristle with hatred toward unspecified people whom Cho, a South Korean immigrant, accused of having wronged him, adding to a portrait of a solitary man who rarely, if ever, managed normal social interactions.

Chris Davids, a Virginia Tech student who graduated with Cho from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003, recalled that Cho almost never opened his mouth and would ignore attempts to STRIKE UP a conversation.

Once, in an English class, the teacher had the students read aloud and, when it was Cho's turn, he just looked down in silence, Davids recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

Finally, after the teacher threatened to give him a failing grade for participation, Cho started to read in a strange, deep voice that sounded "like he had something in his mouth," Davids said.

"As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, 'GO BACK to China,'" Davids said.

Among Cho's victims were Reema Samaha and Erin Peterson, who both graduated from Westfield High School last year. Police said it was not clear whether Cho SINGLED THEM OUT.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18169776/

O texto 2 apresenta Seung-Hui Cho como

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Questão 3412