One more text for you to have fun

PROF. ROBERTO WITTE!
Bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite, boa madrugada…não sei a hora que você está me “lendo”, mas o importante é que você está me “lendo”.

Hoje vamos de texto. Após o texto, você encontra as palavras-chave, rápido comentário e gabarito. Good luck.

CURRENCY DISUNION
(MDIC – Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior)

           The Irish left the sterling zone. The Balts escaped from the trouble. The Czechs and Slovaks left each other. History is littered with currency unions that broke up. Why not the euro? Had its fathers foreseen turmoil, they might never have embarked on currency union.
               The founders of the euro thought they were forging a rival to the American dollar. Instead they recreated a version of the gold standard abandoned by their predecessors long ago. Unable to devalue their currencies, struggling euro countries are trying to regain competitiveness by “internal devaluation”, ie, pushing down wages and prices. That hurts: unemployment in Greece and Spain is above 20%. And resentment is deepening among creditors. So why not release the yoke? The treaties may declare the euro “irrevocable”, but treaties can be changed.
One reason the euro holds together is fear of financial and economic chaos on an unprecedented scale. Another is the impulse to defend the decades-long political investment in the European project. So, despite many bitter words, Greece has a second rescue.
           So the euro zone remains vulnerable to new shocks. Markets still worry about the risk of sovereign defaults, and of a partial or total collapse of the euro. Common sense suggests that leaders should think about how to manage a break-up.

1- In paragraph 1, the author claims that if the euro’s fathers had foreseen turmoil, they would never have
a) begun a currency union.
b) replaced the euro.
c) maintained the euro zone currencies.
d) turned down a currency union.
e) devalued the euro.

2- In paragraph 2, the author points out that “struggling euro countries” are
a) steadily recuperating competitiveness.
b) currently devaluing their currencies.
c) expected to value their currencies.
d) incapable of devaluing their currencies.
e) not allowed to push down wages and prices.

3- In paragraph 2, the author argues that treaties
a) might have been ratified.
b) may be altered.
c) should have been negotiated.
d) ought to bring about changes.
e) must be urgently approved.

4- In paragraph 3, the author tries to explain why the euro
a) recovered.
b) devalued.
c) values.
d) collapsed.
e) remains.

5- According to the text, currency unions

a) have invariably strengthened markets.
b) are not supposed to break up.
c) have previously proved unsuccessful.
d) restructure regional markets.
e) prevent long-term damages.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE

 Among = entre
 Bitter = amargo
 Break-up = divisão, término, quebradeira
 Competitivenss = competitividade
 Currency = moeda oficial de um País. Outra palavra que, às vezes, aparece em seu lugar é “legal tender”. Você poderá observar esta palavra ao ler uma frase que está presente em todas as notas de dólar.
 Damage = dano, prejuízo
 Default = calote, não pagamento, não cumprimento de cláusula contratual
 Despite (= in spite of) = apesar de
 Fear = medo (também é utilizado como verbo, “To fear” significa “temer”
 Instead = ao invés, ao invés disso
 Ought to (mesmo que “should”) = expressa ideia de recomendação, conselho e, em alguns casos, arrependimento. Traduções sugeridas são “devia” ou “deveria”
 Predecessor = antecessor
 Rescue = resgate
 Resentment = ressentimento, “pé atrás”
 Sovereign = soberano (no texto a palavra está relacionada à dívida pública e o temor que o mercado tem de que ela não seja honrada).
 Steadily = continuamente, frequentemente
 Sterling = libra ($)
 Still = ainda
 To allow = permitir
 To be littered with = estar abarrotado, estar cheio de
 To bring about = causar, fazer acontecer
 To claim = alegar, reclamar (direito), reivindicar
 To collapse = desfalecer, colapsar, ruir
 To deepen = aprofundar
 To devalue = desvalorizar
 To foresee – foresaw – foreseen = prever
 To forge = forjar, criar, desenvolver
 To hold together = manter-se firme
 To hurt – hurt – hurt = ferir, machucar
 To leave – left – left = sair, deixar, abamndonar
 To push down = forçar para baixo, causar
 To recover = recuperar
 To release = liberar
 To remain = permanecer
 To replace = substituir
 To strengthen = fortalecer
 To struggle = brigar, batalhar, vivenciar dificuldade, mover-se com grande esforço.
 To turn down = recusar
 Treaties (plural de “treaty”) = tratados
 Trouble = problema
 Turmoil = instabilidade, caos, turbulência
 Unable = incapaz (de)
 Unemployment = desemprego (mesmo que “joblessness”)
 Unsuccessful = sem sucesso, mal sucedido
 Wage = salário
 Yoke = carga, opressão, repressão

Comentário: jogo rápido. Note que 4 das 5 questões o examinador mostra em que parágrafo você encontra a informação para responder à questão, ou seja, nada de ler o texto antes de ler os enunciados. E, lógico, revisar o vocabulário deste e dos textos anteriores.

ANSWER KEYS 1) a 2) d 3) b 4) e 5) c

…conte conosco…
…sem nunca perder a noção da realidade.

Prof. Roberto Witte e Profa Ena Smith