Questões de Concurso

Faith-based politics
Source: Newsweek Magazine (Adapted)
May 25th 2009

Tony Blair, Britain´s longest-serving Labour Prime Minister, left office in 2007 as a relatively young man of 54. At his office in London, Blair spoke to NEWSWEEK´s Stryker McGuire. Excerpts:

Question 1: There´s much evidence that religious beliefs have been a force for evil in the world. How do you persuade people to put faith in faith? Many people do see faith as a source of division and conflict. There is another side that the world of faith isn´t often good enough at putting forward – which is about compassion, solidarity, social justice.

Question 2: How do you think President Barack Obama is doing as a leader and healer on the world scene? He´s created a situation where there is a possibility of a completely different form of engagement with the world of Islam and with the outside world. The single most important thing for him is that his decision to reach out is answered by the rest of the world by a decision to reach back. As I keep saying to people, he doesn´t want cheerleaders; he wants partners. You know, he doesn´t want people to tell him how great he is; he´s perfectly well aware of the transient nature of all that fluff, as it were, around the new president and the first hundred days. He´s trying to change the world in partnership, and he needs partners to do it.

Faith-based politics
Source: Newsweek Magazine (Adapted)
May 25th 2009

Tony Blair, Britain´s longest-serving Labour Prime Minister, left office in 2007 as a relatively young man of 54. At his office in London, Blair spoke to NEWSWEEK´s Stryker McGuire. Excerpts:

Question 1: There´s much evidence that religious beliefs have been a force for evil in the world. How do you persuade people to put faith in faith? Many people do see faith as a source of division and conflict. There is another side that the world of faith isn´t often good enough at putting forward – which is about compassion, solidarity, social justice.

Question 2: How do you think President Barack Obama is doing as a leader and healer on the world scene? He´s created a situation where there is a possibility of a completely different form of engagement with the world of Islam and with the outside world. The single most important thing for him is that his decision to reach out is answered by the rest of the world by a decision to reach back. As I keep saying to people, he doesn´t want cheerleaders; he wants partners. You know, he doesn´t want people to tell him how great he is; he´s perfectly well aware of the transient nature of all that fluff, as it were, around the new president and the first hundred days. He´s trying to change the world in partnership, and he needs partners to do it.

Read the text below entitled “Another one bites the dust” in order to answer questions 21 to 25:

Another one bites the dust
Source: www.economist.com
Apr 27th, 2012 (Adapted)

    Less than three months after it took offi ce, Romania´s government has fallen. The centre-right administration lost a no-confi dence vote fi led by the left-wing opposition. When the motion was originally fi led few thought the government was in danger. But in recent weeks it has been weakened by a series of defections.
    “Today there was justice,” celebrated Victor Ponta, leader of the centre-left Social-Liberal Union (USL), after securing 235 votes in favour of his motion, four more than he needed. “We don´t want any more dubious fi rms, no more selling under the market price and huge bribes,” he said in a fi ve-hour long debate that preceded the vote.
    Traian Basescu, the president and main political player in Romania, proposed Mr Ponta as prime minister back in February when the previous government, led by Emil Boc, resigned after three weeks of street protests denouncing party cronyism, incompetence and harsh austerity measures. Mr Ponta refused, but now he seems more willing to step in thanks to the fair-weather politicians who have fl ocked to his party from the centre-right.
    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which began an offi cial visit to Romania earlier this week to review the country´s performance linked to a 5 billion euro credit line it was granted last year, announced it would suspend its mission until a new government is in place. That may not take long. But with Romanian governments showing the longevity of mayfl ies, and the European Union (EU) weary of a country that seems unable or unwilling to make serious progress on the corruption problems that continue to plague it fi ve years after it was accepted into the club, it will take a good deal longer for Romania to acquire the clout that should come naturally to an EU country with 22m people.

Read the text below entitled “Another one bites the dust” in order to answer questions 21 to 25:

Another one bites the dust
Source: www.economist.com
Apr 27th, 2012 (Adapted)

    Less than three months after it took offi ce, Romania´s government has fallen. The centre-right administration lost a no-confi dence vote fi led by the left-wing opposition. When the motion was originally fi led few thought the government was in danger. But in recent weeks it has been weakened by a series of defections.
    “Today there was justice,” celebrated Victor Ponta, leader of the centre-left Social-Liberal Union (USL), after securing 235 votes in favour of his motion, four more than he needed. “We don´t want any more dubious fi rms, no more selling under the market price and huge bribes,” he said in a fi ve-hour long debate that preceded the vote.
    Traian Basescu, the president and main political player in Romania, proposed Mr Ponta as prime minister back in February when the previous government, led by Emil Boc, resigned after three weeks of street protests denouncing party cronyism, incompetence and harsh austerity measures. Mr Ponta refused, but now he seems more willing to step in thanks to the fair-weather politicians who have fl ocked to his party from the centre-right.
    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which began an offi cial visit to Romania earlier this week to review the country´s performance linked to a 5 billion euro credit line it was granted last year, announced it would suspend its mission until a new government is in place. That may not take long. But with Romanian governments showing the longevity of mayfl ies, and the European Union (EU) weary of a country that seems unable or unwilling to make serious progress on the corruption problems that continue to plague it fi ve years after it was accepted into the club, it will take a good deal longer for Romania to acquire the clout that should come naturally to an EU country with 22m people.

Read the text below entitled “Another one bites the dust” in order to answer questions 21 to 25:

Another one bites the dust
Source: www.economist.com
Apr 27th, 2012 (Adapted)

    Less than three months after it took offi ce, Romania´s government has fallen. The centre-right administration lost a no-confi dence vote fi led by the left-wing opposition. When the motion was originally fi led few thought the government was in danger. But in recent weeks it has been weakened by a series of defections.
    “Today there was justice,” celebrated Victor Ponta, leader of the centre-left Social-Liberal Union (USL), after securing 235 votes in favour of his motion, four more than he needed. “We don´t want any more dubious fi rms, no more selling under the market price and huge bribes,” he said in a fi ve-hour long debate that preceded the vote.
    Traian Basescu, the president and main political player in Romania, proposed Mr Ponta as prime minister back in February when the previous government, led by Emil Boc, resigned after three weeks of street protests denouncing party cronyism, incompetence and harsh austerity measures. Mr Ponta refused, but now he seems more willing to step in thanks to the fair-weather politicians who have fl ocked to his party from the centre-right.
    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which began an offi cial visit to Romania earlier this week to review the country´s performance linked to a 5 billion euro credit line it was granted last year, announced it would suspend its mission until a new government is in place. That may not take long. But with Romanian governments showing the longevity of mayfl ies, and the European Union (EU) weary of a country that seems unable or unwilling to make serious progress on the corruption problems that continue to plague it fi ve years after it was accepted into the club, it will take a good deal longer for Romania to acquire the clout that should come naturally to an EU country with 22m people.