A synonym for badly, as it is used in the text, is

Why Bilinguals Are Smarter (By YUDHIJIT BHATTACHARJEE) 1. SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age. 
2. This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a child’s academic and intellectual development. 
3. They were not wrong about the interference: there is ample evidence that in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isn’t so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. (…) 
4. The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind — like remembering a sequence of directions while driving. (…) 
5. The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment. “Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often — you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language,” says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.” In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr. Costa and his colleagues found that the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, indicating that they were more efficient at it. (…) 
6. Bilingualism’s effects also extend into the twilight years. In a recent study of 44 elderly Spanish-English bilinguals, scientists led by the neuropsychologist Tamar Gollan of the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals with a higher degree of bilingualism — measured through a comparative evaluation of proficiency in each language — were more resistant than others to the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset. 
7. Nobody ever doubted the power of language. But who would have imagined that the words we hear and the sentences we speak might be leaving such a deep imprint? 
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/thebenefits-of-bilingualism.html?_r=0. Acesso: 04/02/2013)
The words globalized (paragraph 01), considered (paragraph 02), blessing (paragraph 03), and like (paragraph 04), are respectively presented in text as:

Considering the semantic role of the adverbial clauses in “As General English becomes something done when you're young, teenagers and young adults will be seeking more specific needs and knowledge areas.” (L. 17,18) and “As developing economies and growing populations create more demand for English, the global classroom is getting ever fuller.” (L. 22,23), the respective meanings of as are

The word “But” (ℓ.5) is

Therefore in “Therefore, post‐method pedagogy” (line 43) can be replaced, without change in meaning, by

The adverb in “often follow the same classroom procedures” (lines 31 and 32) can be replaced by

The word “one” in “one needs to question” (lines 21 and 22) is a(n)

“While” in “while teachers who think…” (line 12) can be replaced, without change in meaning, by

The title of this text asks a question. Choose the alternative that indicates the answer which best corresponds to the author’s opinion:

Read the sentence and choose the alternative in which the underlined word does not have the same grammar function as the one in the sentence below.

“Labeling a food as ‘free’ of a certain nutrient, whether salt, sugar, or fat, means it has none, or a ‘physiologically inconsequential’ amount of that nutrient, according to the FDA.”

Available in: http://health.usnews.comnews

In each of the following text pages, a connective is missing.

I. “Six months ago, saving Libya from potential atrocities inspired by Moammar Gadhafi meant establishing a no- fly zone over the country, all the better to protect Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east. ____________ classic mission creep set in and the NATO forces, Canada among them, were bombing Tripoli and clearly trying to eliminate Africa’s longest-standing dictator and his sons (while denying that was the goal).”

II. “Like all early civilisations Ancient Greece was an agricultural society. Most of the people lived by farming and the main form of wealth was owning land. In each city there was an upper class and a middle class of men like substantial farmers, doctors and teachers. ____________ the vast majority of people were peasants and craftsmen or slaves. Slavery was common. (It is estimated that about 30% of the population of Athens was made up of slaves). If they worked in rich peoples homes slaves could be reasonably treated. However by law owners were allowed to flog slaves. Those slaves who worked in mines probably suffered the most.”

III. “Older people are facing a scarcity of qualified nurses to care for them ____________ the Government changes its policy on undergraduate education, a leading nursing organisation has warned. The All-Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association (AIGNa) is calling for the urgent introduction of specialised nursing degree courses in care for older people – as an estimated 700 jobs remain unfilled in the sector.”

The alternative that respectively brings the correct connective for each one is:

Choose the alternative with the correct words for the following gaps:

I. “ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation____ they will not be judged by the color of theirskin, but by the content of their character.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
II. “First they ignore you,____ they laugh at you,____ they fight you,____ you win.” - Mahatma Gandhi
III. “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people_____ never make up their minds to be good or evil” - Hannah Arendt

The conjuction “While” (l.18) means

São advérbios os vocábulos a seguir, retirados do texto, EXCETO o exposto na alternativa:

Read the text below and choose the alternative that fills in correctly and respectively the blanks.

Choose the word that completes the sentence correctly.

You should cut or drill into the wall or ceiling _________, so as not to damage the electricalwiring.

Choose the alternative that fills in correctly the blank of the sentence below.

“Melamine alone is of low toxicity; ____________ experimental studies have shown that combination with cyanuric acid leads to crystal formation and subsequent kidney toxicity”. (World Health Organization, 30/10/2008.)

According to the formal rule of the English language, choose the alternative that fills in correctly the blank of the sentence below.

“The situation in Europe has created unease among American consumers over ______ or not horse meat might also find its way into the food supply in the United States”.

Considering the grammar subject “adverbs”, choose the alternative that presents a sentence written according to the standard grammar rules.