CESPE/UnB – 2008 – DIPLOMATA – CACD – WRITING EXAMINATION – LÍNGUA INGLESA – CONCURSO DE ADMISSÃO À CARREIRA DE DIPLOMATA.

Welcome back to another post!

➧ PROVA DE LÍNGUA INGLESA: CESPE/UnB-2008-DIPLOMATA-CACD-WRITING EXAMINATION.

➧ BANCA/ORGANIZADOR:http://www.cespe.unb.br/

➧ ESTRUTURA-WRITING EXAMINATION-2008:

➭ TRANSLATION (English/Portuguese) – 25 points.

- Text (1 parágrafo) – The United States in Literature.

➭ VERSION (Portuguese/English) – 25 points.

- Text (2 parágrafos) – Brasil 2002.

➭ COMPOSITION – [Length: 350 to 450 words] – 50 points.

- Assunto (geral) – Nationalism – Internationalism.

- Tema (específico) – Discuta a declaração acima, adaptada de um discurso do então secretário-geral das Nações Unidas, Dag Hammarskjöld, na Universidade de Stanford em 1955, à luz dos atuais eventos políticos internacionais.

➧ PROVA:

Translate into Portuguese the following excerpt from James Baldwin’s “Notes of a native son” (1955) [in: The United States in Literature. Glenview: Scott, Foresman & Co., 1976, p. M 132.]:

I was born in Harlem thirty-one years ago. I began plotting novels at about the time I learned to read. The story of my childhood is the usual bleak fantasy, and we can dismiss it with the restrained observation that I certainly would not consider living it again. In those days my mother was given to the exasperating and mysterious habit of having babies. As they were born, I took them over with one hand and held a book with the other. The children probably suffered, though they have since been kind enough to deny it, and in this way I read Uncle Tom’s Cabin and A Tale of two Cities over and over and over again; in this way, in fact, I read just about everything I could get my hands on — except the Bible, probably because it was the only book I was encouraged to read. I must also confess that I wrote — a great deal — and my first professional triumph occurred at the age of twelve or thereabouts.

     Resposta     :

Eu nasci no Harlem há trinta e um anos. Comecei a idealizar romances tão logo aprendi a escrever. A história de minha infância é uma fantasia monótona e normal, e podemos descartá-la mediante a observação contida de que, certamente, eu não consideraria a possibilidade de revivê-la. Naquele tempo, minha mãe dedicava-se ao hábito irritante e misterioso de ter bebês. À medida que eles nasciam, eu os segurava com uma das mãos e, com a outra, segurava um livro. As crianças provavelmente sofriam, embora, desde aquela época, elas tenham sido gentis o bastante em negar essa situação. Assim, eu lia “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” e “A Tale of two Cities” seguidas vezes. Na verdade, eu lia quase tudo que chegava às minhas mãos, com exceção da Bíblia; provavelmente, devido ao fato de que era o único livro que me encorajavam a ler. Devo confessar, também, que eu escrevia muito e que meu primeiro triunfo profissional ocorreu quando eu tinha doze anos, ou por volta dos doze anos. 

Translate into English the following excerpt adapted from Mário Henrique Simonsen’s Brasil 2002 (5ª ed. Rio de Janeiro: APEC, 1974, p. 11):

A ideia de prever a evolução econômica dos povos segundo modelos rígidos de determinismo histórico sempre seduziu os cientistas sociais. O futurólogo é uma espécie de cartomante recheado de álgebra, e que procura satisfazer uma das maiores angústias da humanidade, o pré-conhecimento do futuro. Além disso, o conteúdo de suas formulações parece, pelo menos para os leigos, bem mais fundamentado cientificamente do que a simples leitura de um baralho. Fora o aspecto psicológico, há a questão estética. Os modelos que prevêem o futuro da humanidade segundo uma trajetória imutável, inabalável por hipóteses acessórias, possuem uma grandiosidade apocalíptica, inacessível àquelas construções prosaicas repletas de condicionais e condicionantes. Não surpreende, por isso, que os economistas tantas vezes se tenham aventurado
no desenvolvimento desses modelos que, com o mínimo de hipóteses, apresentam o máximo de previsões.
            
A aplicação do determinismo histórico às ciências sociais envolve dois problemas: um filosófico, que consiste em questionar a validade da tese; outro, bem mais prático, que é o de saber se temos o direito de afirmar que descobrimos as leis desse determinismo.

     Resposta     :

The idea of foreseeing the economic evolution of peoples according to rigid models of historical determinism has always seduced social scientists. The forecaster is some sort of fortune-teller filled with algebra, and who seeks to satisfy one of the greatest anguish of mankind, the prior knowledge of the future. Besides, the content of his predictions seems, at least to the laymen, scientifically much better based than the mere reading of a deck of cards. Apart from the psychological aspect, there is the issue of aesthetics. The models which foresee the future of mankind according to an unchangeable trajectory, unshakeable by accessory hypotheses, possess an apocalyptical grandiosity, not accessible to those prosaic constructs filled with conditions and variables. It comes as no surprise then that economists have time and again dared to develop these models, which with fewer hypotheses present most predictions.

            
The use of historical determinism in social sciences encompasses two problems: a philosophical one, which consists of questioning the validity of the thesis, and another one, more practical, of knowing whether we have the right to assert that we have found the laws of this determinism. 

“Nationalism – Internationalism. These abstract words, so often abused, so often misunderstood, cover high ideals and strong emotions, reflect modes of thought and action that shape our world. We often see the word ‘nationalism’ used in a derogatory sense. The same is true of the word ‘internationalism’. When nationalism connotes, for example, a ‘go-it-alone’ isolationism, and internationalism an outlook that belittles the significance of national life and of nations as centres of political action and spiritual tradition, the words become contradictory and the attitudes they describe irreconcilable. From such interpretations of the words comes the tendency to think of nationalism as in fundamental conflict with an internationalist attitude.”

Discuss the above statement, adapted from an address by then United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld at Stanford University in 1955, in the light of current international political events.

(Length: 350-450 words)

     Resposta     :
Modelo 01(com 04 parágrafos- Média de 80 palavras / parágrafo):            

Nationalism and internationalism may seem a contradiction in terms. As former Secretary-General Dag Hammarsjköld highlighted, nationalism appears to be the tendency to act single-handedly, without taking into account other countries' opinions or thoughts. As for internationalism, most people think of it as downplaying the importance of states in the international community. Reality, however, is less clear-cut, as one can believe in the weight of nations and still have a tendency towards international cooperation.
            
Take the case of environmental degradation. Some of the problems nations have to address can be dealt with locally, for example, deforestation and non-productivity of soil caused by unsustainable agriculture. Other major issues, such as global warming and the hole in the ozone-layer, must be discussed globally, for unilateral measures would be of no use. Therefore, without underestimating the significance of nations as centers of political action, international cooperation is, at times, of absolute importance.
             
When it comes to security issues, the usual distinction between nationalism and internationalism seems even more exaggerated. Many argue that sovereignty and international military operations do not match. It is interesting to note that Dag Hammarsjköld made his speech at Stanford University in 1955, exactly one year before the first official peacekeeping operation under the UN flag. Since that first mission, there has been a profusion of other mandates in almost every continent of the world. These operations illustrate how multilateral actions can be fully compatible with national sovereignty. In fact, the former president of Egypt, Nasser, was known for his nationalist tendencies, yet he agreed to have blue helmet troops in his territory. He was aware that international peace was also in his best interest. When he decided to withdraw the UN troops, it resulted in a large loss of territory in favor of Israel.
             
International politics is, by definition, a two-level game. Even when considering only its own national interest, one cannot discard international cooperation. Sometimes domestic and global interests meet. However, even when this is not the case, in an interdependent world there can be no such thing as absolute isolationism. The same can be said about internationalists who believe that states have lost their primacy. The international community still is – and will probably always be – dominated by power-maximizing states.