Life on Mars

A new study published in the journal Science shows definitive evidence of

organic matter on the surface of Mars. The data was collected by NASA's nuclear-
powered rover Curiosity. It confirms earlier findings that the Red Planet once contained
carbon-based compounds. These compounds – also called organic molecules – are
essential ingredients for life as scientists understand it.
The organic molecules were found in Mars's Gale Crater, a large area that may
have been a watery lake over three billion years ago. The rover encountered traces of
the molecule in rocks extracted from the area. The rocks also contain sulfur, which
scientists speculate helped preserve the organics even when the rocks were exposed
to the harsh radiation on the surface of the planet.

Scientists are quick to state that the presence of these organic molecules is not
sufficient evidence for ancient life on Mars, as the molecules could have been formed
by non-living processes. But it's still one of the most astonishing discoveries,
which could lead to future revelations. Especially when one considers the other
startling find that Curiosity uncovered around five years ago.

The rover analyses the air around it periodically, and in 2014 it found the air
contained another of the most basic organic molecules and a key ingredient of natural
gas: methane. One of the characteristics of methane is that it only survives a few
hundred years. This means that something, somewhere on Mars, is replenishing the
supply. According to NASA, Mars emits thousands of tons of methane at a time. The
level of methane rises and falls at seasonal intervals in the year, almost as if the planet
is breathing it.

NASA suspects the methane comes from deep under the surface of the planet.
The variations in temperature on the surface of Mars cause the molecule to flow
upwards at higher or lower levels. For example, in the Martian winter the gas could get
trapped in underground icy crystals. These crystals, called clathrates, melt in the
summer and release the gas. However, the source of the methane is still a complete
mystery.

The world of astrobiology considers both of these studies as historical

milestones. According to this information, Mars is not a dead planet. On the contrary, it
is quite active and may be changing and becoming more habitable.

Of course, this means further research is necessary. Scientists say they need to
send new equipment to Mars, equipment that can measure the air and soil with more
precision. There are already missions underway. The European Space Agency's
ExoMars ship lands in 2020 and will be able to drill into the ground on Mars to analyse
what it finds. Additionally, NASA is sending another Mars Rover in the same year to
collect samples of Martian soil and return them to Earth.

PREPARATÓRIO MILITAR – PROFESSOR MATHEUS – DISCIPLINA INGLÊS 1

 The possibility of life on Mars has fascinated humans for generations. It has
been the subject of endless science-fiction novels and films. Are we alone in the
universe or have there been other life forms within our Solar System? If the current
missions to the Red Planet continue, it looks as if we may discover the answer very
soon.
1- The study in the journal 'Science' was written by NASA scientists.
a) True
b) False
c) Not given
2- Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word in CAPITALS.
a) The vehicle works using a pair of large ________ -powered batteries. SUN
b) The data is not ___________ to prove the existence of life. SUFFICE
c) The ____________ shook the science world. REVEAL
d) It's far too early to reach any _____________ conclusions. DEFINITE
e) This tool measures tiny _______________ in temperature. VARY
f) The rover can pick up tiny samples with exact ___________. PRECISE
g) We are going to analyse the ______________ back at the lab. FIND
h) This process is observed in all ___________, from plants to animals.
ORGANIC

Brazilian jailed in Mozambique for drug

trafficking
A 24-year-old Brazilian woman has been sentenced to 17 years in prison in
Mozambique for drug trafficking. She was detained on 26 June 2019 at Maputo
International Airport in possession of 5.4kg (about 11lb) of cocaine. She had travelled
from Brazil via Ethiopia. On the day of her detention, the woman said she had come to
Mozambique as a tourist and knew nothing about the drugs.
But she admitted during her trial at a court in the capital, Maputo, that she was
recruited in Brazil to carry the drugs to sell in Mozambique in exchange for about $2,500
(£1,940). During her confession she also said that she was a drug user and apologised.
This did little to mitigate the length of her sentence.
She is the second foreign citizen to be found guilty in Mozambique of trafficking
cocaine this month. A 66-year-old US citizen was sentenced to 18 years last week. Last
year, the UN office fighting drugs warned that Mozambique had become a corridor for
high volumes of illicit substances.
3- We can conclude from the text that:
a) a Brazilian woman is the second foreign citizen guilty for drug trafficking in
Mozambique this year.
b) the Brazilian woman’s prison isn’t fair because she’s only a tourist.
c) according to the Brazilian woman’s confession, she’s a drug user.
d) the Brazilian woman jailed in Mozambique is 17 years old.

PREPARATÓRIO MILITAR – PROFESSOR MATHEUS – DISCIPLINA INGLÊS 2

e) an American person is the first foreign person guilty for drug trafficking in Mozambique
this year.
4- The word “head” has a denotative meaning in:
a) I’m laughing my head off.
b) The minister is the head of the committee.
c) My head always hurts after reading a lot.
d) She loses her head when she’s late.
e) Dinner at this restaurant costs R$50 per head.
5- Which sentence is talking about a habit?
a) She has a beach house.
b) John’s doing the dishes right now.
c) He’s going on a trip on Friday.
d) Their baby is two years old.
e) I always walk my dog at night.
6- Choose the correct antonym of the underlined expression in the sentence
below: Avatar is one of the best movies of all times.
a) the baddest
b) the worse
c) the most bad
d) the worst
e) the most worse

Leia o texto destacado para responder à

questão.
Meritocracy has become a leading social ideal. Politicians across the ideological
spectrum continually return to the theme that the rewards of life—money, power, jobs,
university admission—should be distributed according to skill and effort. The most
common metaphor is the ‘even playing field’ upon which players can rise to the position
that fits their merit. Conceptually and morally, meritocracy is presented as the opposite
of systems such as hereditary aristocracy, in which one’s social position is determined
by the lottery of birth. Under meritocracy, wealth and advantage are merit’s rightful
compensation, not the fortuitous windfall of external events. And most people don’t just
think the world should be run meritocratically, they think it is meritocratic. However,
although widely held, the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure
in the world is demonstrably false. This is not least because merit itself is, in large part,
the result of luck. Talent and the capacity for determined effort, sometimes called ‘grit’,
depend a great deal on one’s genetic endowments and upbringing.

PREPARATÓRIO MILITAR – PROFESSOR MATHEUS – DISCIPLINA INGLÊS 3

 Perhaps more disturbing, simply holding meritocracy as a value seems to
promote discriminatory behaviour. The management scholar Emilio Castilla at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the sociologist Stephen Benard at Indiana
University studied attempts to implement meritocratic practices, such as performance-
based compensation in private companies. They found that, in companies that explicitly
held meritocracy as a core value, managers assigned greater rewards to male
employees over female employees with identical performance evaluations. This
preference disappeared where meritocracy was not explicitly adopted as a value.
This is surprising because impartiality is the core of meritocracy’s moral appeal.
The ‘even playing field’ is intended to avoid unfair inequalities based on gender, race
and the like. Yet Castilla and Benard found that, ironically, attempts to implement
meritocracy leads to just the kinds of inequalities that it aims to eliminate. They suggest
that this ‘paradox of meritocracy’ occurs because explicitly adopting meritocracy as a
value convinces subjects of their own moral sincerity. Satisfied that they are just, they
become less inclined to examine their own behaviour for signs of prejudice.
As with any ideology, part of its draw is that it justifies the status quo, explaining
why people belong where they happen to be in the social order. It is a well-established
psychological principle that people prefer to believe that the world is just.
7- De acordo com o quarto parágrafo, a meritocracia promove
a) o conformismo social.
b) a mobilidade social.
c) a justiça social.
d) a crença em um mundo melhor.
e) a inquietação psicológica

Leia o texto destacado para responder à

questão.
In a new survey of North American Indian languages, Marianne Mithun gives an
admirably clear statement of what is lost as each language ceases to be used.
“Speakers of these languages and their descendants are acutely aware of what it can
mean to lose a language,” she begins – and this is perfectly true, although these
speakers must have taken the decision themselves not to teach the language to their
children. It happens all too often – people regret that their language and culture are
being lost but at the same time decide not to saddle their own children with the chore of
preserving them.
When a language disappears [Mithun continues] the most intimate aspects of
culture can disappear as well: fundamental ways of organizing experience into
concepts, of relating ideas to each other, of interacting to people. The more conscious
genres of verbal art are usually lost as well: traditional ritual, oratory, myth, legends,
and even humor. Speakers commonly remark that when they speak a different
language, they say different things and even think different thoughts. These are very
interesting assertions. They slip by in a book on anthropological linguistics, where in a
book on linguistic theory they would be highly contentious. Is it true that “fundamental
ways of organizing experience into concepts [and] of relating ideas to each other” are

PREPARATÓRIO MILITAR – PROFESSOR MATHEUS – DISCIPLINA INGLÊS 4

specific to individual languages and are therefore likely to be lost when a language
ceases to be used? Is it true that when speakers speak a different language, they “say
different things and even think different thoughts”? Again, the extent to which thought
depends on language is very controversial. These questions must be now faced,
because only when we have reached an opinion on them will we be able to accept or
reject Marianne Mithun’s conclusion: “The loss of a language represents a definitive
separation of a people from its heritage. It also represents an irreparable loss for us all,
the loss of opportunities to glimpse alternative ways of making sense of the human
experience.”
8- De acordo com o texto, é correto afirmar que com o desaparecimento de uma
língua, aspectos dessa cultura também estão fadados ao desaparecimento,
exceto
a) a interação entre indivíduos do grupo.
b) formas de expressar experiências vividas em conceitos.
c) estabelecimento de relações entre ideias.
d) suas práticas econômicas baseadas em escambo.
e) a tradição oral de seus mitos e lendas.

PREPARATÓRIO MILITAR – PROFESSOR MATHEUS – DISCIPLINA INGLÊS 5