Questões Sobre Sinônimos | Synonyms - Inglês - concurso

Questão 11

Investigators trying to find out what happened to a Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared en route to Beijing on Saturday morning were examining the causes of plane crashes: mechanical failure, pilot error, bad weather. But the discovery that two of the passengers were carrying stolen passports also raised the possibility of criminal violence.

(Adapted from “Passport Theft adds mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines Jet”)

GLOSSARY
raised – aumentou, ampliou

“find out”, in bold type in the text, is closest in meaning to

Questão 12

                                   Don’t drink and ride

Alcohol can increase your risk of being hurt in a car accident, even if you aren’t behind the wheel. A new University of Michigan study reports that men who have been drinking are 50 percent more likely to experience a serious injury during a car accident than sober passengers.

The word “who”, underlined in the text, can be replaced by

Questão 13

                        Solar System’s Water is Older Than the Sun

      Next time you’re swimming in the ocean, consider this: part of the water is older than the sun.
      So concludes a team of scientists who ran computer models comparing the ratios of hydrogen isotopes over time. Taking into account new insights that the solar nebula had less ionizing radiation than previously thought, the models show that at least some of the water found in the ocean, as well as in comets, meteorites and on the moon, predate the sun’s birth.
      The only other option, the scientists conclude, is that it formed in the cold, intersteller cloud from which the sun itself originated.
      The discovery, reported in this week’s Science, stems from the insight of lead author Lauren Ilsedore Cleeves, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, who realized that planet- forming disks around young stars should be shielded from galactic rays by the strong solar winds, dramatically altering the chemistry occurring inside the disks, said Conel Alexander, with the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
      “The findingX makes it quite hard for these regions in the disk to synthesize any new molecules. This was an ‘aha’ moment for us – without any new water creation the only place these ices could have come from was the chemically rich interstellar gas out of which the solar system formed originally,” Cleeves wrote in an email to Discovery News.
      “It’s remarkable that these ices survived the entire process of stellar birth,” she added.
      The finding has implications for the search for life beyond Earth, as water is believed to be necessary for life.
      “If the sun’s formation was typical, interstellar ices – including water – are likely common ingredients present during the formation of all planetary systems, which puts a wonderful outlook on the possibility of other life in the universe,” Cleeves said.
      In addition, it’s not just water that likely survived the solar system’s birth.
      “The same must be true for the organic matter that we know is present in molecular cloud ices. So I think this strengthens the case that we have interstellar organic matter in meteorites and comets too,” Alexander wrote in an email to Discovery News.

                                                                                          Available in: http://news.discovery.com

Read the sentence taken from the text and, according to the context, choose the alternative that presents a synonym to the underlined word.

“It’s remarkable that these ices survived the entire process of stellar birth”.

Questão 14

Background

The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) started in 1948. Since that time, the NNPP has provided safe and effective propulsion systems to power submarines, surface combatants, and aircraft carriers. Today, nuclear propulsion enables virtually undetectable US Navy submarines, including the sea-based leg of the strategic triad, and provides essentially inexhaustible propulsion power independent of forward logistical support to both our submarines and aircraft carriers. Over forty percent of the Navy’s major combatant ships are nuclear-powered, and because of their demonstrated safety and reliability, these ships have access to seaports throughout the world. The NNPP has consistently sought the best way to affordably meet Navy requirements by evaluating, developing, and delivering a variety of reactor types, fuel systems, and structural materials. The Program has investigated many different fuel systems and reactor design features, and has designed, built, and operated over thirty different reactor designs in over twenty plant types to employ the most promising of these developments in practical applications. Improvements in naval reactor design have allowed increased power and energy to keep pace with the operational requirements of the modern nuclear fleet, while maintaining a conservative design approach that ensures reliability and safety to the crew, the public, and the environment. As just one example of the progress that has been made, the earliest reactor core designs in the NAUTILUS required refueling after about two years while modern reactor cores can last the life of a submarine, or over thirty years without refueling. These improvements have been the result of prudent, conservative engineering, backed by analysis, testing, and prototyping. The NNPP was also a pioneer in developing basic technologies and transferring technology to the civilian nuclear electric power industry. For example, the Program demonstrated the feasibility of commercial nuclear power generation in this country by designing, constructing and operating the Shipping port Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania and showing the feasibility of a thorium-based breeder reactor.

In: Report on Low Enriched Uranium for Naval Reactor Cores. Page 1. Report to Congress, January 2014. Office of Naval Reactors. US Dept. of Energy. DC 2058 http://fissilematerials.org/library/doe14.pdf

Read the passage taken of the text below.

“The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) started in 1948. Since that time, the NNPP has provided safe and effective propulsion systems to power submarines, surface combatants, and aircraft carriers. Today, nuclear propulsion enables virtually undetectable US Navy submarines, including the sea-based leg of the strategic triad, and provides essentially inexhaustible propulsion power independent of forward logistical support to both our submarines and aircraft carriers.”

Choose the alternative in which the words can properly substitute the ones in bold and underlined, respectively.

Questão 15

Read the text below to answer the questions 11-15.

NASA Researchers Studying Advanced Nuclear Rocket Technologies

January 9, 2013

By using an innovative test facility at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., researchers are able to use non-nuclear materials to simulate nuclear thermal rocket fuels – ones capable of propelling bold new exploration missions to the Red Planet and beyond. The Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage team is tackling a three-year project to demonstrate the viability of nuclear propulsion system technologies. A nuclear rocket engine uses a nuclear reactor to heat hydrogen to very high temperatures, which expands through a nozzle to generate thrust. Nuclear rocket engines generate higher thrust and are more than twice as efficient as conventional chemical rocket engines.

The team recently used Marshall’s Nuclear Thermal Rocket Element Environmental Simulator, or NTREES, to perform realistic, non-nuclear testing of various materials for nuclear thermal rocket fuel elements. In an actual reactor, the fuel elements would contain uranium, but no radioactive materials are used during the NTREES tests. Among the fuel options are a graphite composite and a “cermet” composite – a blend of ceramics and metals. Both materials were investigated in previous NASA and U.S. Department of Energy research efforts.

Nuclear-powered rocket concepts are not new; the United States conducted studies and significant ground testing from 1955 to 1973 to determine the viability of nuclear propulsion systems, but ceased testing when plans for a crewed Mars mission were deferred.

The NTREES facility is designed to test fuel elements and materials in hot flowing hydrogen, reaching pressures up to 1,000 pounds per square inch and temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit – conditions that simulate space-based nuclear propulsion systems to provide baseline data critical to the research team.

“This is vital testing, helping us reduce risks and costs associated with advanced propulsion technologies and ensuring excellent performance and results as we progress toward further system development and testing,” said Mike Houts, project manager for nuclear systems at Marshall.

A first-generation nuclear cryogenic propulsion system could propel human explorers to Mars more efficiently than conventional spacecraft, reducing crews’ exposure to harmful space radiation and other effects of long-term space missions. It could also transport heavy cargo and science payloads. Further development and use of a first-generation nuclear system could also provide the foundation for developing extremely advanced propulsion technologies and systems in the future – ones that could take human crews even farther into the solar system.

Building on previous, successful research and using the NTREES facility, NASA can safely and thoroughly test simulated nuclear fuel elements of various sizes, providing important test data to support the design of a future Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. A nuclear cryogenic upper stage – its liquid- hydrogen propellant chilled to super-cold temperatures for launch – would be designed to be safe during all mission phases and would not be started until the spacecraft had reached a safe orbit and was ready to begin its journey to a distant destination. Prior to startup in a safe orbit, the nuclear system would be cold, with no fission products generated from nuclear operations, and with radiation below significant levels.

“The information we gain using this test facility will permit engineers to design rugged, efficient fuel elements and nuclear propulsion systems,” said NASA researcher Bill Emrich, who manages the NTREES facility at Marshall. “It’s our hope that it will enable us to develop a reliable, cost-effective nuclear rocket engine in the not-too-distant future.”

The Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage project is part of the Advanced Exploration Systems program, which is managed by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and includes participation by the U.S. Department of Energy. The program, which focuses on crew safety and mission operations in deep space, seeks to pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities and validating operational concepts for future vehicle development and human missions beyond Earth orbit.

Marshall researchers are partnering on the project with NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls; Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M.; and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

The Marshall Center leads development of the Space Launch System for NASA. The Science & Technology Office at Marshall strives to apply advanced concepts and capabilities to the research, development and management of a broad spectrum of NASA programs, projects and activities that fall at the very intersection of science and exploration, where every discovery and achievement furthers scientific knowledge and understanding, and supports the agency’s ambitious mission to expand humanity’s reach across the solar system. The NTREES test facility is just one of numerous cutting-edge space propulsion and science research facilities housed in the state-of- the-art Propulsion Research & Development Laboratory at Marshall, contributing to development of the Space Launch System and a variety of other NASA programs and missions.

Available in: http://www.nasa.gov

Read the excerpt below taken from the text.

“The program, which focuses on crew safety and mission operations in deep space, seeks to pioneer new approaches for rapidly developing prototype systems, demonstrating key capabilities and validating operational concepts for future vehicle development and human missions beyond Earth orbit.”

Choose the alternative that presents the words that best substitutes, respectively, the bold and underlined ones in the sentences above

Questão 16

House Approves Higher Debt Limit Without Condition
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and ASHLEY PARKER
Feb. 11, 2014

      WASHINGTON – Ending three years of brinkmanship in which the threat of a devastating default on the nation’s debt was used to wring conservative concessions from President Obama, the House on Tuesday voted to raise the government’s borrowing limit until March 2015, without any conditions.
      The vote – 221 to 201 – relied almost entirely on Democrats in the Republican-controlled House to carry the measure and represented the first debt ceiling increase since 2009 that was not attached to other legislation. Only 28 Republicans voted yes, and only two Democrats voted no.
      Simply by holding the vote, Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio effectively ended a three-year Tea Party-inspired era of budget showdowns that had raised the threat of default and government shutdowns, rattled economic confidence and brought serious scrutiny from other nations questioning Washington’s ability to govern. In the process, though, Mr. Boehner also set off a series of reprisals from fellow Republican congressmen and outside groups that showcased the party’s deep internal divisions.
      During the October 2013 government shutdown, The Times’s David Leonhardt explained the debt limit and how a failure to raise it could have affected the economy both at home and abroad.
      “He gave the president exactly what he wanted, which is exactly what the Republican Party said we did not want,” said a Republican representative, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, who last year unsuccessfully tried to rally enough support to derail Mr. Boehner’s re-election as speaker. “It’s going to really demoralize the base.”
      The vote was a victory for President Obama, Democrats and those Senate Republicans who have argued that spending money for previously incurred obligations was essential for the financial standing of the federal government. “Tonight’s vote is a positive step in moving away from the political brinkmanship that’s a needless drag on our economy,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement.
      “A clean debt ceiling is a complete capitulation on the speaker’s part and demonstrates that he has lost the ability to lead the House of Representatives, let alone his own party,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. “It is time for him to go.”
      Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, commended the speaker and promised to pass the bill as soon as possible. “We’re happy to see the House is legislating the way they should have legislated for a long time,” he said.

            (Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/us/politics/ boehner-to-bring-debt-
            ceiling-to-vote-without-policy- attachments. html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_2014021 2&_r=0
)

As used in the text, and without any change in meaning, though could be replaced by

Questão 17

“This twisted ideology is also behind the current federal government shutdown in the US. An opinion poli at the end ofJune 2012 showed that a majority of Americans, while opposing Obamacare, strongly support most of its provisions. Here we encounter Tea Party ideology at its purest: the majority wants to have its ideological cake and eat the real baking. They want the real benefits of healthcare reform, while rejecting its ideological form, which they perceive as a threat to the “freedom ofchoice”. They reject the concept offruit, but they want apples, plums and strawberries“. Slavoj Zizek  

Choose a good substitute for while in:

“a majority of Americans, while opposing Obamacare, strongly support most of its provisions”

Questão 18

“This twisted ideology is also behind the current federal government shutdown in the US. An opinion poli at the end ofJune
2012 showed that a majority of Americans, while opposing Obamacare, strongly support most of its provisions. Here we
encounter Tea Party ideology at its purest: the majority wants to have its ideological cake and eat the real baking. They
want the real benefits of healthcare reform, while rejecting its ideological form, which they perceive as a threat to the
“freedom ofchoice”. They reject the concept offruit, but they want apples, plums and strawberries“. Slavoj Zizek 

The best synonym for “twisted” in “twisted ideology” is: a) Confusing.

Questão 19

Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:

Text 1:

At the Airport

Laura is at the airport. She waits for her flight. Her flight is to Berlin, and it is 4 hours away. Laura walks around the airport and looks at the shops. She has a nice time.

After an hour she wants to visit the bathroom. She searches for it, but she doesn’t find it. “Where is the bathroom?” she asks herself. She looks and looks but she can’t find it. She starts asking people where it is.

Laura: “Excuse me sir, could you please tell mewhere is the bathroom?”
Man: “Youmean the restroom, right?”
Laura: “No, Imean the bathroom.”
Man: “Well, the restroom is over there.” He says andwalks away.

Laura doesn’t understand. She asks a lady: “Excusememadam, could you please tellmewhere is the bathroom?”

“The restroom is over there,” the lady answers andwalks away.

Laura is confused. “What’s their problem? I need to use the bathroomand they sendme to rest?! I don’t need a restroom, I need the bathroom!”

After a while Laura gives up. She feels tired of all this walking and asking. She decides that maybe they are all right and she does need to rest. She walks to the restroom. Now she is surprised. She realizes the restroom is actually the name for a public bathroom!

(Taken from: < www.really-learn-english.com>)

In the sentence “She searches for it, but she doesn’t find it”, the verb SEARCHFOR means:

Questão 20

Computers are used to control a wide range of systems from simple domestic machines, through games controllers, to entire manufacturing plants. These computers interact directly with hardware devices. Their software must react to events generated by the hardware and, often, issue control signals in response to these events. These signals result in an action, such as the initiation of a phone call, the movement of a character on the screen, the opening of a valve, or the display of the system status. The software in these systems is embedded in system hardware, often in read-only memory, and usually responds, in real time, to events from the system’s environment. By real time, I mean that the software system has a deadline for responding to external events. If this deadline is missed, then the overall hardware-software system will not operate correctly.

Embedded software is very important economically because almost every electrical device now includes software. There are therefore many more embedded software systems than other types of software system. If you look around your house you may have three or four personal computers. But you probably have 20 or 30 embedded systems, such as systems in phones, cookers, microwaves etc

Responsiveness in real time is the critical difference between embedded systems and other software systems, such as information systems, web-based systems, or personal software systems, whose main purpose is data processing. For non-real- time systems, the correctness of a system can be defined by specifying how system inputs map to corresponding outputs that should be produced by the system. In response to an input, a corresponding output should be generated by the system and, often, some data should be stored. For example, if you choose a create command in a patient information system, then the correct system response is to create a new patient record in a database, and to confirm that this has been done. Within reasonable limits, it does not matter how long this takes.

However, in a real-time system, the correctness depends both on the response to an input and the time taken to generate that response. If the system takes too long to respond, then the required response may be ineffective. For example, if embedded software controlling a car braking system is too slow, then an accident may occur because it is impossible to stop the car in time.

(Extraído de: Software Engineering, I. Sommerville, 9th Edition, 2011, pg. 538.)

Na frase “Within reasonable limits, it does not matter how long this takes.”, o termo reasonable, no contexto, tem o significado de