Questões

READ THE FOLLOWING TEXTTO ANSWER QUESTION.

TEXT 4 

According to the Brazilian National Education Guidelines and Framework Law enacted in 2017, English language teaching is mandatory from the sixth year of elementary school until the last years of high school. However, the curriculum does not guarantee that all Brazilian students will receive English teaching. In 2013, Data Popular, a Brazilian research institute, drafted a report for the British Council analyzing the problems concerning knowledge of English in Brazil. The report claims that the low level of English proficiency amongst Brazilians reflects the educational opportunities available in the country […]. 

To understand the reasons why English teaching does not seem efficient for all students, it is important to highlight the English language teaching provision in Brazil. Formal English teaching in Brazil takes place in four different contexts: English schools, bilingual schools, regular private schools, and public schools. In general, people who wish to learn English believe that effective learning occurs only in private English schools or bilingual schools because the structure (the teaching methods and the quality of support materials) is more likely to provide successful learning. The focus in those institutions is on oral expression. Learners have more exposure to the target language because classes are taught entirely in English, and teachers are usually well trained to comply with that requirement. In addition, groups are smaller, so students can receive personal support and enjoy a comfortable learning environment, not to mention access to multimedia resources. 

(Adapted from: https://academic.oup.com/eltj/75/1/103/6169556)

Executive Secretary

We are looking for a competent Executive Secretary to support high-ranking officials in our company. You will be the one to organize and maintain the executive’s schedule and assist them by performing a variety of administrative tasks.

Executive secretaries must be quick professionals with great time-management and multitasking abilities. It is with their diligence and competence in their work that executives can focus on their managerial responsibilities without worrying for other tasks.

The goal is to contribute to the efficiency of the overall business by ensuring all assigned administrative duties are carried on timely and efficiently.

Responsibilities

• Maintain executive’s agenda and assist in planning appointments, board meetings, conferences, etc;

• Attend meetings and keep minutes;

• Receive and screen phone calls and redirect them when appropriate;

• Handle and prioritize all outgoing or incoming correspondence (e-mail, letters, packages etc.);

• Make travel arrangements for executives;

• Handle confidential documents ensuring they remain secure;

• Prepare invoices or financial statements and provide assistance in bookkeeping;

• Monitor office supplies and negotiate terms with suppliers to ensure the most cost-effective orders;

• Maintain electronic and paper records ensuring information is organized and easily accessible;

• Conduct research and prepare presentations or reports as assigned.

Requirements 

• Proven experience as executive secretary or similar administrative role;  Proficient in MS Office and “back-office” software (e.g. ERP);

• In depth knowledge of office management as well as technical vocabulary of relevant industry;

• Familiarity with basic research methods and reporting techniques;

• Excellent organizational and time-management skills;

• Outstanding communication and negotiation abilities;

• Integrity and confidentiality;

• Degree in business administration or relative field.

(Adapted from: https://resources.workable.com/executive-secretary-job-description)

        When a person (or team or firm or government) decides how to act in dealings with other people (or teams or firms or governments), there must be some cross-effect of their actions; what one does must affect the outcome for the other. For the interaction to become a strategic game, however, we need the participants’ mutual awareness of this cross-effect. What the other person does affects you; if you know this, you can react to his actions, or take advance actions to forestall the bad effects his future actions may have on you and to facilitate any good effects, or even take advance actions so as to alter his future reactions to your advantage. If you know that the other person knows that what you do affects him, you know that he will be taking similar actions. And so on. It is this mutual awareness of the cross-effects of actions and the actions taken as a result of this awareness that constitute the most interesting aspects of strategy.

        When each participant is significant in the interaction, either because each is a large player to start with or because commitments or private information narrow the scope of the relationship to a point where each is an important player within the relationship, we must think of the interaction as a strategic game. Such situations are the rule rather than the exception in business, in politics, and even in social interactions. Therefore, the study of strategic games forms an important part of all fields that analyze these matters.

Avinash Dixit et al. Games of strategy.

New York: W.W. Norton & Coadapted, 2015 (adapted).

Read Text | and answer questions 05 to 13.

Netflix is trying to prove to the world that it's all grown up

Netflix is trying to persuade Wall Street that it is now all grown up. After squeezing out millions of additional subscribers via its password sharing crackdown and through the introduction of cheaper advertiser-supported plans, the streamer knows that its growth spurts are coming to an end — and now it wants investors to stop obsessing over those pesky membership numbers and instead focus on other metrics.

"In our early days, when we had little revenue or profit, membership growth was a strong indicator of our future potential. But now we're generating very substantial profit and free cash flow. We are also developing new revenue streams like advertising and our extra member feature, so memberships are just one component of our growth", Netflix told shareholders as it reported quarterly earnings.

To that end, Netflix said that it will no longer report quarterly subscriber numbers, starting in 2025. Alas, the metric that Wall Street has forever judged Netflix on — the metric that prompted legacy media companies to burn endless piles of cash in their bids to compete with the streamer — will be retired. The decision to shut off transparency on the metric represents a significant turning point in the streaming revolution. For years, Netflix has prided itself on being extraordinarily transparent. Now it is aiming to hold its cards closer to its chest. And given that streaming giant is the trendsetter in the space, one could expect that other media companies will be inspired by the company's move and also opt to cease reporting such data.

To be fair, what Netflix is saying isn't necessarily off base either. As the company shifts its business model away from subscriptions and toward advertising and other revenue streams, it makes sense to consider how much time users are spending on the service. The more content a user consumes on Netflix, the more likely they are to continue paying for the service, and the more money Netflix then makes from that single subscriber. "We're focused on revenue and operating margin as our primary financial metrics — and engagement (i.e. time spent) as our best proxy for customer satisfaction,” Netflix underscored in its letter to shareholders.

Regardless, less transparency in an already opaque industry is not ideal. The walled garden of streaming already lacks the same detailed viewership data that Nielsen collects on linear television broadcasters. Now, visibility into the streaming world will get even dimmer.

The announcement from Netflix managed to overshadow its otherwise stellar quarter. The company handily beat expectations and added a staggering 9.3 million subscribers, meaning it now boasts nearly 270 million in total. Netflix also beat analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue. However, it wasn't all good news. Netflix forecasted its subscriber growth to be lower in quarter two, chalking it up to “typical seasonality.” That led the stock to slide nearly 5% in after-hours trading.

Whether "typical seasonality” is solely to blame, or whether the streamer is simply starting to hit a ceiling, is hard to tell. Perhaps it is a mix of both. Whatever the cause, the stock sliding on the less-than-ideal outlook is a prime example of why Netflix wants Wall Street to stop focusing on its subscriber numbers. And, in one year's time, investors won't have a choice.

Adapted from: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/19/media/netflix-subscription-numbers/index.html

“There is a kind of sleep that steals upon us sometimes, which, while it holds the body prisoner, does not free the mind from a sense of things about it, and enable it to ramble at its pleasure. So far as an overpowering heaviness, a prostration of strength, and an utter inability to control our thoughts or power of motion, can be called sleep, this is it; and yet we have a consciousness of all that is going on about us; and if we dream at such a time, words which are really spoken, or sounds which really exist at the moment, accommodate themselves with surprising readiness to our visions, until reality and imagination become so strangely blended that it is afterwards almost a matter of impossibility to separate the two. Nor is this, the most striking phenomenon, incidental to such a state. It is an undoubted fact, that although our senses of touch and sight be for the time dead, yet our sleeping thoughts, and the visionary scenes that pass before us, will be influenced, and materially influenced, by the mere silent presence of some external object: which may not have been near us when we closed our eyes: and of whose vicinity we have had no waking consciousness. ” 

— Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Can I help reduce energy consumption?

We have an important role to play right now. Energy conservation helps a lot in preserving our planet’s rich natural resources and promoting a healthy environment. Here you will find simple things that you can do to help reduce energy consumption.

·         Turn–off non-essential lights and appliances. The electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.

·         Avoid turning on large appliances such as washers, dryers, and electric ovens during peak energy hours: from 5:00 am to 9:00 am and 4: pm to 7:00 pm.

·         Install white window curtains to reflect heat away from the house. Close them at night to reduce the amount of heat lost through windows. People who live in countries that have warm climates should do this during the day as well.

·         Turn off the lights in any room you are not using and consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.