Questões de Concurso

For questions 27 through 30, choose the best answer in accordance with Text 3.

Text 3 Rio+20: reasons to be cheerful

Read the commentaries from Rio+20, and you'd think a global disaster had taken place. The UN multilateral system is said to be in crisis. Pundits and NGOs complain that it was "the greatest failure of collective leadership since the first world war", "a bleak day, a disastrous meeting" and "a massive waste of time and money".

Perspective, please. Reaction after the 1992 Rio summit was uncannily similar. Countries passed then what now seem far-sighted treaties and embedded a slew of aspirations and commitments into international documents – but NGOs and journalists were still distraught. In short, just like Rio 2012, the meeting was said to be a dismal failure of governments to co-operate.

I was pretty downhearted then, too. So when I returned I went to see Richard Sandbrook, a legendary environmental activist who co-founded Friends of the Earth, and profoundly influenced a generation of governments, business leaders and NGOs before he died in 2005. Sandbrook made the point that NGOs always scream blue murder because it is their job to push governments and that UN conferences must disappoint because all views have to be accommodated. Change, he said, does not happen in a few days' intense negotiation. It is a long, muddled, cultural process that cannot come from a UN meeting.. Real change comes from stronger institutions, better public information, promises being kept, the exchange of views, pressure from below, and events that make people see the world differently.

Vast growth in global environmental awareness has taken place in the past 20 years, and is bound to grow in the next 20.

[From The Guardian PovertyMatters blog- adapted]

For questions 24 through 26, choose the best answer in accordance with Text 2.

Text 2 South Korea banks in rate-rigging investigation

A South Korea financial regulator has started an investigation into alleged interest rate rigging by some of the country's banks. The Fair Trade Commission is looking at possible collusion over setting certificates of deposit (CD), used as a benchmark to set lending rates. It follows the Libor-rigging scandal involving Barclays and possibly several other UK banks.

A CD is a way of saving with a fixed interest rate and maturity sold by banks and circulated in the secondary market by brokerages. Financial firms benefit from a high CD rates as many household loans are linked to them. They are frequently used to help South Koreans buy homes. The possible rigging of CD can help flatter companies' financial health.

The indebtedness of South Koreans has become a particular worry to the authorities as the economy slows.

From: www.bbc.com/news [slightly adpated]

For questions 24 through 26, choose the best answer in accordance with Text 2.

Text 2 South Korea banks in rate-rigging investigation

A South Korea financial regulator has started an investigation into alleged interest rate rigging by some of the country's banks. The Fair Trade Commission is looking at possible collusion over setting certificates of deposit (CD), used as a benchmark to set lending rates. It follows the Libor-rigging scandal involving Barclays and possibly several other UK banks.

A CD is a way of saving with a fixed interest rate and maturity sold by banks and circulated in the secondary market by brokerages. Financial firms benefit from a high CD rates as many household loans are linked to them. They are frequently used to help South Koreans buy homes. The possible rigging of CD can help flatter companies' financial health.

The indebtedness of South Koreans has become a particular worry to the authorities as the economy slows.

From: www.bbc.com/news [slightly adpated]

For questions 24 through 26, choose the best answer in accordance with Text 2.

Text 2 South Korea banks in rate-rigging investigation

A South Korea financial regulator has started an investigation into alleged interest rate rigging by some of the country's banks. The Fair Trade Commission is looking at possible collusion over setting certificates of deposit (CD), used as a benchmark to set lending rates. It follows the Libor-rigging scandal involving Barclays and possibly several other UK banks.

A CD is a way of saving with a fixed interest rate and maturity sold by banks and circulated in the secondary market by brokerages. Financial firms benefit from a high CD rates as many household loans are linked to them. They are frequently used to help South Koreans buy homes. The possible rigging of CD can help flatter companies' financial health.

The indebtedness of South Koreans has become a particular worry to the authorities as the economy slows.

From: www.bbc.com/news [slightly adpated]

For questions 21 through 23, choose the best answer in accordance with Text 1.

Text 1 Brazil's exports

Trade barriers imposed by Argentina on imports in general have resulted in a drop of 16% in Brazil's exports to its neighbor in the first half of this year. Between January and June last year, Brazil sold goods worth US$ 10.43 billion to Argentina. This year, during the same period, the value of goods sold to Argentina is US$ 1.6 billion less.

In spite of the trade barriers, the executive secretary at the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Alessandro Teixeira, blames the international crisis for the situation. "The cause of these problems is the international crisis. It affects Argentina and it affects us, too," he declared. Teixeira noted that negotiations have improved the relationship with Argentina, that there has been a more positive dialogue.

Brazil's exports to Eastern Europe are down 38% and down 8% to the European Union in the first half. On the other hand, they have risen by over US$ 2 billion to China during the same period.

From: Brazzil Magazine July 2012 [adapted]