My brother the star, my mother the earth
my father the sun, my sister the moon,
to my life give beauty, to my
body give strength, to my corn give
goodness, to my house give peace, to
my spirit give truth, to my elders give
wisdom.
Disponível em: www.blackhawkproductions.com. Acesso em: 8 ago. 2012
Produções artístico-culturais revelam visões de mundo
próprias de um grupo social. Esse poema demonstra a
estreita relação entre a tradição oral da cultura indígena
norte-americana e a
Why am I compelled to write? Because the writing
saves me from this complacency I fear. Because I have
no choice. Because I must keep the spirit of my revolt
and myself alive. Because the world I create in the writing
compensates for what the real world does not give me.
By writing I put order in the world, give it a handle so I can
grasp it.
ANZALDÚA, G. E. Speaking in tongues: a letter to third world women writers.
In: HERNANDEZ, J. B. (Ed.). Women writing resistance: essays on
Latin America and the Caribbean. Boston: South End, 2003
Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa, falecida em 2004, foi uma
escritora americana de origem mexicana que escreveu
sobre questões culturais e raciais. Na citação, o intuito da
autora é evidenciar as
A Tall Order
The Sky isn't the limit for an architect building the world's first invisible skyscraper.
Charles Wee, one of the world's leading high–rise architects, has a confession to make: he's bored with skyscrapers. After designing more than 30, most of which punctuate the skylines of rapidly expanding Asian cities, he has struck upon a novel concept: the first invisible skyscraper.
As the tallest structure in South Kora, his infinity Tower will loom over Seoul until somebody pushes a button and it completely disappears.
When he entered a 2004 competition to desing a landmark tower, the Korean–American architect rejected the notion of competing with Dubai, Toronto, and Shangai to reach the summit of man–made summits. “I thought, let's not jump into this stupid race to build another “tallest" tower, he says in a phone conversation. “Let's take an opposite approach – let's make an anti–tower.
The result will be a 150–story building that fades from view at the flick of a switch. The tower will effectively function as an enormous television screen, being able to project an exact replica of whatever is happening behind it onto its façade. To the human eye, the building will appear to have melted away.
It will be the most extraordinary achievement of Wee's stellar architectural career. After graduating from UCLA, he worked under Anthony Lumsden, a prolific Californian architect who helped devise the modern technique of wrapping buildings inside smooth glass skins.
HINES, N. Disponível em: http://mag.newsweek.com. Acesso em 13 out 2013 (adaptado).
No título e no subtítulo desse texto, as expressões A Tall Order e The sky isn't the limit são usadas para apresentar uma matéria cujo tema é
The Road Not Taken (by Robert Frost)
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Disponível em: www.poetryfoundation.org. Acesso em: 29 nov. 2011 (fragmento).
Estes são os versos finais do famoso poema The Road Not Taken, do poeta americano Robert Frost. Levando–se em consideração que a vida é comumente metaforizada como uma viagem, esses versos indicam que o autor
The war song
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And love means nothing
In some strange quarters
War war is stupid
And people are stupid
And I heard them banging
On hearts and fingers
People fill the world
With narrow confidence
Like a child at birth
A man with no defense
What's mine is my own
I won't give it to you
No matter what you say
No matter what you do
Now we're fighting
In our hearts Fighting in the street
Won't somebody help me?
Disponível em: http://letras.mus.br. Acesso em: 29 jun. 2012
A música é uma forma de expressão artística e cultural e pode revelar diferentes formas de compreender o mundo.
Na letra da canção do grupo Culture Club, entende-se que a guerra é o resultado da
Japan — Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis (2011)
In many ways, Japan is still reeling from the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 and the nuclear crisis and huge leaks of radiation it set off. The earthquake and tsunami led to soul searching in a nation already worn down by two lost decades of economic growth, a rapidly aging and now shrinking population, political paralysis and the rapid rise of its longtime rival, China.
The government will now focus on removing the fuel stored at the site, opening up the ravaged reactors themselves and eventually dismantling the plant, a process that is expected to take at least four decades, Mr. Noda said.
But for many of the people of Fukushima, the crisis is far from over. More than 160,000 people remain displaced, and even as the government lifts evacuation orders for some communities, many are refusing to return home.
Disponível em: http://topics.nytimes.com. Acesso em: 24 fev. 2012 (adaptado).
O excerto do artigo publicado no site do jornal The New York Times, acerca da situação em que o Japão se encontrava em 2011, expõe o tema:
If You Can't Master English, Try Globish
PARIS – It happens all the time: during an airport delay the man to the left, a Korean perhaps, starts talking to the man opposite, who might be Colombian, and soon they are chatting away in what seems to be English. But the native English speaker sitting between them cannot understand a word.
They don't know it, but the Korean and the Colombian are speaking Globish, the latest addition to the 6,800 languages that are said to be spoken across the world. Not that is inventor, Jean–Paul Nerrière, considers it a proper language..
“It is not a language, it is a tool," he says. “A language is the vehicle of a culture. Gobish doesn't want to be that all. It is a means of communication."
Nerrière doesn't see Globish in the same light as utopian efforts such as Kosmos, Volapuk, Novial or staunch Esperanto. Nor should it be confused with barbaric Algol (for Algorithmic language). It is a sort of English lite: a means of simplifying the language and giving it rules so it can be understood by all.
BLUME, M. Disponível em www.nytimes.com. Acesso em 28 out 2013 (fragmento).
Considerando as ideias apresentadas no texto, o Globish (Global English) é uma variedade da língua inglesa que
A internet tem servido a diferentes interesses, ampliando, muitas vezes, o contato entre pessoas e instituições. Um exemplo disso é o site WeFeedback, no qual a internauta Kate Watts
Tennesse Mountain Properties Descri ption Own a renovated house for less than $290 per monthwifill New windows, siding, flooring (laminate throughout and tile in entry way and bathroom), kitchen cabinets, counter top, back door, fresh paint and laundry on main floor. Heat billsare very low due to a good solid house and an energy efficient furnace.
Disponível em: www.freerealestaeads.net . Acesso em: 30 nov. 2011(adaptado).
Em jornais, há diversos anúncios que servem aos leitores. O conteúdo do anúncio veiculado por este texto interessará a alguém que esteja procurando
Turning Brown A four-year-old boy was eating an apple in the back seat of the car, when he asked, "Daddy, why is my apple turning brown?" "Because," his dad explained, "after you ate the skin off, the meat of the apple carne into contact with the air, which caused it to oxidize, thus changing the molecular structure and turning it into a different color." There was a long silence. Then the son asked softly, "Daddy, are you talking to me?"
Disponível em: http://hayspost.com. Acesso em: 10 nov. 2011
Considerando os participantes da conversa nessa piada, nota-se que o efeito de humor é obtido em função
Languages and cultures use non-verbal communication which conveys meaning. Although many gestures are similar in Thai and English such as nodding for affirmation many others are not shared. A good example of this is the ubiquitous "Thai smile". The "smile" carries a far wider range of meanings in Thai than it does in English culture. This can sometimes lead to serious communication breakdowns between Thais and English speakers.
An example from my own early experience in Thailand illustrates the point. When confronting the Thai owner of a language school with administrative problems, complaints regarding student numbers in the class were met by a beaming smile and little else. I took this to mean lack of concern or an attempt to trivialise or ignore the problem. I left the discussion upset and angry by what appeared to be the owner's offhand attitude to my problems.
It was only later when another native speaking English teacher, with considerably more experience of Thailand, explained that a smile meant an apology and the fact that the following day all my complaints had been addressed, that I fully understood the situation.
Disponível em: www.spring.org.uk. Acesso em: 11 jul. 2011 (fragmento).
Viver em um país estrangeiro pode ser uma experiência enriquecedora, embora possa também ser um desafio, pelo choque cultural. A experiência relatada pelo autor do texto revela diferentes atribuições de sentido a um determinado comportamento, mostrando que naquela situação o sorriso indicava um(a)
I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. Humans carne in with a rather unimpressive showing about a third of the way down the list ... That didn't look so good, but then someone at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And a man on a bicycle blew the condor away. That's what a computer is to me: the computer is the most remarkable tool that we've ever come up with. It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.
JOBS, S. Disponível em: www.msnbc.msn.com. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2012 (adaptado).
Ao abordar o deslocamento de várias espécies, com base em um estudo que leu, Steve Jobs apresenta o computador como uma ferramenta que
Land of all peoples
Paraná has approximately 10 million inhabitants. R is the 6th most populous state, with 5.6% of the total Brazilian population and 38% of the population of the southern region. Its demographic density is 47.98 inhabitants per km2.
A melting pot of several ethnic groups, Paraná is known as the "'and of all peoples". The state has welcomed immigrants from the most diverse parts of the world: Poles, Italians, Ukrainians, Japanese, Germans, Spaniards, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, Syrians, Lebanese, Englishmen and Israelis.
They have contributed to the state's social and cultural structure, substantially influencing its everyday language, its oral and written literature, its religious celebrations, its cooking habits and many other social activities. To this day, that rich ethnic variety is carefully preserved and even developed further, giving Paraná a rather unique human typology.
SECRETARIA DE ESTADO DA INDÚSTRIA, DO COMÉRCIO E ASSUNTOS DO MERCOSUL. Paraná, a state of opportunity.
No trecho extraído de um catálogo informativo sobre o Estado do Paraná, percebe-se que seus autores têm a intenção de
Masters of War
Como you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that build hide behind walls
You that build hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.
You that never done nothing
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.
BOB DYLAN. The Freewheelin'Bob Dylan. Nova York: Columbia Records, 1963 (fragmento).
Na letra da canção Masters of War, há questionamentos e reflexões que aparecem na forma de protesto contra
Implementar políticas adequadas de alimentação e nutrição é uma meta prioritária em vários países do mundo. A partir da campanha If you can "t read it, why eat it?, os leitores são alertados para o perigo de
