🔖 CACD / IRB — Prova Objetiva de Inglês 2025 — Diplomata

🔢 Formato das Questões

28 • ✔️❌ True/False Questions • Binary Format

⬛ Texto 1 (itens 121–129)

A lack of women at decision-making tables around the world is hindering progress when it comes to tackling conflicts or improving health and standard of living, the highest-ranking woman in the UN (United Nations) has said.

“We’re half the population. And what we bring to the table is incredibly important and it’s missing”, said Amina Mohammed, the UN deputy secretary general. “I think it’s why mostly our human development indices are so bad, why we have so many conflicts and we’re unable to come out of the conflicts.”

Since her appointment in 2017, Mohammed has been a constant voice in pushing back against the under-representation of women in politics, diplomacy and even the UN general assembly. Her efforts have helped cast a spotlight on the fact that women remain relegated to the margins of power around the world; last year the global proportion of female lawmakers stood at 26.9%, according to Switzerland’s Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mohammed said “flexing muscle and testosterone” often dominated at tables of power around the world. “This win, win, win at all costs — I think that would change if women were at the table”, she said.

She acknowledged that the world had seen a handful of female leaders who had not used their position to advocate for greater peace or conflict resolution. “Fair point, we see women in power and they’re sometimes the image of men”, she said. But she described it as unfair to judge women on an individual basis while they were still within the confines of a system dominated by men. “We don’t judge men that way.”

Mohammed highlighted how many parts of society still view women in power as “about taking away, rather than adding” value. “And we have to change that mentality”, she said.

“We kept looking at the Band-aid: put the women in office, let’s have affirmative action. And we never connected the dots for women themselves to build the constituencies and to go out and vote”, she said. “So we have to have a conversation with women first. Because if we’re doing this for women, should it not be by women?”

⬛ Ashifa Kassam. Lack of women at global tables of power hinders progress, says top UN official. In: The Guardian, 19/6/2024. Internet: <www.theguardian.com> (adapted).

Based on the previous text, judge the following item.

129 In the fourth paragraph, it can be inferred from the expressions ‘flexing muscle and testosterone’ and ‘win at all costs’ that, for Mohammed, the male dominance in political representation evokes an attitude of aggressiveness, strength, and competition.

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⬛ TEXTO 2 (130-134):

Diplomacy is often described as an art, involving decisions shaped by sensitive political nuances that require human judgment, cultural understanding, and emotional intelligence — qualities that AI cannot fully replicate. While AI can support decision-making, it may also manipulate human behavior subtly, especially through systems developed in countries with different geopolitical priorities. This deepens the AI divide between technologically advanced and resource-limited nations, embedding linguistic and cultural biases and reinforcing global power asymmetries. As algorithms take their place alongside diplomats, the art of negotiation now meets the science of AI. The future of diplomacy must lie in fostering a symbiotic relationship where AI enhances human expertise, streamlines processes, and offers new strategic tools while leaving the nuanced art of diplomacy in human hands.

Diplomatic institutions adopting such technologies should also adopt guardrails to clarify how these systems inform decision-making.

To ensure that AI systems function appropriately across diverse cultural contexts, adaptive and responsible AI frameworks should be integrated into policy discussions at the national and international levels.

Crucially, any AI deployment must prioritise human agency.

The goal must not be to automate diplomacy, but to augment it.

AI’s incorporation into diplomacy offers both promise and peril.

While the technology supports efficiency and expands access to information, it must be governed by strong ethical frameworks, particularly when it can shape global power relations through sensitive negotiations.

Rather than embracing AI as a magic wand, it must be approached as a double-edged sword that is capable of assisting, but never replacing the unique human skills that diplomacy demands.

⬛ Anusha Guru. The Future of Diplomacy: AI’s Expanding Role in International Affairs.In: Observer Research Foundation, 18/6/2025. Internet: <www.orfonline.org> (adapted).

Judge the following item based on the ideas presented in the preceding text, as well as on its linguistic aspects.

132 According to the text, the use of AI in diplomacy reduces the risk of reinforcing global inequalities.

133 The text suggests that, although AI can assist diplomats, it cannot fully replace the human qualities required in diplomacy.

134 In the fragment “Diplomatic institutions adopting such technologies” (first sentence of the second paragraph), “adopting” describes an ongoing action that started in the past and continues in the present, since it is in the present perfect continuous.

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⬛ TEXTO 3 (135-138):

⬛ Texto 1 (itens 121–129)
A lack of women at decision-making tables around the world is hindering progress when it comes to tackling conflicts or improving health and standard of living, the highest-ranking woman in the UN (United Nations) has said.
“We’re half the population. And what we bring to the table is incredibly important and it’s missing”, said Amina Mohammed, the UN deputy secretary general. “I think it’s why mostly our human development indices are so bad, why we have so many conflicts and we’re unable to come out of the conflicts.”
Since her appointment in 2017, Mohammed has been a constant voice in pushing back against the under-representation of women in politics, diplomacy and even the UN general assembly. Her efforts have helped cast a spotlight on the fact that women remain relegated to the margins of power around the world; last year the global proportion of female lawmakers stood at 26.9%, according to Switzerland’s Inter-Parliamentary Union.
Speaking to The Guardian, Mohammed said “flexing muscle and testosterone” often dominated at tables of power around the world. “This win, win, win at all costs — I think that would change if women were at the table”, she said.
She acknowledged that the world had seen a handful of female leaders who had not used their position to advocate for greater peace or conflict resolution. “Fair point, we see women in power and they’re sometimes the image of men”, she said. But she described it as unfair to judge women on an individual basis while they were still within the confines of a system dominated by men. “We don’t judge men that way.”
Mohammed highlighted how many parts of society still view women in power as “about taking away, rather than adding” value. “And we have to change that mentality”, she said.
“We kept looking at the Band-aid: put the women in office, let’s have affirmative action. And we never connected the dots for women themselves to build the constituencies and to go out and vote”, she said. “So we have to have a conversation with women first. Because if we’re doing this for women, should it not be by women?”
⬛ Fonte: Ashifa Kassam. Lack of women at global tables of power hinders progress, says top UN official. The Guardian, 19/6/2024 (adapted).

Based on the preceding text, judge the following items.

135 According to the last paragraph of the text, the local population of the Arab shores was greatly frightened by the presence of the newcomers because nobody knew what their purpose was.

136 According to the text, as a consequence of the arrival of the warriors, the vines mentioned in the second paragraph were attacked by a widespread plant disease.

137 The author of the text presents the characteristics of the warriors that contrasted with the life of those who inhabited the “Arab shores”, mentioned in the last paragraph.

138 In all its occurrences in the third paragraph, the pronoun “They” refers to “The warriors of God” (second paragraph), also referred in the text as “barbarians” (last paragraph).

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⬛ TEXTO 4 (139-143):

There is nothing inevitable about choices that areenvironmentally destructive.

In 1800, there were indeed 550 steam engines in Europe but there were over 500,000 water mills.

Coal was more expensive than hydro power and many industrialists were not persuaded of its added value.

It was the economic recession of 1825-1848 with increasing agitation by textile workers over salaries and conditions which made the use of coal-powered, steam-driven spinning machines a much more attractive proposition.

More machines meant fewer workers and fewer workers meant fewer demands, notably for wage rises.

Therefore, the substantial increase in CO2 emissions in Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century, which through economic competition, war and imperial domination would start a worldwide trend, was not the blind outcome of the machinery of ‘progress’ but the cumulative consequence of a set of very specific decisions taken by identifiable socio-economic actors.

Similarly, the notion that ecological awareness is only a very recent phenomenon where “humanity” finally woke up to the environmental consequences of its economic activities does not stand up to scrutiny.

In the period from the beginnings of the industrial revolution to the decade when the movement towards fossil fuels use becomes more marked, awareness of the relationships between humans and their environment or the “natural world” was widespread.

Environmental risks have been clearly and repeatedly signalled from the time of the industrial revolution onwards.

The notion of an unthinking humanity bringing destruction upon itself does not bear up to examination.

⬛ Michael Cronin. Eco-Translation: translation and ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene. New York: Routledge, 2017. p. 11-12 (adapted).

In relation to the previous text, judge the items that follow.

139 The second sentence of the first paragraph indicates that, in 1800, there were already anthropogenic changes in nature.

140 In the first paragraph, the author states that what increased the use of steam-driven spinning machines was the living conditions of textile workers.

141 In the second paragraph, the author claims that the use of fossil fuels marked the relationship between humans and their environment.

142 The point the author intends to make with the text is that environmental concerns began with the industrial revolution in Britain.

143 In the second paragraph, the expressions “stand up to scrutiny” (first sentence) and “bear up to examination” (last sentence) have similar meanings and may correctly be used interchangeably in the text.

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⬛ TEXTO 5 (144-148):

Equipped with spiritual armor against the threats and blows of a new, strange life, literate man marches forth to win victories in war and statecraft, art and science, religion and business. But in achieving these triumphs each civilization brings into being, willy-nilly, a larger and more complex community, increasingly divided against itself by internal cleavages of needs and creeds and fraught with growing contradictions in all spheres of life between theory and practice, faith and works, ideals and realities. The new unity of sentiment and purpose which gloriously characterizes the coming of the great age proves to be short-lived.

The uneasy balance of instinct, egotism, and ethics, woefully lost with the initial transition from preliteracy to

civilization and transiently regained in new devotions to tribal gods, human or divine, is again lost as the orbit of civilization moves from tribe and kingdom and nation to the complex and confusing imperium of the great society and the World State. The acids of rationalism and skepticism dissolve old loyalties. The injunctions of morality, even when reinforced by the vision of the monotheistic higher religions, conflict with reason and self-interest. Man is divided against himself. And therefore men become divided against themselves in new cleavages of rich and poor, in-group and out-group, faithful and infidel, orthodox and heterodox, my side and your side.

⬛ Frederick L. Schuman. International politics: the destiny of the Western State System. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1948.

According to the preceding text, judge the following items.

144 It is correct to conclude from the meanings and the grammatical structure of the second sentence of the text that contradictions are part of the “cleavages of needs and creeds”.

145 In the first sentence of the second paragraph, “woefully” and “transiently” modify two different actions.

146 One of the assumptions underlying the text is that there is a fundamental difference between two kinds of human groups: the literate and civilized, on one hand, and the illiterate and uncivilized, on the other.

147 The spiritual armor mentioned in the first sentence of the text can be correctly understood as the condition of literacy, which characterizes the notion of civilization adopted by the author.

148 In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the expression “willy-nilly” indicates that civilizations easily generate more complex communities.