CESPE/UnB – 2012 – DIPLOMATA – CACD – WRITING EXAMINATION – LÍNGUA INGLESA – CONCURSO DE ADMISSÃO À CARREIRA DE DIPLOMATA.

Welcome back to another post!

➧ PROVA DE LÍNGUA INGLESA: CESPE/UnB-2012-DIPLOMATA-CACD-WRITING EXAMINATION.

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

➧ ESTRUTURA-WRITING EXAMINATION-2012:

➭ TRANSLATION (English/Portuguese) – 20 points.

- Text (3 parágrafos) – The Opium Wars || Julia Lovell || The Guardian.

➭ VERSION (Portuguese/English) – 15 points.

- Text (3 parágrafos) – A ascensão da China como potência:
fundamentos políticos internos.

➭ SUMMARY – 15 points.

-Text (10 parágrafos) – China and the BRICs: a real (but limited) partnership in a unipolar world || Polity || Michael A. Glosny || <www.palgrave-journals.com>.

➭ COMPOSITION – [Length: 400 to 450 words] – 50 points.

- Assunto (geral) – Text || China Daily.

- Tema (específico) – Comentar a participação dos BRICS para o desenvolvimento e a prosperidade mundial.

➧ PROVA:

Translate into Portuguese the following excerpt adapted from Isabel Hilton's review of The Opium Wars by Julia Lovell, published in The Guardian on 11th September 2011.

           

    The Opium Wars were an inglorious episode on both sides. They were triggered by an upstart imperial power being snubbed and rebuffed in its quest for trade: there was nothing, the Chinese loftily told the British emissaries, which China needed or wanted from the West — not their goods, not their ideas, and definitely not their company.
            

    In March 1839, Canton commissioner Lin Zexu, hot from arresting 1,600 opium smokers and confiscating a full 14 tonnes of the narcotic, ordered foreign merchants to hand over their stocks and undertake to bring no more. The British agreed to relinquish over 20,000 chests of premium Bengal-grown opium, assuring merchants all the while that the crown would make good their losses, thus transforming the dispute into an affair of state. Lin reported to Emperor Daoguang that matters had been satisfactorily concluded. Months later, somewhat to his amazement, the British gunboats arrived.
            

    A motley cast of characters played their part in the ensuing tragicomedy: bungling officials, rogue merchants, unscrupulous politicians, muscular military imperialists and the dithering, bewildered emperor.

Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk>

(adapted).

   Resposta    
Modelo 01:            

As Guerras do Ópio foram um episódio inglório para ambos os lados. Elas foram engatilhadas quando uma potência imperial ascendente foi esnobada e rejeitada em sua busca por comércio: não havia nada, os chineses disseram arrogantemente aos emissários britânicos, que a China quisesse ou de que precisasse do Ocidente – nem suas mercadorias, nem suas ideias e, definitivamente, nem sua companhia.
            

Em março de 1839, o comissão cantonês Lin Zaxu, incensado ao prender 1600 fumantes de ópio e confiscar nada menos que 14 toneladas do narcótico, ordenou a mercadores estrangeiros que entregassem seus estoques e tratassem de não trazer mais. Os britânicos concordaram m ceder mais de 20.000 baús de ópio cultivado em Bengala da melhor qualidade, garantindo aos mercadores nesse ínterim que a coroa compensaria suas perdas, transformando a disputa, assim, em um assunto de Estado. Lin reportou ao Imperador Daoguang que as questões haviam sido concluídas satisfatoriamente. Meses depois, um tanto para sua surpresa, as canhoneiras britânicas chegaram.
            

Uma trupe variegada de personagens fez seus papéis na tragicomédia que se seguiu: oficiais atrapalhados, mercadores fora-da-lei, políticos inescrupulosos, militares imperialistas musculosos e o vacilante, abismado imperador.

Translate into English the following excerpt adapted from Maurício Carvalho Lyrio’s study “A ascensão da China como potência”.

           

Historiadores e sinólogos convergem na avaliação de que a civilização chinesa impressiona não apenas por sua longevidade, mas também e principalmente por sua grandeza econômica e política ao longo de boa parte da história, quando comparada a outras civilizações antigas e modernas.
            

Francis Bacon observou que o mundo seiscentista se recriava pela pólvora, pela prensa e pelo ímã. Omitiu o fato, no entanto, de que todos os três foram descobertos séculos antes na China.
            

Malgrado seu status de economia mais pujante do mundo ao longo de três milênios, em 1829, já se vislumbravam os primeiros indícios da queda abrupta que apequenaria a economia chinesa diante das rivais europeias no século seguinte. Passadas sucessivas décadas de declínio relativo, a produção industrial chinesa era, nos anos 1930, menor do que a da Bélgica. Já sua produção de aparelhos e equipamentos não ultrapassava a de um estado do meio-oeste norte-americano.

M. C. Lyrio.

A ascensão da China como potência:

fundamentos políticos internos.

Brasília:FUNAG, 2010, p. 16-8.

   Resposta    
Modelo 01:            

Historians and China specialists(1) agree on(2) the assessment that Chinese civilization is impressive(3) not only for its longevity, but also and mainly for economic and political greatness throughout a large part of(4)history, when compared to other ancient and modern civilizations.

            

Francis Bacon observed that the world in the 17th century(5)was recreated by gunpowder, the press, and the magnet. However, he omitted the fact that all three(6) were discovered centuries earlier(7) in China.

            

Despite its status as(8) the most powerful economy in the world throughout three millennia(9), in 1829, the first signs(10) of the sudden fall which would belittle the Chinese economy before(11) its European rivals in the following century were already visible(12). After successive decades(13) of relative decline, China's industrial production(14) was, in the 1930s, smaller than Belgium's (15). Yet , its production of machines and equipment did not surpass that of(16) a mid-west North-American state(17).
--------------------------------------------
TÉCNICAS DE TRANSLATION:

--------------------------------------------
*(1) Chine especialists = especialists on China = sinologist.
*(2) agree on= concordam em. No contexto, o verbo "to converg"(convergir) não é adequado, pois este transmite a ideia "come together" , ou seja, vir junto,mover/tender para um ponto.
*(3) A estrutura adequada é "is impressive"(é impressionante).

Estruturas como "amazes" ou "impressives" não são adequadas pois não estão na voz passiva. Lembre-se, "impressive" é adjetivo e, não é verbo.
*(4) A estrutura adequada é "a large part of" (uma grande/boa parte de).

No contexto, não são adequadas as estruturas "a huge part of"(uma enorme parte de),"a most part of"(a maior parte).
*(5) A banca examinadora não aceita "números romanos" em inglês, ou seja, a estrutura em português "século XVII" , em inglês fica:
"século XVII" → "seventeenth century" (forma extensa) ou apenas
"século XVII" → "17^th century". (na forma: número e subscrito do th).
*(6) Para "todos 3" → "all three" ou "all three of them" são estruturas adequadas no contexto.
*(7) Para "séculos antes" → "centuries earlier" ou "centuries before" são estruturas adequadas no contexto.
*(8) Para "status/condição de" → "status as" é a estrutura adequadas no contexto. A estrutura "status of" é inadequada.
*(9) Para "a economia mais pujante" → "the most powerful economy", ou ainda "the most striking...", "the most largest...", todas estão adequadas ao contexto.
*(10) Para "os primeiros indícios" → "the first signs" é a estrutura adequada no contexto pois transmite a ideia de sinal=indício. O substantivo  "signal"(sinal) na estrutura é inadequada.
👉Veja a diferença sutil entre "sign" e "signal":
👦Traffic sign: an advice, warning, etc 
👱Traffic signal: more likely refer to the traffic lights.
*(11) Para "diante de" → "before" é a preposição adequada.
*(12) Para "já se vislumbravam" → "were already visible" ou ainda "were already noticed".
*(13) Para "Passadas sucessivas décadas" → "After successive decades" é uma estrutura adequada, também são aceitáveis: "After several decades"(depois de várias décadas), "After decades in a row"(depois de décadas seguidas).
*(14) Para "Produção industrial da China
" → "China's industrial production" ou ainda "China's industrial output".
*(15) Para "menor do que a da Bélgica" → "smaller than Belgium's".
*(16) Após o verbo transitivo indireto "to surpass", a estrutura adequada é "that of"(a de) e não "that one of".
*(17) Para "um estado do meio-oeste norte-americano" → "a mid-west North-American state"(um estado norte-americano do meio-oeste) ou "a North-American mid-west state"(um estado norte-americano do meio-oeste).

Write a summary, in your own words, of the following excerpt adapted from Michael Glosny’s 2010 Polity paper “China and the BRICs”. (Length: no more than 200 words)

           

Despite fundamental differences between the four countries and structural constraints of unipolarity that might have kept them from cooperating, the BRICs have surpassed most expectations in recent years in forming a nascent political grouping. On the foundation of other meetings between newly emerging powers, most importantly the trilateral Russia-India-China (RIC) arrangement, the BRIC foreign ministers began meeting in 2006. BRIC cooperation expanded to include two finance ministers’ summits, meetings of leaders, and a stand-alone BRIC leaders’ summit in June 2009, which produced a joint communiqué. Russia and Brazil have been the driving forces responsible for transforming the BRICs from an abstract financial concept into a genuine political grouping. However, the Chinese have also agreed to participate and cooperate. In a lengthy interview on the BRICs on the eve of the summit, Director-General Wu Hailong of the International Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the BRIC grouping as an “evolution from a hypothetical into a realistic platform for international cooperation.”
            

As the world’s second largest economy, a nuclear weapons state, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, and a rising power whose influence is spreading across the globe, China has already been acknowledged as a superpower by the rest of the world. Having China as a partner has helped raise the profile of the other three BRICs partners, but China itself is less reliant on this association. However logical this cooperation may be, it is also costly and risky. As Chinese leaders’ time is limited and valuable, participation in meetings has an opportunity cost. Moreover, China also risks being perceived as participating in a political bloc designed to challenge and undermine the U.S. and the western liberal order.
            

For China, cooperation with the BRICs has occurred under the structural constraints of unipolarity, which provide it with an incentive to cooperate with the U.S. and ensure its behavior is not seen as a threat to which the hyper-sensitive hegemon might feel prompted to respond. However, China has benefited from its cooperation with the BRICs in significant ways. Looking forward, one of the major challenges for China in its engagement with the BRICs is how to maximize its benefits from cooperation while doing its utmost to make sure the U.S. does not perceive its cooperation with the BRICs as a threat. Zhao Gancheng, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, perfectly captures this dilemma in his analysis of BRIC cooperation. He argues that “[China’s] objective is through cooperation, to strengthen its position in the international system, but concomitantly to endeavor not to challenge the U.S. in a confrontational mode.” China does not see its cooperation with the BRICs as part of an anti-U.S. hard balancing coalition. Were anyone to attempt to move the BRICs in that direction, China would oppose the move, as would other member states. Despite the significance of BRIC cooperation, fundamental differences among the BRICs, the continued relevance of the U.S., and intra-BRIC competition and rivalry seriously limit the extent to which further BRIC cooperation can go. Looking to the future, as the U.S. declines and the BRICs continue to rise, it is very possible that intra-BRIC competition and rivalry will become fierce, further curbing cooperation among the member states.
            

U.S. policy is an important factor that could potentially overcome such limitations and push the BRICs toward more far-reaching cooperation. If the U.S. views limited BRIC cooperation as an anti-U.S. bloc and so adopts a more hostile policy towards this “alliance,” it may drive these countries closer together and thus create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Moreover, were the U.S. and other western countries to spurn BRIC demands for limited changes in the international order, the BRICs might well become disillusioned, see themselves as forced to mount a sweeping challenge, and seek to replace it with an order more suited to their interests. Thus far, this scenario seems unlikely. Western countries have started to show themselves to be more receptive to the idea of reforming the order and accommodating some of the BRIC demands. Although negotiation on reforming the international order is likely to be a drawn-out and difficult process, the willingness of western countries to entertain BRIC proposals should enhance the BRICs’ satisfaction with the international order, and so make them more likely to act as “responsible stakeholders.” That would put paid to the prospect of them challenging the status quo.
           

 Looking ahead, China’s power will likely provide a challenge to BRIC cooperation and the BRICs as a grouping. Although the other three powers have garnered prestige by their association with the rising Chinese juggernaut, analysts have begun to suggest that China’s overwhelming power relative to the other three will eventually undermine the BRICs as a coherent grouping. For instance, recent unofficial calls for a Sino-American G2 designed to address global challenges and manage the global order suggest China is no longer an emerging power or a developing country. However much this may raise concern for BRIC coherence, China is already much more powerful than the other BRICs by most measures. Moreover, its advantages have not hobbled the positive momentum of BRIC cooperation. Besides, although foreign analysts may call for a G2, Premier Wen Jiabao and most Chinese experts have criticized the concept as inappropriate and unworkable, arguing that China is too weak to shoulder such responsibility whilst recognizing that endorsing the idea would harm China’s diplomacy, isolating it from the developing world. In fact, rather than being eager to be seen as part of a G2 leading and managing the world, China’s leaders are more than glad to continue to keep a relatively low profile as a developing country, to cooperate with other emerging powers, and to benefit from this cooperation, all the while studiously avoiding being seen as standing up to the United States.

Michael A. Glosny. China and the BRICs:

a real (but limited) partnership in a unipolar world.

In: Polity, v. 42, n.º 1, January 2010, 100-29. Internet: <www.palgrave-journals.com> (adapted).

   Resposta    
Modelo 01:
           

Exceeding expectations, the BRICs has evolved from an abstract concept into a political group, mostly thanks to Brazilian and Russian efforts. However, China also acknowledges its importance as a means for international cooperation.
            

China’s economic, military and political clout characterizes it as a superpower. Whereas this is advantageous for its BRIC partners, it is a risk for China. Considering the structural constraints of unipolarity, China’s challenge is to keep profiting from the BRICs to reinforce its international position and, concomitantly, to avoid confronting the United States.
            

BRIC cooperation is limited by differences between its members, the US relevant international role and intra-group competition – which may intensify if the US declines. Conversely, if the US adopts an hostile policy towards the group, this would foster cooperation in the bloc. Western countries have recently shown interest in accepting BRICs demands for change in the international order lest the bloc feels forced to radicalize its stance.
            

Analysts suggest that China’s power will undermine the BRICs, and call for a Chinese-American alliance. Chinese disparage this possibility for they want to keep cooperating with developing countries, while avoiding competition with the US.

            

In the joint declaration at the conclusion of the 4th BRICS Summit, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa vowed to enhance mutual cooperation and contribute to world development and prosperity. The summit has come at a crucial moment, as the global economic recovery is still dragging its feet, entangled by fragile financial systems, high public and private debt, high unemployment and the rising price of oil. Pressing issues, such as climate change, food security and energy security also pose grave challenges. “BRICS cooperation now stands at a new starting point,” declared President Hu Jintao, adding that the five emerging economies need to build on current cooperation and blaze new trails so as to inject vitality into their mechanism and so usher in a more just, fair and reasonable international political and economic order.

China Daily, 30th March 2012. Internet: <www.chinadaily.com> (adapted)

Taking due account of the text above and of China’s strategic objectives, comment on how its participation in the BRICS might fit into this framework.
[Length: 400-450 words]

   Resposta    

Modelo 01:

            

While many Western countries still look hopeless trying to wade out of the economic morass into which they began to sink after the 2008 world crisis, the BRICS further their cooperation in order to address the most pressing issues today. Among them, China stands out as the most important emerging power of our times. Due to its singularity, it has three strategic objectives, which may benefit from BRICS cooperation: to achieve the appropriate level of development, necessary to grant its huge population a dignified life; to protect its territory against separatism; to make sure its ascend as a global superpower will be peaceful, i.e., that it will not entail confrontation with the US.
      

China is an ancient civilization, an Asian colossus, with a rich 5000-years history and a huge population. During most of its history, China has been an empire, but in the nineteenth century it fell prey to widespread corruption, internally, and was subjected to dreadful onslaughts by Western imperialism. As a result, its population has suffered severe hardship since then and only recently has China managed to begin its recovery. However, even today most part of the Chinese population still fights poverty and its under-development remains a cause for concern. Given that, China perceives the BRICS as a paramount forum, by means of which global economic governance may be reformed, so as to help, or at least not to hinder (as Araújo Castro would say) the development of the emerging powers and the rest of the Southern countries. 
      

Moreover, cooperation with the BRICS may also be of the utmost importance for China with respect to its territorial integrity. Throughout its history, and even today, Chinese leaders have always been cautious to prevent separatism from gaining momentum. Within the BRICS, China is able to establish closer links with two of its neighbors, India and Russia, thus neutralizing possible reasons for border issues, or being more capable of addressing them, were problems to emerge.
      

Furthermore, it can be said that Chinese culture is embedded in a notion of harmony. It does not want its inevitable rise as a superpower to be perceived as a threat by the “hypersensitive hegemon”, as Michael Glosny describes the US. China wants to emerge in a harmonious and peaceful way. Considering the jittery conditions of current international relations, the best way to avoid an aggressive North American reaction is to become closer to countries such as Brazil and India, which are commonly considered by the Western superpower as non-confrontational.
      

Given that there is no fundamental contradiction between China´s objectives and those of the other BRICS partners, it is reasonable to expect that China will continue to cooperate within the BRICS framework, in order to achieve its goals with respect to development, territorial integrity and peaceful coexistence with the US. 

CESPE/UnB – 2011 – DIPLOMATA – CACD – WRITING EXAMINATION – LÍNGUA INGLESA – CONCURSO DE ADMISSÃO À CARREIRA DE DIPLOMATA.

Welcome back to another post!

➧ PROVA DE LÍNGUA INGLESA: CESPE/UnB-2011-DIPLOMATA-CACD-WRITING EXAMINATION.

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

➧ ESTRUTURA-WRITING EXAMINATION-2011:

➭ TRANSLATION (English/Portuguese) – 20 points.

- Text (1 parágrafo) – Globalization and cultural
identity. || John Tomlinson || www.polity.co.uk.

➭ VERSION (Portuguese/English) – 15 points.

- Text (1 parágrafo) – Globalização, educação e
diversidade cultural.

➭ SUMMARY – 15 points.

-Text (11 parágrafos) – The Economist.

➭ COMPOSITION – [Length: 400 to 450 words] – 50 points.

- Assunto (geral) –  Globalização & Citação.

- Tema (específico) – A globalização é uma ameaça à
cultura local ou uma fonte de enriquecimento?

➧ PROVA:

Translate into Portuguese the following passage adapted from John Tomlinson's Globalization and Cultural Identity:

Once upon a time, local, autonomous, distinct and well-defined, robust and culturally sustaining connections existed between geographical place and cultural experience. They constituted one's "cultural identity"', something people simply "had" as an inheritance, a benefit of continuity with the past. Identity, then, was not just a description of cultural belonging; it was a collective treasure of local communities. But it proved to be fragile, needing protection and preservation. Into this world of manifold, discrete cultural identities suddenly burst the corrosive power of globalization. Globalization, so the story goes, has swept like a flood tide through the world’s diverse cultures, bringing a market-driven homogenization of cultural experience, thus obliterating the differences between locality-defined cultures. Whilst communities in the mainstream of the flow of capitalism have seen a sort of standardized version of their cultures exported worldwide, it is the “weaker”’ cultures of the developing world that have been most threatened.

John Tomlinson. Globalization and cultural

identity. Internet: <www.polity.co.uk>.

    Resposta     

Houve um tempo em que conexões locais, autônomas, claras e bem definidas, robustas e culturalmente duradouras, existiam entre o espaço geográfico e a experiência cultural. Elas constituíam a "identidade cultural" de cada um, algo que as pessoas simplesmente "possuíam" como herança, um benefício de continuidade com o passado. A identidade, então, não era apenas uma descrição de pertencimento cultural, mas também um tesouro coletivo das comunidades locais; entretanto, ela mostrou-se frágil, dependente de proteção e de preservação. Nesse mundo com identidades culturais variadas e distintas, repentinamente irrompeu o poder corrosivo da globalização, que, seguindo a narrativa, varreu as diversas culturas do mundo como um maremoto, provocou uma homogeneização da experiência cultural orientada pelo mercado e, por conseguinte, obliterou as diferenças entre as culturas locais. Se as comunidades pertencentes ao “mainstream” do fluxo capitalista testemunharam a disseminação mundial de uma espécie de versão padronizada de suas culturas, foram as culturas “mais fracas” do mundo em desenvolvimento que sofreram a ameaça maior.

Translate the following excerpt from Mauro José Teixeira Destri’s Globalização, Educação e Diversidade Cultural into English:

Os problemas da globalização e as consequências e desafios que ela apresenta a respeito de assuntos como a biodiversidade, a diversidade cultural e a educação estão fundamentados na perspectiva histórica da ocidentalização do mundo, iniciada pela dominação colonial europeia desde o século XV e ratificada pelo poderio norte-americano em todas as esferas, com seu poder de "disseminar cultura". Tal dominação do etnocentrismo ocidental, amparada por uma ideologia neoliberal, abrange não só o domínio econômico-financeiro, mas também o controle da informação e das comunicações referentes às grandes empresas multinacionais, impondo, dessa forma, uma “padronização” cultural. A globalização tem sua limitação mais grave por não ter um modelo de sociedade viável. A educação, concebida como a transmissão de visões do mundo, de saberes e de sistemas de valores, tem um enorme desafio histórico na defesa e na preservação da diversidade cultural, o que tem sido abordado em diversas esferas pelos diversos países ao redor do mundo.

Mauro José Teixeira Destri. Globalização, educação e

diversidade cultural. Internet: <www.fsma.edu.br>.

    Resposta     

The problems of globalization and the consequences and challenges it presents concerning subjects(1) such as biodiversity, cultural diversity and education are based on(2) the historical perspectives of the world's occidentalization(3), which began with(4) European colonial dominance since the 15th century(5) and was ratified by the American might(6) in every sphere(7), with its power to "disseminate culture". This dominance of Western ethnocentrism, supported by(8) a neoliberal ideology, encompasses not only the economic and financial field, but also the control of information and communication related to(9) big multinational corporations, thereby imposing(10) a cultural "standardization". Globalization has its main limitation (11) because it does not have(12) a feasible model of society. Education, conceived as the transmission of world visions, of knowledge and of systems of values, has an enormous historical challenge in defending and preserving cultural diversity, which has been discussed in several spheres by many countries around the world.

------------------------------------------------------
TÉCNICAS DE TRANSLATION:
*(1)"a respeito de assuntos"→"concerning subjects".
*(2)"estão fundamentados em"→"based on".
*(3)"da occidentalização do mundo
"→"of the world's occidentalization".
*(4)"iniciada pela"→"which began with" (que começou com).
*(5)"século XV"→"15th century".
*(6)"poderio norte-americano"→"the American might".
*(7)"em todas as esferas"→ "in every sphere".
*(8)"amparado por/apoiada por "→ "supported by".
*(9)"referentes às/relacionadas às"→"related to".
*(10)"impondo assim  /dessa forma"→"thereby imposing".
*(11)"limitação mais grave / principal"→"main limitation".
*(12)"por não ter / por que não tem"→"because it does not have".

Write in your own words a summary of the following article from The Economist in no more than 200 words.

    Geoffrey Crowther, editor of The Economist from 1938 to 1956, used to advise young journalists to “simplify, then exaggerate”. He might have changed his advice if he had lived to witness the current debate on globalisation. There is a lively discussion about whether it is good or bad. But everybody seems to agree that globalisation is a fait accompli: that the world is flat, if you are a (Tom) Friedmanite, or that the world is run by a handful of global corporations, if you are a (Naomi) Kleinian.
            

    Pankaj Ghemawat of IESE Business School in Spain is one of the few who has kept his head on the subject. For more than a decade he has subjected the simplifiers and exaggerators to a barrage of statistics. He has now set out his case — that we live in an era of semi-globalisation at most — in a single volume, World 3.0, that should be read by anyone who wants to understand the most important economic development of our time.
            

    Mr Ghemawat points out that many indicators of global integration are surprisingly low. Only 2% of students are at universities outside their home countries; and only 3% of people live outside their country of birth. Only 7% of rice is traded across borders. Only 7% of directors of S&P 500 companies are foreigners — and, according to a study a few years ago, less than 1% of all American companies have any foreign operations. Exports are equivalent to only 20% of global GDP. Some of the most vital arteries of globalisation are badly clogged: air travel is restricted by bilateral treaties and ocean shipping is dominated by cartels.
            

Far from “ripping through people’s lives”, as Arundhati Roy, an Indian writer, claims, globalisation is shaped by familiar things, such as distance and cultural ties. Mr Ghemawat argues that two otherwise identical countries will engage in 42% more trade if they share a common language than if they do not, 47% more if both belong to a trading block, 114% more if they have a common currency and 188% more if they have a common colonial past.
           

    What about the “new economy” of free-flowing capital and borderless information? Here Mr Ghemawat’s figures are even more striking. Foreign direct investment (FDI) accounts for only 9% of all fixed investment. Less than 20% of venture capital is deployed outside the fund’s home country. Only 20% of shares traded on stockmarkets are owned by foreign investors. Less than 20% of Internet traffic crosses national borders.
             

    And what about the direction rather than the extent of globalisation? Surely Mr Friedman (author of The World is Flat) and company are right about where we are headed even if they exaggerate how far we have got? In fact, today’s levels of emigration pale beside those of a century ago, when 14% of Irish-born people and 10% of native Norwegians had emigrated. Back then you did not need visas. Today the world spends $88 billion a year on processing travel documents and in a tenth of the world’s countries a passport costs more than a tenth of the average annual income.
            

    That FDI fell from nearly $2 trillion in 2007 to $1 trillion in 2009 can be put down to the global financial crisis. But other trends suggest that globalisation is reversible. Nearly a quarter of North American and European companies shortened their supply chains in 2008 (the effect of Japan’s disaster on its partsmakers will surely prompt further shortening). It takes three times as long to process a lorry-load of goods crossing the Canadian-American border as it did before September 11th 2001. Even the Internet is succumbing to this pattern of regionalisation, as governments impose a patchwork of local restrictions on content.
           

    Mr Ghemawat also explodes the myth that the world is being taken over by a handful of giant companies. The level of concentration in many vital industries has fallen dramatically since 1950 and remained roughly constant since 1980: 60 years ago two car companies accounted for half of the world’s car production, compared with six companies today. He also refutes the idea that globalisation means homogenisation. The increasing uniformity of cities’ skylines worldwide masks growing choice within them, to which even the most global of companies must adjust. McDonald’s serves vegetarian burgers in India and spicy ones in Mexico, where Coca-Cola uses cane sugar rather than the corn syrup it uses in America. MTV, which went global on the assumption that “A-lop-bop-a-doo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom” meant the same in every language, now includes five calls to prayer a day in its Indonesian schedules. Mr Ghemawat notes that company bosses lead the pack when it comes to overestimating the extent of globalisation. Nokia, for example, spent years trying to break into Japan’s big but idiosyncratic mobile-handset market with its rest-of-the-world-beating products before finally conceding defeat. In general companies frequently have more to gain through exploiting national differences — perhaps through arbitrage — than by muscling them aside.
            

    This sober view of globalisation deserves a wide audience. But whether it will get it is another matter. This is partly because World 3.0 is a much less exciting title than The World is Flat or “Jihad vs. McWorld”. And it is partly because people seem to have a natural tendency to overestimate the distance-destroying quality of technology. Go back to the era of dictators and world wars and you can find exactly the same addiction to globaloney. Henry Ford said cars and planes were “binding the world together”. Martin Heidegger said that “everything is equally far and equally near”. George Orwell got so annoyed by all this that he wrote a blistering attack on all the fashionable talk about the abolition of distance and the disappearance of frontiers — and that was in 1944, when Adolf Hitler was advancing his own unique approach to the flattening of the world.

The Economist.

April 23rd, 2011, p. 72.

    Resumo    :

Whilst writers such as Tom Friedman advocate that globalization is a reality, other thinkers have put this much talked about process under more severe scrutiny. Pankaj Ghemawat, for instance, asserts that the current scenario can be described as an era of semi-globalization.

            

According to the data compiled by the researcher, not many students are studying abroad, nor the number of people living outside their birth place is substantial. Few CEOs are foreigners, the amount of exported goods is relatively low and restrictions to transport flows are abundant. Furthermore, interstate relations are commonly established between countries that share a similar background. Surprisingly, foreign direct investment counts for 9% of the world's fixed investment. This relates to the fact that many states put a tight rein on Internet traffic.
            

Other myths are dissolved by Ghemawat. Current emigration levels are lower than those of a century ago, due to a more rigid passport control. Besides, regionalization is balking the flow of goods between borders. The author also refutes the idea of homogenization. Global companies are permanently adjusting their modus operandi to local premises. Not all of them, however, succeed when trying to penetrate certain local markets.
            

Ghemawat's view is disquieting, for it contests the tendency according to which people give technology an ubiquitous quality.

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.

Mahatma Ghandi.

In light of the above quotation and of the other texts comprising the test, would you say that globalization is a threat to local culture or a source of its enrichment?

[Total: 50 marks]

    Resposta     
Modelo 01(com 05 parágrafos- Média de 80 palavras/parágrafo):

Communication between different cultures and mutual influence are inherent in human history: no society can fully develop if it is kept in isolation, and Brazil provides a powerful example of the potential of intercultural dialogue. Yet, these relations often unfold under unequal terms, causing the imposition of the characteristics of a culture to the detriment of others. This is what Gandhi condemns in his statement, in accordance with the tolerant, but proud stance in relation to culture that he adopted throughout his life.
            

It is important, to begin with, to reject radical views that may tend to xenophobia. Language, music, dance, food: a brief analysis would show that all these aspects, which are at the core of any culture, evolved through interaction. A great deal of examples could be mentioned, but jazz and bossa nova suffice to illustrate this thesis: as the result of a complex process of cultural mixture of African, Brazilian and American sounds, these groundbreaking music styles are positive outcomes of a broad process of globalization. It is reasonable to imagine that Gandhi had something similar in mind when he talked about letting "cultures of all the lands to be blown about" his house.
            

Unfortunately, harmony is not the only possible result of globalization. History has shown time and again that interaction in a situation of inequality of economic or political forces tends to favor the values carried by the strongest part. Indeed, it would require a great deal of imagination to argue that indigenous people in Brazil benefited from their relations with the Portuguese invaders. Their near annihilation throughout the centuries, together with the impoverishment of the culture of the survivals, constitutes precisely the process of “being blown off his feet” described by Gandhi is his statement.
            

Current impacts globalization has on "weaker" cultures are not essentially different from those experienced by indigenous people. As clever as Pankaj Ghemawat’s argument about the adaptation of Mcdonald’s to Mexican’s spicy taste may sound, it is not clear how exactly this phenomenon contributes to preserving local cultures. The very substitution of ancient traditional meals for standardized fast food coming from the center of capitalism is enough to affect a people’s culture, and the addition of local features to the original product does little to prevent this from happening.
            

It is no easy task to find the right balance between inner characteristics and outside influence. Nonetheless, it is beyond doubt that, as Mauro José Teixeira Destri points out, education plays a pivotal role in providing citizens with the tools required to undertake this task. Only by forming critical, well-informed and conscious citizens will countries manage to neutralize the threats of globalization and use it as a source of enrichment. Otherwise, the future may be one of gloomy homogenization under the aegis of American influence. 

CESPE/UnB – 2009 – DIPLOMATA – CACD – WRITING EXAMINATION – LÍNGUA INGLESA – CONCURSO DE ADMISSÃO À CARREIRA DE DIPLOMATA.

Welcome back to another post!

➧ PROVA DE LÍNGUA INGLESA: CESPE/UnB-2009-DIPLOMATA-CACD-WRITING EXAMINATION.

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

➧ ESTRUTURA-WRITING EXAMINATION-2009:

➭ TRANSLATION (English/Portuguese) – 20 points.

- Text (3 parágrafos) – Intellectual exile:
expatriates and marginals. What is the proper role of the intellectual in today’s society?

➭ VERSION (Portuguese/English) – 15 points.

- Text (3 parágrafos) – A special Folha de São Paulo report on Sri Lanka.

➭ SUMMARY – 15 points.

-Text (16 parágrafos) – Open up.

➭ COMPOSITION – [Length: 400 to 450 words] – 50 points.

- Assunto (geral) – Introduction to World Migration 2008: managing labour mobility in the evolving global economy. .

- Tema (específico) – Discutir as principais questões envolvidas no debate político contemporâneo sobre migração.

➧ PROVA:

Translate into Portuguese the following excerpt adapted from Edward Said’s 1993 Reith Lecture

“Intellectual exile: expatriates and marginals. What is the proper role of the intellectual in today’s society?”             

Exile means being neither entirely at one with the new setting, nor fully disencumbered of the old; beset with half-involvements and half-detachments; nostalgic and sentimental yet equally a consummate mimic or secret outcast. Being adept at survival becomes the imperative, with the dangers of getting too comfortable and secure constituting a threat constantly to be guarded against.
            

Salim, the main character of V.S. Naipaul’s novel “A Bend in the River,” is an affecting instance of the modern intellectual in exile: an East African Muslim of Indian origin, he has left the coast and journeyed into the interior, where he survives precariously in a new state modelled on Mobutu's Zaire. Naipaul portrays Salim’s life at a 'bend in the river’ as a no-man’s-land, to which hail the European intellectual advisers (who succeed the idealistic missionaries of colonial times), as well as the assorted mercenaries, profiteers, and other Third World drifters in whose ambience Salim is forced to live, gradually forfeiting his property and integrity in the mounting confusion.
             

As the novel unravels, the natives themselves have become exiles in their own country, so preposterous and erratic are the whims of the ruler, Big Man, a symbol of all post-colonial regimes.

    Resposta                 

Exílio significa estar nem integrado por completo ao novo ambiente, tampouco totalmente desprendido do antigo; acometido de semi-envolvimentos e semi-destacamentos; nostálgico e sentimental, mas em igual medida um mímico contumaz ou um excluído secreto. A maestria na sobrevivência torna-se um imperativo, os perigos de acomodar-se e de tornar-se seguro demais constituindo uma ameaça contra a qual deve-se proteger constantemente.
           

Salim, o personagem principal do romance Uma curva no rio, de V. S. Naipaul, é um exemplo tocante do intelectual exilado moderno: muçulmano de origem indiana do leste africano, ele deixou o litoral e rumou ao interior, onde sobrevive precariamente em um Estado baseado no Zaire de Mobutu. Naipaul retrata a vida de Salim em uma “curva no rio” como uma terra de ninguém, para onde dirigem-se os conselheiros intelectuais europeus (sucessores dos missionários idealistas de épocas coloniais), bem como diversos mercenários, gananciosos e outros golpistas terceiro-mundistas em cuja companhia Salim é forçado a viver, gradualmente renunciando a suas propriedades e sua integridade no ambiente de crescente agitação.
            

Conforme o romance se desenvolve, os próprios nativos tornam-se exilados em seu próprio país, tão absurdos e erráticos são os desmandos do governante, Grande Homem, um símbolo de todos os regimes políticos pós-coloniais. 

Translate into English the following excerpt adapted from a special Folha de São Paulo report on Sri Lanka by Roberto Candelori published 18th May 2009:

O Sri Lanka vê-se diante de um conflito que já dura um quarto de século. Com uma população dividida entre cingaleses budistas (74%) e tâmeis de orientação hindu (18%), o antigo Ceilão tornou-se um "banho de sangue", segundo a ONU.
            

O país conquistou a independência dos britânicos em 1948, quando começou a implantação de políticas discriminatórias contra a minoria tâmil, que tivera lugar de destaque na administração colonial. Sucessivos governos baixaram leis que cercearam os direitos dos tâmeis ao impor-lhes o cingalês como língua oficial e restringir-lhes o acesso à educação superior e a cargos públicos.
            

Revoltados, os tâmeis passaram a reagir, exigindo a igualdade linguística, social e religiosa.
            

Em 25 anos de conflito, estima-se que tenham ocorrido até 100 mil mortes, e o futuro parece não menos assustador. Mais de 250 mil tâmeis encontram-se agora sob a mira dos fuzis e sob o silêncio da comunidade internacional. A ordem é atirar.

    Resposta     

Sri Lanka faces a conflict that has already been going on for a quarter of a century. With a population divided between Buddhist Singalis (74%) and Hindu Tamils (18%), former Ceylan has become a “blood bath”, according to the UN.

            

The country achieved its independence from the British in 1948, when it started the implementation of discriminatory measures against the Tamil minority which had occupied key positions in the colonial administration. Successive governments passed laws that curtailed Tamils' rights, by imposing Singali on them as an official language and denying them access to higher education and public offices.
           

The Tamils, outraged, began to fight back, demanding linguistic, social, and religious equality.
            

In 25 years of conflict, one hundred thousand deaths have been estimated, and the future seems no less dreadful. Over 250 thousand Tamils are now under guns' sights and under the silence of international society. The order is to shoot. 

Write a summary in your own words not over 200 words in length of the following excerpt adapted from “Open up,” an Economist special report on migration published 3rd January 2008.

Enoch Powell had a point. The radical British Conservative politician warned, nearly four decades ago, that immigrants were causing such strife that “like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” That proved to be nonsense, as did his advice that migrants should be encouraged to leave. Had they done so, Britain and other rich countries that depend heavily on foreign labour would be in a dreadful state. One prediction he made was spot on, however: that by about now, one in ten people in Britain would be migrants. At the last count in 2005, the foreign-born made up 9.7% of the British population.
            

By historical standards, that is high but consistent with that in other rich economies. In America the proportion is now about 13%, not far off the 15% peak reached shortly before World War I. What is particularly striking in Europe is that countries which had hitherto known only emigration, e.g. Ireland or Greece, now have an influx typical of countries like Australia and the U.S.
            

This special report argues that both emigration and immigration countries, as well as the migrants themselves, have been coping remarkably well with this new force reshaping our world. Yet ominous signs are emerging of a shrill backlash against immigration on both sides of the Atlantic.
            

Politicians may tinker with migration policies. They will certainly, under public pressure, pump extra resources and energy into building more fences and walls to keep foreigners out. By linking immigration to terrorism, they may even make their societies more fiercely policed. The basic forces driving migration, though, are unlikely to ebb.
            

Migrants move mainly for economic reasons. Most appear to do so legally. The number of illegal migrants is by definition hard to ascertain, but likely to be smaller than the legal sort. They probably comprise the bulk of those seen floating on rafts in the Mediterranean or scrabbling over the fence from Mexico to America. Others do not risk the high seas or physical borders, entering instead under some other guise, perhaps as tourists, and then staying on.
            

Lastly, there are refugees and asylum-seekers, strictly defined as those escaping persecution but often including anybody forced to flee, for example from a war. According to the UN's refugee agency, at the close of 2006 some 10m people fell under this category.
           

The number of migrants worldwide has been reckoned at 200m. That sounds a lot, but actually adds up to only 3% of the world's population, so there is ample potential for growth. Migration has proved a successful ploy for the world's poor to improve their lot. Nor is it the very poorest who travel, for money is required to travel overseas.
            

In the 100 years to 1920, brighter prospects encouraged some 60m Europeans to uproot and move to the New World. A European crossing the Atlantic could expect to double his income. Today the incentives are even more enticing. Those moving from a poor country to a rich one can expect to see their income rise fivefold. As long as such differentials persist, the draw will continue.
            

Demography too plays a big part. Not every migrant is bound for America or Europe: two in every five head for another poor or middle-income destination. Those aiming for the richest parts of the world, however, do their inhabitants a favour. Without them, the greying and increasingly choosy populations across the rich world would already be on the decline. That is paramount for their fast-changing economies, which consistently demand either highly skilled workers or those willing to do unpleasant and tiring jobs.

One reason why much of the world has enjoyed a sustained economic boom with low inflation in the past decade is that the effective global workforce is expanding apace. The IMF estimates it has quadrupled since 1980. In all likelihood it will continue to grow, though at a slower rate, with a 40% increase in the world's working-age population forecast by 2050. According to the UN, the global stock of migrants has more than doubled in four decades. Not enough young natives have the skills or motivation, so the rich must hope outsiders will keep coming.

            

And they will. Luckily for Europe and America, there are huge pools of workers eager to jump on the next plane, train or leaking raft to work abroad. This can prove beneficial for their countries of origin as well.
            

If exporting brawn generally makes sense for a poor country, letting its better brains drain away may not. Most poor and middle-income countries grapple with chronic shortages of skilled labour. Professionals in demand abroad are the hardest to keep at home. In fact, if the lure is strong enough, it is virtually impossible to block the exit of the highly skilled.
           

Rich countries are taking in more highly skilled migrants than ever before. Yet emigration of skilled workers may be a consequence rather than a cause of problems in the sending country. For example, nurses may be emigrating because their salaries are not being paid or because hospitals are crumbling; entrepreneurs may be relocating because the local business climate is wretched. Halting emigration - even if that were feasible - would not solve these problems. Nurses might still quit their jobs, would-be entrepreneurs might sit on their hands.
            

Indeed, some argue that emigration can actually enhance the stock of brainpower. Migrants spend longer studying, pick up more skills and experience, and may then return home. Remittances are often used to fund schooling. Moreover, the prospect of emigration and prosperity abroad may induce others to get an education. All this suggests that the consequences of emigration, albeit not negligible, are tricky to measure. Governments should thus endeavour to tackle the factors pushing their skilled professionals out. If émigrés can be enticed back home, even for short spells, so much the better.
            

Unfettered movement of capital and goods has made the world a far richer place while greater human mobility has not only created wealth but also helped share it out more evenly. The billions in remittances repatriated each year eloquently testify to that. The cost of keeping people out would be steep.
            

Nasty surprises are constantly sprung on us. Wars can suddenly displace millions, who may start out as refugees but frequently end up as migrants. Some claim that climate change may forcibly relocate tens of millions of people in the space of decades. Misguided policies, a backlash over terrorism or a failure to integrate migrants could all pose serious problems. Nonetheless, 40 years on, it seems clear that Mr Powell was utterly amiss in everything save his sums.

    Resposta     
Modelo 1:            

As Conservative politician Enoch Powell once predicted, migrants constitute nowadays one tenth of the entire British population, a rate comparable to that of other developed societies. Contrary to his expectations, however, violence has not ensued. Instead, migration has brought positive overall results to the persons and countries involved, including those formerly used to emigration which are now in the receiving end, such as Greece and Ireland.
            

While governments may adopt harsh migration policies, the phenomenon is too vigorous to be stopped. Migrants are mostly legal, though clandestine flows exist. They constitute roughly 200 million people, 10 million of whom are refugees or asylum-seekers.
            

Income inequalty and demographic growth are key factors. Migrants may earn five times as much when abroad; around 60% of them head to wealthy countries, thus helping overcome the trends towards populational decrease in these parts. This could be a problem for developing nations, but may turn out to be a blessing instead, since successful migrants may return home or repatriate their earnings.
            

It would be unwise to curtail migration, as it fosters global prosperity. Nevertheless, since unexpected tragedies may occur, it is crucial to promote sound integration measures. 

At the beginning of the 21st century, migration continues to loom large as a subject of media interest, of community preoccupation and of political controversy. Nevertheless, the discourse has evolved significantly in recent years, both in terms of substance and tone, and is now conducted with noticeably less acrimony than before and with much reduced levels of distrust between developed and developing countries. For instance, at [several recent high-level international conferences] participants were, in general, disposed to agree that migration holds considerable potential for economic and social development. At the same time, however, it was apparent that there is much more to be done before agreement can be reached on appropriate management strategies to be put in place, both nationally and on the international level, for that promise to be realized. The task of formulating a workable global approach to the management of international migration remains a formidable challenge, and one that will require both time and

effort over the coming years.

An extract from the Introduction to World Migration 2008: managing labour mobility in the

evolving global economy. Geneva: International Organization for Migration, 2008, p. 1.

Taking into account the points made above, discuss the main issues involved in the contemporary political debate on migration.

(Length: 350-400 words)

    Resposta     

Modelo 01:

Due to the persistent gap between industrialized and underdeveloped countries, migration remains a vital issue in contemporary world politics. As humanity evolves towards a near-consensus on the inevitability of this phenomenon and its potential to generate global progress, the topic gradually becomes less controversial. Notwithstanding this trend, numerous disagreements regarding migration policy still exist. The debate concerns three complex subjects above all others: the economic consequences of human mobility, the risks involved in terms of trafficking and terrorism, and the impact of migration upon national cultures and identities.
            

The economic side of migration, if examined through the lenses of sheer and cold rationality, would seen to be utterly simple: while some countries have a diminishing workforce, others can barely feed their ever-expanding population, so it would be logical to encourage human flows from the latter group of nations to the former. Unsurprisingly, the issue is not that straightforward. Not all developing states are willing to cede their best and brightest citizens, as they fear the impact of an unequal flux of skilled workers, the so-called brain drain. Conversely, some industrial countries do not feel they can accommodate every potential migrant. Hence, limits and quotas are often established.
            

Secondly, the security threats possibly linked to the increasing migration flows are manifold. As the United States painfully learned on September 11th, 2001, not all foreigners legally settled are harmless. Beyond terrorism, other risks may be ushered by the uncontrolled movement of humans, namely drug trafficking and the clandestine trade of arms and other goods. Even diseases, such as the swine flu from Mexico, can be transmitted freely through migration.
            

Last but not least, it is evident that the cultural features of some countries, such as their language, religion and habits, will be partially under pressure if and when large inflows of migrants arrive. This is a delicate issue in Europe, where it often leads to prejudice and even xenophobia. Two opposite sets of policies claim to offer the best solution in this sense: the British usually allow foreigners to gather and form their own separate communities, whereas the French prefer to assimilate all migrants by imposing the so-called “Republican values” upon them.
           

Whether we study it from the economic perspective, the security angle, or the cultural point of view, migration continues to raise concerns and generate opportunities. One thing is clear, though: no country or society will be able to design and implement sound migration policies without paying the utmost attention to the quintessential human values of tolerance, respect, and cooperation.