Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and

processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural

affairs, and economic productivity. It also includes specific types of abilities.

Scientific literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to

questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. It means that a person

has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy

entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular

press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions.

Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national

and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically

informed. A literate citizen should be able to evaluate the quality of scientific

information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it. Scientific

literacy also implies the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence

and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately.

[1] …………………… Brazilians know Jorge Amado's work through television or film

adaptations.

A TV soap opera version of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon starring Sonia Braga took the

country, then ……………….. military rule, by storm in 1975.

[5] Gabriela was a sexy migrant worker with whom Nacib, a bar owner of Arab origin, falls in

love in the small port of Ilheus, in Brazil's cocoa producing region.

A year later, Dona Flor hit the cinema screens, telling the story of a young woman

……………. after remarrying continued to go to bed with the spirit of her deceased,

debauched husband.

[10] The characters were credible - from the local political leaders in ……………….. white suits

to the pious small town ladies.

But the cocktail of sex and strong language kept many of Amado's novels off official school

reading lists for decades.

My Catholic school in Rio de Janeiro was …………………… those deeming his work

[15] unsuitable for young people.

But the popularity of his stories meant that by the time he died in 2001, buses loaded with

tourists stopped regularly outside his house.

[1] …………………… Brazilians know Jorge Amado's work through television or film

adaptations.

A TV soap opera version of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon starring Sonia Braga took the

country, then ……………….. military rule, by storm in 1975.

[5] Gabriela was a sexy migrant worker with whom Nacib, a bar owner of Arab origin, falls in

love in the small port of Ilheus, in Brazil's cocoa producing region.

A year later, Dona Flor hit the cinema screens, telling the story of a young woman

……………. after remarrying continued to go to bed with the spirit of her deceased,

debauched husband.

[10] The characters were credible - from the local political leaders in ……………….. white suits

to the pious small town ladies.

But the cocktail of sex and strong language kept many of Amado's novels off official school

reading lists for decades.

My Catholic school in Rio de Janeiro was …………………… those deeming his work

[15] unsuitable for young people.

But the popularity of his stories meant that by the time he died in 2001, buses loaded with

tourists stopped regularly outside his house.

Iris Scanner Identifies a Person 40 Feet Away

Police traffic stops are in the news again, tragically, sparking a new round of discussion on whether and how to outfit police with cameras and other technology.
For several years now, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Biometrics Center have been testing an iris recognition system that can be used to identify subjects at a range of up to 40 feet.
Like similar biometric technologies — fingerprint or facial recognition systems — the Carnegie Mellon project uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques. The technology captures images from a live photographic or video feed and runs them through a database to find a potential match.
Like fingerprints, every iris is unique — thanks to enormously complex patterns that remain the same throughout a person’s lifetime. High-resolution cameras can capture images of the iris from a distance using light in the near-infrared wavelength band.
In the realm of law enforcement, iris recognition could be used to identify suspects at long range in various lighting conditions. The system can even be used to capture images through reflections in a mirror.
Disponível em: <http://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-andgadgets/ iris-scanner-identifies-a-person-40-feet-away-150410.htm> Acessado em 20 de outubro de 2015.

AWARD: ACTING

Val is the kind of live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid’s uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy São Paulo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she’s raised since toddlerhood. Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val’s ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val’s hometown to take the college entrance examination. Jessica’s confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she’s willing to sacrifice.

With subtly dark, giddy humor and keenly drawn characters, director Anna Muylaert mines the incendiary drama when old ideas and new worlds collide. The immense satisfaction and fun of The Second Mother stem from watching tacit social codes and delicate hierarchies waver as a new generation blithely treads on sacrosanct boundaries. Muylaert has given us a fresh, contemporary spin on class in Brazil, wrapped in a deeply moving story of what belonging and family mean.

But those are no longer his goals, if they ever really were.
[10] Look at the world form his perspective, and Mr. Putin is
winning. He remains the Kremlin´s undisputed master. He has
a throttlehold on Ukraine and domesticating Ukraine through
his routine tactics of threats and bribery was his first
preference, but the invasion has had its benefits. It has
[15] demonstrated the costs of insubordination to Russians. The
conflict has usefully shown who is boss in Russia. Best of all,
discord has been sown among Mr. Putin´s adversaries: among
Europeans and between them and America.

His aim is to divide and neuter that alliance. From his
[20] tantrums over the Middle East to his invasion of Georgia and
Ukraine, Mr. Putin has sometimes seemed to stumble into
accidental disputes with the West, driven by a paranoid fear of
encirclement. In hindsight it seems that, given his outlook,
confrontation may have been inevitable. Either way, the
[25] contest he insists on cannot be dodged. It did not begin in poor
Ukraine and will not end there. Prevailing will require far more
resolve than Western leaders have so far mustered.
(from The Economist, February 14^th, 2015.)

Be happy with less stuff

A recent survey(1) by the National Association of Professional Organizers reveals that 54% of Americans feel overwhelmed(2) by clutter(3) and 78% have no idea what to do with it. According to psychologists, people accumulate things because they are unhappy but having too many possessions brings stress and more unhappiness. Minimalists say you can live better if you focus only on what’s really important and get rid of your excess stuff(4). You can donate things you don’t need to charity(5). Minimalism is not new. Some of the ancient Greek philosophers were advocates, as were Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy. There may be more joy in owning less than in constantly accumulating more.

Minorities of concern to MRG (Minority Rights Group International) are disadvantaged ethnic, national,

religious, linguistic or cultural groups who are smaller in number than the rest of the population and who

may wish to maintain and develop their identity. MRG also works with indigenous peoples. Other groups

who may suffer discrimination are of concern to MRG, which condemns discrimination on any ground.

However, the specific mission of MRG is to secure the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples around

the world and to improve cooperation between communities.

(UNESCO. State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012. Reino Unido, 2012. Disponível em: <http://www.unesco.org/library/PDF/MRG.pdf>. Acesso em: 21 set. 2015.)