Questões de Inglês para Vestibular

Mozambique Cyclone: “Almost everything is destroyed.”

People carry their personal effects through a flooded section of Praia Nova in Beira after the cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Idai destroyed and damaged homes and knocked out electricity and communications.

Cyclone Idai hit the city of Beira hard and the scale of damage is massive, say Red Cross and Red Crescent aid workers who reached the Mozambican city a few days ago. The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed.”

The Red Cross and Red Crescent team was among the first to arrive in Beira since Cyclone Idai made landfall March 14-15. With Beira’s airport closed and roads cut off due to flooding, the team drove from Maputo, the capital city, before taking a helicopter for the last leg of the journey. “Almost everything is destroyed. Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have

been destroyed. Some affected communities are not accessible,” said LeSueur. “Beira has been severely battered. But we are also hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse. Yesterday, a large dam burst and cut off the last road to the city.”

While the physical impact of Idai is beginning to emerge, the human impact is still unclear. Authorities in the country are warning that the death toll may climb beyond 1,000 people.

Heavy rain will continue in the coming days which may only exacerbate the dire situation and cause already saturated rivers to overflow.

Following its landfall in Mozambique, the cyclone continued west to Zimbabwe as a tropical storm, wreaking havoc in the eastern part of the country, with Manicaland Province being the hardest-hit. At least 31 deaths have been reported and over 100 people are missing in Zimbabwe.

Source: www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and -events/news/2019/mozambique-cyclone.html 

TEXTO REFERENTE À QUESTÂO. 

Perfectly Preserved Ancient Shipwreck Found in the Baltic Sea with Guns Ready to Fire

By Yasemin Saplakoglu, Staff Writer | July 24, 2019 01:33pm ET

        An incredibly well-preserved ancient shipwreck has been uncovered in the Baltic Sea.

        Though it likely dates back to 500 to 600 years ago, "it's almost like it sank yesterday," Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, a maritime archeologist with the survey specialists MMT, said in a statement. The ship was first discovered using sonar - which uses sound waves to detect objects - by the Swedish Maritime Administration back in 2009.

        But Pacheco-Ruiz and his team, in collaboration with the Centre for Maritime Archeology at the University of Southampton in England, recently led an archeological survey of the wreck using underwater robots.

        The survey revealed that the ship likely dates to the 15th to early 16th centuries. Though it looks tattered, it is still largely intact. The masts of the ship were still in place and the hull is complete. On the main deck, leaning against the main mast, the scientists found a small boat that was likely used to transport the crew to and from the ship. They also found swivel guns on the main deck, some still neatly packed away in gun ports. Two swivel guns were still aimed in the firing position, The Independent reported.

         "This ship is contemporary to the times of Christopher Columbus and Leonardo Da Vinci, yet it demonstrates a remarkable level of preservation after five hundred years at the bottom of the sea," Pacheco-Ruiz said. It's very wellpreserved due to the cold, slightly salty waters of the Baltic Sea, he added.

(Adaptado de < https://www.livescience.com/66011-ancientshipwreck-baltic-sea.html > Acesso em 04/08/2019)

Mozambique Cyclone: “Almost everything is destroyed.”

People carry their personal effects through a flooded section of Praia Nova in Beira after the cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Idai destroyed and damaged homes and knocked out electricity and communications.

Cyclone Idai hit the city of Beira hard and the scale of damage is massive, say Red Cross and Red Crescent aid workers who reached the Mozambican city a few days ago. The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed.”

The Red Cross and Red Crescent team was among the first to arrive in Beira since Cyclone Idai made landfall March 14-15. With Beira’s airport closed and roads cut off due to flooding, the team drove from Maputo, the capital city, before taking a helicopter for the last leg of the journey. “Almost everything is destroyed. Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have

been destroyed. Some affected communities are not accessible,” said LeSueur. “Beira has been severely battered. But we are also hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse. Yesterday, a large dam burst and cut off the last road to the city.”

While the physical impact of Idai is beginning to emerge, the human impact is still unclear. Authorities in the country are warning that the death toll may climb beyond 1,000 people.

Heavy rain will continue in the coming days which may only exacerbate the dire situation and cause already saturated rivers to overflow.

Following its landfall in Mozambique, the cyclone continued west to Zimbabwe as a tropical storm, wreaking havoc in the eastern part of the country, with Manicaland Province being the hardest-hit. At least 31 deaths have been reported and over 100 people are missing in Zimbabwe.

Source: www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and -events/news/2019/mozambique-cyclone.html 

TEXTO REFERENTE À QUESTÂO. 

Perfectly Preserved Ancient Shipwreck Found in the Baltic Sea with Guns Ready to Fire

By Yasemin Saplakoglu, Staff Writer | July 24, 2019 01:33pm ET

        An incredibly well-preserved ancient shipwreck has been uncovered in the Baltic Sea.

        Though it likely dates back to 500 to 600 years ago, "it's almost like it sank yesterday," Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, a maritime archeologist with the survey specialists MMT, said in a statement. The ship was first discovered using sonar - which uses sound waves to detect objects - by the Swedish Maritime Administration back in 2009.

        But Pacheco-Ruiz and his team, in collaboration with the Centre for Maritime Archeology at the University of Southampton in England, recently led an archeological survey of the wreck using underwater robots.

        The survey revealed that the ship likely dates to the 15th to early 16th centuries. Though it looks tattered, it is still largely intact. The masts of the ship were still in place and the hull is complete. On the main deck, leaning against the main mast, the scientists found a small boat that was likely used to transport the crew to and from the ship. They also found swivel guns on the main deck, some still neatly packed away in gun ports. Two swivel guns were still aimed in the firing position, The Independent reported.

         "This ship is contemporary to the times of Christopher Columbus and Leonardo Da Vinci, yet it demonstrates a remarkable level of preservation after five hundred years at the bottom of the sea," Pacheco-Ruiz said. It's very wellpreserved due to the cold, slightly salty waters of the Baltic Sea, he added.

(Adaptado de < https://www.livescience.com/66011-ancientshipwreck-baltic-sea.html > Acesso em 04/08/2019)

Mozambique Cyclone: “Almost everything is destroyed.”

People carry their personal effects through a flooded section of Praia Nova in Beira after the cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Idai destroyed and damaged homes and knocked out electricity and communications.

Cyclone Idai hit the city of Beira hard and the scale of damage is massive, say Red Cross and Red Crescent aid workers who reached the Mozambican city a few days ago. The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed.”

The Red Cross and Red Crescent team was among the first to arrive in Beira since Cyclone Idai made landfall March 14-15. With Beira’s airport closed and roads cut off due to flooding, the team drove from Maputo, the capital city, before taking a helicopter for the last leg of the journey. “Almost everything is destroyed. Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have

been destroyed. Some affected communities are not accessible,” said LeSueur. “Beira has been severely battered. But we are also hearing that the situation outside the city could be even worse. Yesterday, a large dam burst and cut off the last road to the city.”

While the physical impact of Idai is beginning to emerge, the human impact is still unclear. Authorities in the country are warning that the death toll may climb beyond 1,000 people.

Heavy rain will continue in the coming days which may only exacerbate the dire situation and cause already saturated rivers to overflow.

Following its landfall in Mozambique, the cyclone continued west to Zimbabwe as a tropical storm, wreaking havoc in the eastern part of the country, with Manicaland Province being the hardest-hit. At least 31 deaths have been reported and over 100 people are missing in Zimbabwe.

Source: www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and -events/news/2019/mozambique-cyclone.html 

Leia o texto a seguir para responder à questão.

Forest fires: the good and the bad

Every year it seems like there’s another disastrous wildfire in the American West. In 2018, nearly 9 million acres were burned in the US alone. Uncontrolled fires often started accidentally by people, rampage and decimate forests. F

or most people, a forest fire is synonymous with disaster. But there are some kinds of forest fires that actually benefit the environment.

A controlled burn is a wildfire that people set intentionally for a specific purpose. Well-thought-out and wellmanaged controlled burns can be incredibly beneficial for forest management—in part because they can help stop an out-of-control wildfire. The technique is called backburning, and it involves setting a controlled fire in the path of the approaching wildfire. All the flammable material is burnt up and extinguished. When the wildfire approaches, there’s no more fuel left for it to keep going, and it dies out.

Controlled burns are also used to prevent forest fires. Even before human involvement, natural, low-intensity wildfires occurred every few years to burn up fuel, plant debris, and dead trees, making way for young, healthy trees and vegetation to thrive. That new growth in turn supports forest wildlife. Forest managers are now replicating this natural strategy when appropriate, starting manageable, slow-burning fires to make room for new life that will help keep the forest healthy in the long term.

The same method is one of WWF’s strategies for maintaining grassland habitats in the Northern Great Plains. Working with partners such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WWF has intentionally burned hundreds of acres of prairie land to revitalize these key habitats. The fire burns off tall, aggressive vegetation that isn’t as hospitable to wildlife, and makes room for new growth that attracts bison, birds, and prairie dogs.

This doesn’t mean all intentional wildfires are good – far from it. Many of the fires intentionally set for agriculture and land clearing are at best ill-advised, and at worst devastating. Slash and burn fires are set every day to destroy large sections of forests. Of course, these forests don’t just remove trees; they kill and displace wildlife, alter water cycles and soil fertility, and endanger the lives and livelihoods of local communities. They also can rage out of control. In 1997, fires set intentionally to clear forests in Indonesia escalated into one of the largest wildfires in recorded history. Hundreds of people died; millions of acres burned; already at-risk species like orangutans perished by the hundreds; and a smoke and ash haze hung over southeast Asia for months, reducing visibility and causing acute health conditions.

That’s exactly why WWF helps governments around the world crack down on slash and burn deforestation. WWF also works with farmers and companies to stop unnecessary agricultural burns. And when our scientists think fire could be the best solution for revitalizing wild areas, we bring the right experts to the table to study the situation and come up with a plan.

All fire is risky. To minimize that risk as much as possible, controlled burns must be well-considered, wellplanned, and ignited and maintained by trained professionals. The bottom line? Fire can be a tool for conservation, but only when used the right way.

Disponível em: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/forest-fires-the-good-and-the-bad. Acesso em: 08 out. 2019

Leia o texto a seguir para responder à questão.

Forest fires: the good and the bad

Every year it seems like there’s another disastrous wildfire in the American West. In 2018, nearly 9 million acres were burned in the US alone. Uncontrolled fires often started accidentally by people, rampage and decimate forests. F

or most people, a forest fire is synonymous with disaster. But there are some kinds of forest fires that actually benefit the environment.

A controlled burn is a wildfire that people set intentionally for a specific purpose. Well-thought-out and wellmanaged controlled burns can be incredibly beneficial for forest management—in part because they can help stop an out-of-control wildfire. The technique is called backburning, and it involves setting a controlled fire in the path of the approaching wildfire. All the flammable material is burnt up and extinguished. When the wildfire approaches, there’s no more fuel left for it to keep going, and it dies out.

Controlled burns are also used to prevent forest fires. Even before human involvement, natural, low-intensity wildfires occurred every few years to burn up fuel, plant debris, and dead trees, making way for young, healthy trees and vegetation to thrive. That new growth in turn supports forest wildlife. Forest managers are now replicating this natural strategy when appropriate, starting manageable, slow-burning fires to make room for new life that will help keep the forest healthy in the long term.

The same method is one of WWF’s strategies for maintaining grassland habitats in the Northern Great Plains. Working with partners such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WWF has intentionally burned hundreds of acres of prairie land to revitalize these key habitats. The fire burns off tall, aggressive vegetation that isn’t as hospitable to wildlife, and makes room for new growth that attracts bison, birds, and prairie dogs.

This doesn’t mean all intentional wildfires are good – far from it. Many of the fires intentionally set for agriculture and land clearing are at best ill-advised, and at worst devastating. Slash and burn fires are set every day to destroy large sections of forests. Of course, these forests don’t just remove trees; they kill and displace wildlife, alter water cycles and soil fertility, and endanger the lives and livelihoods of local communities. They also can rage out of control. In 1997, fires set intentionally to clear forests in Indonesia escalated into one of the largest wildfires in recorded history. Hundreds of people died; millions of acres burned; already at-risk species like orangutans perished by the hundreds; and a smoke and ash haze hung over southeast Asia for months, reducing visibility and causing acute health conditions.

That’s exactly why WWF helps governments around the world crack down on slash and burn deforestation. WWF also works with farmers and companies to stop unnecessary agricultural burns. And when our scientists think fire could be the best solution for revitalizing wild areas, we bring the right experts to the table to study the situation and come up with a plan.

All fire is risky. To minimize that risk as much as possible, controlled burns must be well-considered, wellplanned, and ignited and maintained by trained professionals. The bottom line? Fire can be a tool for conservation, but only when used the right way.

Disponível em: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/forest-fires-the-good-and-the-bad. Acesso em: 08 out. 2019