Questões Militares Comentadas por alunos sobre análise sintática | syntax parsing em inglês

Computer says no: Irish vet fails oral English test needed to stay in Australia

     Louise Kennedy is an Irish veterinarian with degrees in history and politics – both obtained in English. She is married to an Australian and has been working in Australia as an equine vet on a skilled worker visa for the past two years. As a native English speaker, she has excellent grammar and a broad vocabulary, but has been unable to convince a machine she can speak English well enough to stay in Australia.

    But she is now scrambling for other visa options after a computer-based English test – scored by a machine – essentially handed her a fail in terms of convincing immigration officers she can fluently speak her own language.

    Earlier this year, Kennedy decided she would seek permanent residency in Australia. She knew she would have to sit a mandatory English proficiency test but was shocked when she got the results. While she passed all other components of the test including writing and reading, (...). She got 74 when the government requires 79. “There’s obviously a flaw in their computer software, when a person with perfect oral fluency cannot get enough points,” she said. The test providers have categorically denied there is anything wrong with its computer-based test or the scoring engine trained to analyse candidates’ responses. “We do not offer a pass or a fail, simply a score and the immigration department set the bar very high for people seeking permanent residency”, they say.

    Kennedy, who is due to have a baby in October, says she will now have to pursue a bridging visa, while she seeks a more expensive spouse visa so she can remain with her Australian husband.

Adapted from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/08/computer-says-no-irish-vet-fails-oral-english-test-needed-to-stay-in-australia

Read the following extract to answer question.

   Innovation in the language teaching field in the late 1980s and 1990s has been stimulated by a special concern for the language learning process. New methods propose that language learning is best served when students are interacting – completing a task or learning content or resolving real-life issues – where linguistic structures are not taught one by one, but where attention to linguistic form is given as necessary. These views of language learning have been informed by research in second language acquisition. Also giving learning a special focus are methodological innovations of the late 1980s and 1990s. These include teaching learning strategies, using cooperative learning, and planning lessons in such a way that different intelligences are addressed.

(Larsen-Freeman, D. 2000)

                Lego wants to replace plastic blocks with sustainable materials

      The Lego Group wants to replace the plastic in their products with a “sustainable material” by 2030, the company announced.

      The world’s largest toy company will invest $1 billion in their new LEGO Sustainable Materials Centre in Denmark, which _______(1) devoted to finding and implementing new sustainable alternatives for their current building materials. Lego plans on hiring 100 specialists for the center. There is no official definition of a sustainable material.

      Legos _______(2) made with a strong plastic known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene since 1963. The company uses more than 6,000 tons of plastic annually to manufacture its products, according to NBC News. Changing the raw material could have a large effect on Lego’s carbon footprint, especially considering that only 10% of the carbon emissions from Lego products come from its factories. The other 90% is produced from the extraction and refinement of raw materials, as well as distribution from factories to toy stores.

      The company _______(3) already taken steps to lower its carbon footprint, including a reduction of packaging size and an investment in an offshore wind farm.

                                  Adapted from http://time.com/3931946/lego-sustainable-materials/

What is Interpol? 

      Founded in 1923, Interpol is an international police organisation made up of 194 member countries. It is not a police force in the traditional sense – its agents are not able to arrest criminals. Instead, it is more of an informationsharing network, providing a way for national police forces to co-operate effectively and tackle international crime ranging from human trafficking and terrorism to money laundering and illegal art dealing.

      The organisation, based in France, operates centralised criminal databases that contain fingerprint records, DNA samples and stolen documents: a treasure trove so valuable that police consulted it 146 times every second in 2017. Interpol’s other main function is to issue notices: alerts to member states for missing or wanted persons. The bestknown of these is the “Red Notice”, a notification that a member state would like someone arrested. States are not obliged to follow these notices, but will often treat them as a warrant for someone’s arrest and extradition. “Diffusions”, which can be issued with less bureaucracy, are another popular way of seeking arrests through Interpol.

      Notices and diffusions lie at the heart of the organisation’s recent turmoil. Though Interpol’s constitution explicitly forbids any activities of a political character, activists accuse it of failing to enforce this rule.

    (www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/11/22/ what-is-interpol. Adaptado)