Questões de Língua Inglesa do ano 2008

The main purpose of this text is to

• A. report on a new kind of fuel that might harm the environment
• B. advertise the recent findings of chemical engineers concerning gasoline components.
• C. criticize the latest research on biofuels that could not find a relevant alternative to oil.
• D. justify why corn ethanol and soy biodiesel are the best alternatives to standard gasoline.
• E. announce a significant advance in the development of an eco friendly fuel that may impact the market.

According to the text, it is NOT correct to affirm that green gasoline

• A. is cheaper to produce than ethanol.
• B. derives from vegetables and plants.
• C. can already be used in jet airplanes.
• D. requires much less energy to make than ethanol.
• E. results in smaller amounts of carbon emissions than ethanol.

In the sentence “‘It is likely that the future consumer will not even know that they are putting biofuels into their car,’” (lines 16-17), “It is likely that” could be substituted by

• A. Surely.
• B. Certainly.
• C. Probably.
• D. Obviously.
• E. Undoubtedly.

The item “themselves” (line 27) refers to

• A. “researchers” (line 24).
• B. “materials” (line 26).
• C. “reactions” (line 26).
• D. “compounds” (line 29).
• E. “amounts” (line 31).

Which alternative contains a correct correspondence of meaning?

• A. “speed up” (line 26) means accelerate.
• B. “rapidly” (line 27) is the opposite of quickly.
• C. "entire” (line 29) could not be replaced by whole.
• D. “residues” (line 43) and leftovers are antonyms.
• E. “surfaced” (line 45) and emerged are not synonyms.

Mark the sentence in which the idea introduced by the word in bold type is correctly described.

• A. “Even though it may be 5 to 10 years before green gasoline arrives at the pump or finds its way into a jet airplane,” (lines 12-14) – comparison
• B. “…while fitting into the existing infrastructure today.” (lines 22-23) – consequence
• C. “…then rapidly cooled the products to create a liquid that contains many of the compounds found in gasoline.” (lines 27-29) – contrast
• D. “‘Green gasoline is an attractive alternative to bioethanol since it can be used in existing engines…’” (lines 32- 33) – reason
• E. “‘Making it from cellulose sources such as switchgrass or poplar trees grown as energy crops,” (lines 40-42) – addition

Paragraph 4 (lines 24-31) informs that UMass researchers produce green gasoline by

• A. creating a hot liquid from standard gasoline adding catalysts.
• B. using cellulose with liquids that catalyze gasoline in less than two minutes.
• C. applying moderate heat to compounds found in gasoline to produce a solid catalyst.
• D. slowly cooling the product of solid catalystic reactions which will produce cellulose.
• E. heating cellulose with specific catalysts and then cooling the product so it transforms into a liquid.

According to this text, it might be said that corn ethanol and soy biodiesel have

• A. contributed to the greenhouse gas problem.
• B. increased consumption in cars by 30 percent.
• C. produced residues such as wood chips or corn stover.
• D. produced residues such as wood chips or corn stover.
• E. generated a smaller carbon footprint than green gasoline.

The text says that research on green gasoline has

• A. had no printed space in scientific journals.
• B. not received support from scientific foundations.
• C. found no interest among the military and the businessmen.
• D. been neglected by academic laboratories and graduate research programs.
• E. had to overcome problems to discover an efficient means of producing and marketing this fuel.

The title of the text, “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees, But Gasoline Might”, refers to the

• A. planting of trees near oil wells that produce gasoline.
• B. exciting possibility of developing an effective green fuel.
• C. amazing solution of diluting gasoline with forest and agricultural residues.
• D. incredible discovery of trees that produce more when irrigated with a mixture of gasoline.
• E. sensational invention of new green fuel that will cost three million dollars in reforestation.