Questões de Concurso

Happy new year
Source: www.economist.com
Jul 2nd 2009 (Adapted)

    The mantra in Washington, DC is simple: spend billions now, pay later. Congress has been crafting ambitious plans for energy, health care and transport. But the mood in state capitals has been different. Forty-six states had a deadline of June 0th to pass their budgets. Just as important, those budgets had to be balanced. With the sole exemption of Vermont, America´s state governments, unlike the federal one, are not allowed to run deficits. June was an agonizing
month.
    On the morning of July 1st, the first day of the new fiscal year for most states, taxpayers had reason to be glum. Connecticut, North Carolina and Ohio had passed temporary extensions. California, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Illinois did not have a balanced budget as required.Most states that did pass budgets imposed painful cuts, higher taxes and fees on everything from pesticides in Minnesota to hunting licences in Maine.
    Matters would be worse if it were not for Washington´s stimulus package, which provides more than $135 billion to support state budgets. Most money, $87 billion, is for Medicaid, the government´s health-care programme for the poor. A further $48 billion created a State Fiscal Stabilisation Fund, mostly for schools and universities.

Read the text below entitled “Another one bites the dust” in order to answer questions 21 to 25:

Another one bites the dust
Source: www.economist.com
Apr 27th, 2012 (Adapted)

    Less than three months after it took offi ce, Romania´s government has fallen. The centre-right administration lost a no-confi dence vote fi led by the left-wing opposition. When the motion was originally fi led few thought the government was in danger. But in recent weeks it has been weakened by a series of defections.
    “Today there was justice,” celebrated Victor Ponta, leader of the centre-left Social-Liberal Union (USL), after securing 235 votes in favour of his motion, four more than he needed. “We don´t want any more dubious fi rms, no more selling under the market price and huge bribes,” he said in a fi ve-hour long debate that preceded the vote.
    Traian Basescu, the president and main political player in Romania, proposed Mr Ponta as prime minister back in February when the previous government, led by Emil Boc, resigned after three weeks of street protests denouncing party cronyism, incompetence and harsh austerity measures. Mr Ponta refused, but now he seems more willing to step in thanks to the fair-weather politicians who have fl ocked to his party from the centre-right.
    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which began an offi cial visit to Romania earlier this week to review the country´s performance linked to a 5 billion euro credit line it was granted last year, announced it would suspend its mission until a new government is in place. That may not take long. But with Romanian governments showing the longevity of mayfl ies, and the European Union (EU) weary of a country that seems unable or unwilling to make serious progress on the corruption problems that continue to plague it fi ve years after it was accepted into the club, it will take a good deal longer for Romania to acquire the clout that should come naturally to an EU country with 22m people.