Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 1/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

1st QUESTION (15 points)

PART I

Read the following text. Then, choose the answers to items 01 to 07.

U.S. officials express growing confidence downed Russian plane By Barbara Starr, Jethro Mullen and Steve Almasy, CNN Updated 0851 GMT (1651 HKT) November 8, 2015 Video Source: CNN

The U.S. appears to be increasingly confident that a terrorist bomb brought down the Russian passenger jet that broke apart over . The growing belief was indicated by several senior U.S. officials in the intelligence, military and national security community who spoke to CNN on Saturday. The remarks are stronger than those made by President on Thursday when he said there was "a possibility" a bomb was on Metrojet Flight 9268, which disintegrated over the on , killing all 224 people aboard. The view also contrasts with the cautious stance taken by Egyptian officials, who are in charge of the main investigation into the air crash and insist that no conclusion has been reached yet. "All the scenarios are out on the table," Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the investigation, told reporters Saturday. "We don't know what happened exactly."

ISIS chatter analyzed The belief that a bomb was most likely to blame centers to a large extent on British and U.S. intercepts of communications after the crash from the Islamic militant group ISIS' affiliate in Sinai to ISIS operatives in Syria, according to officials. The Sinai affiliate has publicly claimed responsibility for downing the Russian jet, which was flying from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, but so far hasn't explained how it was done. The two Western countries have been analyzing the specific language in the chatter to determine to what extent the operatives were talking about the type of bomb and detonator used, and whether that language was a true representation of what happened, one official told CNN. Several officials said it's the specificity of the chatter that has directly contributed to the U.S. and British view that a bomb was most likely used. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 2/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

Talks over possible FBI role in investigation But officials in Washington and London don't have all the pieces of the puzzle at their disposal. Neither country is directly involved in the Egyptian investigation into the crash or has physical evidence from it to examine. Talks between the United States, Egypt and could result in the FBI providing some experts, particularly bomb technicians, to assist in the investigation, according to a U.S. official. Muqaddam, the head of the investigation, said Egyptian authorities have not been provided any information or evidence tied to reports suggesting that a bomb took down the flight. He urged the sources of the reports to pass along related evidence to Egyptian investigators. The investigation does include experts from Egypt, Russia, France, Germany and Ireland - countries that are connected in various ways to the aircraft that crashed, an -200.

Noise heard at end of cockpit recording The TV station France 2 reported Friday that European investigators who analyzed the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from Flight 9268 are saying the crash is not an accident. The investigators said the cockpit voice recorder indicates an explosion, and the flight data recorder shows the blast was not accidental, according to France 2, which is a CNN affiliate. Muqaddam, however, was more circumspect in his comments Saturday on the contents of the flight recorders. He confirmed a noise was heard in the final second of the cockpit recording as the aircraft was on autopilot and ascending. But he offered no description of the sound, saying a specialized analysis would be carried out to identify it. The crash might have been caused by a lithium battery, an explosion or a mechanical issue, Muqaddam said, noting that the investigation was being hampered by bad weather.

Efforts to repatriate British, Russian tourists Amid concerns over what happened to Flight 9268, Britain has suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh and is working to bring its citizens home from the resort. Passengers flying back to Britain are being carried in separate planes from their baggage, reflecting fears that the Russian plane was brought down by a bomb placed in the luggage hold. The Russian government, which initially played down suggestions that the crash was caused by terrorists, has suspended all air traffic with Egypt until the cause of the crash is determined. Russian authorities are taking similar steps to the British to repatriate citizens. Other countries have issued travel warnings. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 3/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told CNN that officials were taking "precautionary interim steps" to increase security on international flights into the United States during the investigation of the Egypt air disaster. "ISIL is out there now active in a lot of different areas and, while this investigation is pending and because we have this group claiming responsibility, we believe it's significant to do these things on an interim basis," he said, using an alternative name for ISIS. Johnson said authorities are evaluating whether additional measures were necessary. (Available at http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/08/middleeast/russian-plane-crash-egypt-sinai/index.html)

Based on the previous text, decide which the correct answer (A, B, C or D) to items 01 to 07 is and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.

01. The Egyptians ...

(A) have provided the Americans and the British with physical evidence from the accident site. (B) accepted FBI bomb technician assistance. (C) received data and evidence from the Americans concerning the fact that a bomb took down the jet. (D) are cautious and careful about their comments on the jet crash.

02. What statement is correct?

(A) British and American agencies do not believe that the Sinai affiliate caused the crash. (B) U.S. and British officials believe that the jet was hit from the outside. (C) Western authorities already know how the downing was done. (D) American and British intel agencies have intercepted ISIS conversations after the crash.

03. The U.S. …

(A) is sure that a terrorist group brought down the Russian passenger jet. (B) has an increasing belief that a terrorist bomb was the cause for the bringing down of the Russian jet. (C) is in charge of the main investigation of the jet crash. (D) president also made stronger remarks concerning the jet crash. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 4/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

04. American officials...

(A) are taking long-term measures in relation to air traffic to Egypt. (B) are taking temporary steps in air traffic to Egypt. (C) are taking permanent measures in relation to flights from and to Egypt. (D) said the investigations were concluded.

05. Which statement is true?

(A) Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the plane crash. (B) The Taliban has connection with the plane bringing down. (C) The Sinai affiliate to ISIS took responsibility for the Russian jet crash. (D) Up to now, no organization has claimed responsibility for the Russian jet downing.

06. According to the TV Station France 2 report, ...

(A) both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder indicated that there was an explosion. (B) Europeans investigators said the crash was an accident. (C) the pilot was flying the jet when the crash happened. (D) a noise was heard at the beginning of the recording.

07. Which statement is correct?

(A) British citizens are flying back home with their luggage on the same plane which they embarked on. (B) British planes are allowed to fly to Shar el-Sheikh. (C) There are flights from Russia to Egypt. (D) Russia and the Great Britain are taking similar measures to repatriate their citizens.

PART II

Read the following text. Then, choose the answers to items 08 to 15. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 5/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

Reaching a Plateau in Language Learning – How to Get Out of It? By Sam Gendreau

There is probably nothing as frustrating as putting a hell of work, and not feeling like you’re making any progress. Sadly, though, this situation happens to a lot of language learners, and it often becomes a dominant factor in people’s decision to stop learning a foreign language halfway through their goals. This is what we commonly call “reaching a plateau”. So why does it happen, and how can we avoid it, or at least, get out of it?

Routine, and Reaching the Autonomous Stage Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, a Swedish psychologist and Professor at Florida State University, is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading theoretical and experimental researchers on expertise. According to him, hitting plateaus is a common occurrence in skill development (not only limited to language learning). Far from being a steady linear progression, mastery comes in bursts. There are many causes of plateaus but a major one seems to be routine. Sticking to the same habits, whether it’s writing, typing, learning a language, or programming, often results in failing to progress, despite investing a lot of time. Author Joshua Foer says that when people first learn to use a keyboard, they improve very quickly from sloppy single-finger pecking to careful two-handed typing, until eventually the fingers move so effortlessly across the keys that the whole process becomes unconscious and the fingers seem to take on a mind of their own. The funny thing, however, is that at this point most people’s typing skills stop progressing. They reach a plateau. If you think about it, it’s a strange phenomenon. After all, we’ve always been told that practice makes perfect (it doesn’t; perfect practice does), and many people sit behind a keyboard for at least several hours a day in essence practicing their typing. Why don’t they just keep getting better and better? In a nutshell, the reason for this is that after a lot of deliberate practice (consciously trying to get better at something and working on one’s evident flaws), we eventually reach a phase called the “autonomous stage,” when we figure that we’ve gotten as good as we need to get at the task and we’re basically running on autopilot. During that autonomous stage, we lose conscious control over what we’re doing. That’s what some call the “OK plateau,” the point at which we decide we’re OK with how good we are at something, turn on autopilot, and stop improving. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 6/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

However, Dr. Ericsson says, what separates experts from the rest of us is that they tend to engage in a very directed, highly focused routine, something labeled, once again, “deliberate practice.” Experts and top achievers in various fields tend to follow the same general pattern of development. They develop strategies for consciously keeping out of the autonomous stage while they practice by doing three things: focusing on their technique, staying goal-oriented, and getting constant and immediate feedback on their performance. Joshua Foer says that “when you want to get good at something, how you spend your time practicing is far more important than the amount of time you spend. In fact, in every domain of expertise that’s been rigorously examined, from chess to violin to basketball, studies have found that the number of years one has been doing something correlates only weakly with level of performance.” Well that’s good news for all of us, because first of all this means that we can, in many instances, get out of a plateau by focusing on our technique, staying goal-oriented, and getting constant and immediate feedback on our performance (in language learning, this could mean recording and listening to yourself). But here’s the thing: many language learners only reach the so-called “autonomous stage” when they have reached a fairly advanced level of studies. In other words, when they feel they don’t really need to improve that much anymore, this is when their language skills truly hit a plateau. For most of us, however, we tend to feel like we stop making progress around the intermediate phase. So here’s the problem: people do not, technically, reach a plateau. They simply progress at a much slower pace. They feel like they have reached a plateau because of how they view language learning. By changing the way you think, then, or in other words by changing the way you see how your learning curve really works, you will probably understand that in most cases, what you have reached is not a plateau, but simply an intermediate phase where it will take more and more time to get similar gains in fluency to what you got before. (Available at http://www.lingholic.com/reaching-a-plateau-in-language-learning-how-to-get-out-of-it/)

Based on the previous text, decide which the correct answer (A, B, C or D) to items 08 to 15 is and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.

08. According to Dr. K. Anders Ericsson, ...

(A) reaching a plateau is something that should be avoided. (B) hitting a plateau happens only in language learning. (C) reaching a plateau is related to any activity involving ability development. (D) perfection is a steady linear process. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 7/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

09. According to the text, …

(A) autonomous stage and deliberate practice are the same thing. (B) autonomous stage is reached when the person tries to correct his/her mistakes. (C) in the autonomous stage, people are not conscious of what they are doing. (D) OK plateau is the same as deliberate practice.

10. After people learn how to type, the fingers seem to...

(A) operate in an automatic and independet manner. (B) move in coordination with the brain. (C) move with a lot of effort. (D) move slowly.

11. Sticking to the same habits …

(A) is essential to progress. (B) is the main cause of plateaus. (C) is not a waste of time. (D) makes perfection.

12. Most people decide to …

(A) quit their language studies when they become fluent. (B) quit their language studies when they feel they are not evolving. (C) stop their language studies when they are closer to their goals. (D) continue to study a language after they reach the plateau.

13. Author Joshua Foer described the first stage of learning to type as a period when …

(A) the person has a lot of skills. (B) the person uses both hands. (C) the person is very dedicated. (D) the person is very careless. Chefe da Seção de Nr. Código COMPREENSÃO LEITORA Certificação em Inglês Fl 8/8 INGLÊS – NÍVEL 3 ______

14. The expression a hell of was used in the text as a synonym for extremely …

(A) big. (B) boring. (C) obnoxious. (D) insignificant.

15. The author of the text agrees that …

(A) the years of practice correlate with the high level of performance. (B) getting constant and immediate feedback is the only way to get out of the plateau. (C) there is no manner to avoid the plateau. (D) people do not hit the plateau, they simply progress at a slow speed.

THIS IS THE END OF THE EXAM

*******