In "...and not have them end up on the beach," (line 19), the pronoun them refers to
Max Levchin, mentioned in paragraph 4 (lines 34-39), can be considered a(an)
We are accustomed to thinking of military success as determined by quality of weaponry, rather than by food supply. But a
clear example of how improvements in food supply may decisively increase military success comes from the history of Maori New
Zealand. The Maori are the Polynesian people who were the first to settle New Zealand. Traditionally, they fought frequent fierce
wars against each other, but only against closely neighboring tribes. Those wars were limited by the modest productivity of their
agriculture, whose staple crop was sweet potatoes. It was not possible to grow enough sweet potatoes to feed an army in the field
for a long time or on distant marches. When Europeans arrived in New Zealand, they brought potatoes, which beginning around
1815 considerably increased Maori crop yields. Maori could now grow enough food to supply armies in the field for many weeks.
The result was a 15-year period in Maori history, from 1818 until 1833, when Maori tribes that had acquiredpotatoes and guns from
the English sent armies out on raids to attack tribes hundreds of miles away that had not yet acquired potatoes and guns. Thus, the
potato's productivity relieved previous limitations on Maori warfare, similar to the limitations that low-productivity corn agriculture
imposed on Maya warfare.
(Diamond, J. (2006). Collapse. London: Penguin.)
Which of the following sentences is NOT true, according to the text?
Minister calls for wider fl exible working rights
British government ministers are considering giving all
employees the right to ask for fl exible working hours "from
the beginning" of a new job as part of plans to encourage a
fundamental shift in working habits.
The Work and Pensions Secretary, Yvette Cooper, says her
offi ce is working with employers and organisations such as
the federation of small businesses to draw up new ways of
supporting men as well as women and non-parents as well
as parents working more fl exible hours.
The current rules are limited to parents of children under 16
and carers, and Cooper wants to extend them. "You want
people to offer fl exible working from the beginning and
we need to look again at how the legislation can support
different ways of doing that," she said.
"There will be some areas where it's not possible to fi t
round particular school hours or particular things where the
nature of the businessmakes it hard - but what you need
is the cultural change for everybody to think differently."
Cooper's proposals come as the government announced
that fathers will be given the right to six months' paternity
leave.
There will be a legal right to take the mother's place at
home for the last three months of a nine-month maternity
break; they would receive £123 a week in statutory pay.
Fathers would then be entitled to take a further three
months' unpaid leave. The move was criticised by some
business leaders.
(From: The Guardian, Friday 29 January 2010 -slightly adapted)
With regard to paternity leave, the government has given men the right to
Text 1
Source:http://www.niallferguson.com/site/FERG/Templates/General. aspx?pageid=194
The Ascent of Money
Synopsis
Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot: Call it what you like, it matters. To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labour. But in The Ascent of Money, Niall Ferguson shows that fi nance is in fact the foundation of human progress. What's more, he reveals fi nancial history as the essential back-story behind all history. The evolution of credit and debt was as important as any technological innovation in the rise of civilization, from ancient Babylon to the silver mines of Bolivia. Banks provided the material basis for the splendours of the Italian Renaissance, while the bond market was the decisive factor in confl icts from the Seven Years' War to the American Civil War.
With the clarity and verve for which he is famed, Niall Ferguson explains why the origins of the FrenchRevolution lie in a stock market bubble caused by a convicted Scots murderer. He shows how fi nancial failure turned Argentina from the world's sixth richest country into an infl ation-ridden basket case - and how a fi nancial revolution is propelling the world's most populous country from poverty to power in a single generation.
Yet the most important lesson of the world's fi nancial history is that sooner or later every bubble bursts - sooner or later the bearish sellers outnumber the bullish buyers - sooner or later greed fl ips into fear. And that's why, whether you're scraping by or rolling in it, there's never been a better time to understand the ascent of money.
The writer of the book attempts to prove that money is
. The only argument that CANNOT be considered supportive of publishing the IMF documents is that the
Answer questions 11, 12 and 13 based on the
newspaper article below.
Lessons in using the internet safely are set to
become a compulsory part of the curriculum for
primary school children in England from 2011.
The lessons are one element of a new government
strategy being unveiled called "Click Clever, Click Safe".
Children will also be encouraged to follow an online
"Green Cross Code" and block and report inappropriate
content.
"We must ensure that this virtual world is safe for our
children just as we try to ensure that the real world is,"
said Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the launch of the
campaign.
"The internet is a wonderful and powerful tool that is
changing the way we learn and the way we stay in touch,"
he added, "but unfortunately there are risks from those
intent on exploiting its benefits."
Fonte: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ December, 2009.
The Direct Speech sentence said by Prime Minister Gordon Brown "The internet is a wonderful and powerful tool that is changing the way we learn and the way we stay in touch," is equivalent to which sentence in Indirect Speech? Choose from the options below.
The author reports that world oil reserves are at a 'tipping point' because oil
"This challenge" in "This challenge will have a longer term effect on our economies..." (lines 43-44) refers to the
