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
Slow Food
Slow Food describes a movement created "to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people's dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world," according to the movement's website. More broadly, it involves an emphasis on local and seasonal produce and an adherence to regional cultures. Its goals also include lobbying against the use of pesticides and genetic engineering of food.
Disponível em: www.ecomii.com. Acesso em: 30 set. 2011
O objetivo do movimento Slow food é
A tira, definida como um segmento de história em quadrinhos, pode transmitir uma mensagem com efeito de humor. Na tira, a presença desse efeito no diálogo entre Lucy e seu irmão Linus acontece porque
The art of happiness
Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing or at
least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him
feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and
temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an
increasingly popular speaker and statesman. Why is he
so popular? Even after spending only a few minutes in
his presence you can't help feeling happier. If you ask
him if he's happy, even though he's suffered the loss of
his country, the Dalai Lama will give you an unconditional
yes. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the
purpose of life, and that “the very motion of our life is
towards happiness". How to get there has always been
the question. He's tried to answer it before, but he's never
had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in
a context we can easily understand.
LAMA, D.; CUTLER, H. The Art of Happiness: a handbook for living. Putnam Books, 1998.
Pelo título e pela sinopse do livro de Lama e Cutler,
constata-se que o tema da obra é
A partir da leitura dessa tirinha, infere-se que o discurso de Calvin teve um efeito diferente do pretendido, uma vez que ele
Steve Jobs: A Life Remembered 1955-2011
Readersdigest.ca takes a look back at Steve Jobs, and his contribution to our digital world.
CEO. Tech-Guru. Artist. There are few corporate figures as famous and well-regarded as former-Apple CEO Steve Jobs. His list of achievements is staggering, and his contribution to modern technology, digital media, and indeed the world as a whole, cannot be downplayed.
With his passing on October 5, 2011, readersdigest.ca looks back at some of his greatest achievements, and pays our respects to a digital pioneer who helped pave the way for a generation of technology, and possibilities, few could have imagined.
Disponível em: www.readersdigest.ca. Acesso em: 25 fev. 2012
Informações sobre pessoas famosas são recorrentes na mídia, divulgadas de forma impressa ou virtualmente. Em relação a Steve Jobs, esse texto propõe
Placas como a da gravura são usadas para orientar
os usuários de um espaço urbano. Essa placa,
especificamente, tem a função de avisar que somente
O filme Hijras – The Third Gender tem como objetivo chamar atenção para a situação vivida por um segmento da
sociedade indiana, os hijras. De acordo com o que se captura dessas vozes no filme e do que se lê no texto, esse
segmento reivindica
National Geographic News
Christine Dell’Amore
Published April 26, 2010
Our bodies produce a small but steady amount of natural morphine, a new study suggests. Traces of the chemical are often found in mouse and human urine, leading scientists to wonder whether the drug is being made naturally or being delivered by something the subjects consumed. The new research shows that mice produce the "incredible painkiller" - and that humans and other mammals possess the same chemical road map for making it, said study co-author Meinhart Zenk, who studies plant-based pharmaceuticals at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Disponível em: www.nationalgeographic.com. Acesso em 27 jul. 2010
Ao ler a matéria publicada na National Geographic, para a realização de um trabalho escolar, um estudante descobriu que:
Tirinhas são construídas a partir de contextos sociais e podem promover reflexões diversas. Essa tirinha provoca no
leitor uma reflexão acerca da
