Questões de Língua Inglesa do ano 2010

Choose the title that appropriately matches the focus of Text II.

• A.

  Using technology to improve workforce collaboration

• B.

  Companies reject innovative communications softwares

• C.

  Knowledge workers' productivity is lower than expected

• D.

  Frequent travel and over-tired workers boost job effectiveness

• E.

  Maximizing knowledge workers' basic computer maintenance skills

The fragment "as do the ways to improve its effectiveness." (line 3) refers to the fact that

• A.

  the best strategy to enhance productivity in all sectors is fueling innovation.

• B.

  it is still not clear how to attain higher standards in knowledge-intensive jobs.

• C.

  improving the productivity of knowledge workers is a priority in all companies.

• D.

  growth in technological innovation is not easily understood by customers and company partners.

• E.

  knowledge workers do not grasp the meaning of effective collaboration with their fellow company staff members.

According to paragraphs 2 and 3 (lines 15-40), it is correct to affirm that knowledge workers in the U.S.

• A.

  make up a declining labor force in the market.

• B.

  constitute a tiny share of the economically-active population.

• C.

  represent approximately one-fifth of the nation's economic performance.

• D.

  may vary greatly in performance according to their access to technology.

• E.

  earn wages that are slightly higher than workers in manual or transactional jobs.

All of the following can be considered knowledge workers, EXCEPT

• A.

  production line technicians.

• B.

  buyers for a retail chain.

• C.

  university professors.

• D.

  fashion designers.

• E.

  scientists.

Web 2.0 tools are defined as "a category of new Internet tools and technologies created around the idea that the people who consume media, access the Internet, and use the Web shouldn't passively absorb what's available... These new tools include, but are by no means limited to, blogs, social networking applications, RSS, social networking tools, and wikis."

                                                                     (http://www.techsoup.org/toolkits/web2/)

The authors of Text II acknowledge that such tools

• A.

  will make very little impact on collaborative activity that results from business trips and email exchanges.

• B.

  would be the only alternative to unsuccessful business meetings and fruitless trips as they help track who does the 'talking' and the 'doing'.

• C.

  can never be used to improve the social networking in the factory floor, among top and middle management, and between enterprises and consumers.

• D.

  will certainly avoid all ineffective email messages and old-fashioned managerial meetings that are considered unproductive communication channels.

• E.

  should be adopted by companies to raise the effectiveness of interaction among co-workers and between company employees and their clients or service providers.

The expressions "in a similar vein" (line 52) and "just to name a few" (lines 70-71) express ideas that are similar to those denoted by, respectively,

• A.

  likewise;for instance.

• B.

  moreover;especially.

• C.

  in addition;accordingly

• D.

  nonetheless;in sum.

• E.

  in view of that;justifyingly.

In paragraphs 5 and 7 of Text II (lines 55-72; 92-104), the authors comment that the use of technology in companies

• A.

  is never seen positively by managers since they fear being responsible for discharging their employees.

• B.

  can be instrumental in expanding mechanisms of interaction and collaborative work that will lead to more effective task results.

• C.

  has not been considered responsible for layoffs and boosting expenditures – especially when it was introduced in production processes.

• D.

  expands the companies' capabilities of rivaling with their competitors by controlling production failures and by exerting pressure on suppliers.

• E.

  is a recent phenomenon since companies have only lately realized that they need to increase the speed of product innovation and the quality of their products.

Which of the options correctly explains the noun phrase extracted from the text?

• A.

  "...top and bottom companies in collaboration-intensive sectors..." (lines 34-35) – companies that collaborate more or less for the economy.

• B.

  "...prized and growing corps of workers." (lines 39-40)– a burgeoning group of invaluable employees.

• C.

  "...less–than-perfectly-understood interactions..." (lines 47-48) –interrelationships that are totally incomprehensible to the public at large.

• D.

  "...largely unchartered territory." (lines 55-56) – an area that has been misrepresented.

• E.

  "...improved partner and customer intimacy..." (line 102)– enhanced the familiarity of competitors with our customers' needs.

"Over an 18-month period, the initiative saved this company more than $100 million in travel and business expenses and reduced the company's carbon emissions by 24 million metric tons." The fragment above, which was omitted from paragraph 6(lines 73-91) of the original text, would adequately fit back into the paragraph right after the sentence

• A.

  "There are some companies that already are tackling aspects of this collaboration–technology nexus."

• B.

  "A well-known multinational company selling networking and communications technology, for example, was eager to improve interactions between its technology specialist sales teams and enterprise customers."

• C.

  "Frequent travel and stepped-up job requirements had resulted in overstretched teams whose effectiveness had become diminished."

• D.

  "Policy and governance changes ensured that technology use became part of daily workflows and not an added task."

• E.

  "Internal surveys showed that 78 percent of the targeted employees reported increased productivity and improved lifestyles without diminishing customer or partner satisfaction."

As far as policy changes are concerned, the multinational company introduced in paragraph 6 (lines 73-91)

• A.

  decided to enhance communicative effectiveness of part of its workforce and external clients using some Web 2.0 tools.

• B.

  invested over $100 million in flight tickets and hotel stays so as to discuss the use of collaboration tools with its business partners.

• C.

  managed to save on overall company expenditure over a period of eighteen months as it eliminated negotiations with far-away nations.

• D.

  increased customer satisfaction as a result of its implementation of a renewable energy project that was part of a greener company governance program.

• E.

  cut down on carbon emissions merely by implementing virtual collaborative tools since the workers now had the chance to skip work and enjoy a better lifestyle.