Questões de Concurso

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Text A

Brazil joins growing list of countries banning cellphones in schools

(1) A bill that bans students from using cellphones in schools was signed into law in Brazil on Monday, the latest example of lawmakers limiting young people’s use of personal technology in the classroom, amongst growing concern about its effect on education and wellbeing.

(2) Brazil’s Education Ministry said in a statement that the law “aims to safeguard the mental, physical and psychological health of children and adolescents.” The law prohibits all students in public and private elementary and secondary schools from using portable electronic devices throughout the school day, the ministry said, though it allows for their educational use and some other exceptions.

(3) Brazil joins several countries that have banned the personal use of cellphones in schools — including the Netherlands, Italy, and France — though there are questions as to whether phone bans are effective in achieving their aims.

(4) On the one hand, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended in 2023 that smartphones only be allowed during class time for learning activities. “Even just having a mobile phone nearby with notifications coming through is enough to result in students losing their attention from the task at hand, ” it said in a statement.

(5) Despite the concern, an August (2024) global literature review by researchers at three universities in Queensland, Australia, found that there have been limited high-quality studies on the issue. “The evidence for banning mobile phones for the mental health and well-being of students is inconclusive and based only on anecdotes or perceptions, rather than the recorded incidence of mental illness, ” authors Marilyn Campbell, professor of early-childhood and inclusive education at the Queensland University of Technology. “Mobile phones are an integral part of our lives, ” they added. “We need to be teaching children about appropriate use of phones, rather than simply banning them.”

(Adapted from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/01/14/brazil-cellphoneschool-ban/

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the text carefully and then answer the questions from 33 to 38 by choosing the correct alternative.

Brazil corruption scandals: All you need to know

For the past three years, Brazil has been gripped by a scandal which started with a state-owned oil company and grew to encapsulate people at the very top of business - and even presidents.

On the face of it, it is a straightforward corruption scandal - albeit one involving millions of dollars in kickbacks and more than 80 politicians and members of the business elite.

But as the tentacles of the investigation dubbed Operation Car Wash fanned out, other scandals emerged.

It has led to some of those who have found themselves accused claiming they are the victims of political plots, designed to bar them from office.

What is Operation Car Wash?

Operation Car Wash began in March 2014 as an investigation into allegations that Brazil's biggest construction firms overcharged state-oil company Petrobras for building contracts.

Investigators accused directors at the firm - named the world's most ethical oil and gas company in 2008 - of skimming the extra money off the top as a bribe for awarding the contract.

Which is bad enough - but then the Workers' Party found itself dragged into the corruption scandal amid allegations of having funneled some of these funds to pay off politicians and buy their votes and help with political campaigns.

Among those accused in the scandal were dozens of politicians, and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - the country's extremely popular former president, known affectionately as "Lula".