Brazil cotton deal perpetuates an unhealthy status quo of subsidies

1. When is a victory for the United States not a victory

for the American taxpayer? When it’s an international

agreement like the one the Obama administration has

just reached to settle a long-running dispute with

Brazil over cotton subsidies. The roots of that dispute

lie in this country’s history of showering federal funds

on crop producers, including cotton growers. That

particular business received $32.9 billion from

Washington between 1995 and 2012, according to

the Environmental Working Group, largely through

programs that had the effect of rewarding farmers for

increasing production. The extra supply dampened

prices on the world market, so, in 2002, Brazil

complained to the World Trade Organization, which

ruled that US cotton subsidies were indeed

“trade-distorting” and authorized Brazil to retaliate

against US exports. The United States avoided

sanctions — not by reforming its programs but by

agreeing in 2010 to pay Brazil’s cotton farmers

$147.3 million per year.

2. In short, the US government bought off Brazil’s

cotton farmers so that it could keep on buying off its

own. Under the new settlement, announced

Wednesday, Brazil agreed to drop its case at the

WTO and to forgo any new ones during the five-year

term of the farm bill Congress enacted last year. In

return, the United States agreed to trim the modest

US cotton export credit subsidy program and, most

important, to pay Brazil one last dollop of taxpayer

cash, in the amount of $300 million.

3. This is good news to the extent that it fortifies

US-Brazil relations on the eve of a new presidential

term in that country and that it spares US exporters

from the threat of Brazilian retaliation, which could

have reached a total of $829 million per year. Yet, in

essence, the new deal perpetuates the unhealthy

status quo whereby the United States pays Brazil

____ the right ____ continue propping ________ a

domestic cotton industry that can ____ should learn

to compete ____ its own.

1 Climate change may not be responsible for the recent

skyrocketing cost of natural disasters, but it is very likely that

it will impact future catastrophes. Climate models provide a

4 glimpse of the future, and while they do not agree on all of the

details, most models predict a few general trends. According to

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase of

7 greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will probably boost

temperatures over most land surfaces, though the exact change

will vary regionally. More uncertain — but possible —

10 outcomes of an increase in global temperatures include

increased risk of drought and increased intensity of storms,

including tropical cyclones with higher wind speeds, a wetter

13 Asian monsoon, and, possibly, more intense mid-latitude

storms.

Brazil cotton deal perpetuates an unhealthy status quo of subsidies

1. When is a victory for the United States not a victory

for the American taxpayer? When it’s an international

agreement like the one the Obama administration has

just reached to settle a long-running dispute with

Brazil over cotton subsidies. The roots of that dispute

lie in this country’s history of showering federal funds

on crop producers, including cotton growers. That

particular business received $32.9 billion from

Washington between 1995 and 2012, according to

the Environmental Working Group, largely through

programs that had the effect of rewarding farmers for

increasing production. The extra supply dampened

prices on the world market, so, in 2002, Brazil

complained to the World Trade Organization, which

ruled that US cotton subsidies were indeed

“trade-distorting” and authorized Brazil to retaliate

against US exports. The United States avoided

sanctions — not by reforming its programs but by

agreeing in 2010 to pay Brazil’s cotton farmers

$147.3 million per year.

2. In short, the US government bought off Brazil’s

cotton farmers so that it could keep on buying off its

own. Under the new settlement, announced

Wednesday, Brazil agreed to drop its case at the

WTO and to forgo any new ones during the five-year

term of the farm bill Congress enacted last year. In

return, the United States agreed to trim the modest

US cotton export credit subsidy program and, most

important, to pay Brazil one last dollop of taxpayer

cash, in the amount of $300 million.

3. This is good news to the extent that it fortifies

US-Brazil relations on the eve of a new presidential

term in that country and that it spares US exporters

from the threat of Brazilian retaliation, which could

have reached a total of $829 million per year. Yet, in

essence, the new deal perpetuates the unhealthy

status quo whereby the United States pays Brazil

____ the right ____ continue propping ________ a

domestic cotton industry that can ____ should learn

to compete ____ its own.

School lets students start lessons after lunch

A high school in England has initiated a new policy to allow students to sleep longer in the mornings. The private, $25,000-a-year Hampton Court House school, is introducing a 1:30 to 7 p.m. timetable in September. It will become the only school in Britain that starts lessons in the afternoon. Head teacher Guy Holloway said the altered hours should help students get higher grades. He said research on neuroscience shows student productivity increases if they can sleep longer in the mornings. Mr. Holloway said: "We want to get students into an environment where they can get quality sleep and their bodies are functioning well." He added: "It's about what works in our community." The afternoon start is based on research by Oxford University. Researcher Dr. Paul Kelley said: "You can't train your system to get up at a practical time". He said we are not in control of choosing the best time to work because it's biological, just like we have no control over our heartbeat and liver function. Dr. Kelley added: "Anything you do to change the rhythmic systems of your body means your organs become desynchronised with each other and this is where people get ill. There is no fixing it by giving someone an alarm clock". A student at the school, Gabriel Purcell-Davis, 15, is in favour of the idea. He said students are tired all day, "but as soon as 10 o'clock hits, that's when we do all our work".

Leia o texto a seguir, extraído do livro He knows too much, e responda à questão.

Chapter 1 - Madras 1986

“He knows too much. I must ask you to do nothing.”

“But this time I caught him in the act. I have proof, witnesses, everything. There is no possible doubt.”

“I said he knows too much! The company can’t afford to have any problems. Our position is very sensitive in this country. We can’t afford to take risks. I am telling you once again – you will do nothing. And if there is any trouble, I’m afraid I shall have to hold you personally responsible. So be sensible for once in your life.”

“I see. So you are telling me to close my eyes to corruption and behave as if nothing has happened. Is that right?”

“I didn’t put it quite like that. But, if you insist, yes. What Vish does or doesn’t do is a minor matter compared with the company’s global strategy. Just try to get things in perspective. After all, you won’t be stuck in Madras for ever – I’ll make sure that you are not. So just go with the flow for a bit longer. When you’re in your next post this will all seem a very long way away, I can assure you. But meantime, no trouble. I hope I’ve made myself clear. Oh, and, by the way, I advise you to forget that we have had this conversation. Goodbye.”

Dick Sterling put the phone down. His hands were trembling. He was furious with himself for failing to persuade his boss in Delhi, Keith Lennox, to support him, and was disgusted at the mixture of veiled threats and vague promises Lennox had made.

Mr. Anthony Banbury planejou sua visita a Gana. Assim, complete sua agenda usando as preposições corretas.

arriving there ________1 Wednesday, November 5th, because he couldn’t get the flight ________2 the fourth. He’s flying from JFK airport ________3 American Airlines and he’s arriving ________4 Accra airport ________5 18.00. He’s staying there ________6 a month and he’s going back ________7 Friday, December the 5th leaving ________8 19.30. He’s staying ________9 a small but clean hotel ________10 the downtown area.

[1] The study of game aesthetics is a very

recent practice, spanning less than two

decades. Unlike game studies in mathematics

or the social sciences, ........ are much older,

[5] games became subject to humanistic study

only after computer and video games became

popular. This lack of persistent interest might

seem odd, but only if we see traditional

games and computer games as intrinsically

[10] similar, ........ they are not. We might try to

explain this lack by noting that games are

usually seen as trivial and lowbrow by the

aesthetic and theoretical elites ........ cultivate

the analysis of artistic media objects:

[15] literature, the visual arts, theatre, music, etc.

But this does not explain the fact that

aesthetic studies of games are now not only

possible, but even encouraged and supported

with funding. What happened to cause this

[20] change?

A possible explanation could be that digital

games, unlike traditional games or sports,

consist of non-ephemeral content (stored

words, sounds and images), which places

[25] them much closer to the ideal object of the

Humanities, the work of art. Thus, they

become visible and textualizable for the

aesthetic observer, in a way the previous

phenomena were not.

[30] However, this sudden visibility, probably

also caused by the tremendous economic and

cultural success of computer games, produces

certain blind spots in the aesthetic observer,

especially if he/she is trained in textual/visual

[35] analysis, as is usually the case. Instead of

treating the new phenomena carefully, and as

objects of a study for which no methodology

yet exists, they are analyzed with tools that

happen to be at hand, such as film or

[40] narrative theories. Therefore we need to

outline and promote a methodology for the

aesthetic study of games, which, given the

current nascent state of the field, will

doubtlessly give way to more sophisticated

[45] approaches in the years to come.