Inglês: Interpretação – Ask the ethicist

It’s hard to balance the needs of one versus many during the heat of summer

I work with a dozen others in a city office building. One colleague says that she has an autoimmune disease. She says that we must keep the windows in our small office closed at all times; if we open them, she becomes ill. Our boss has offered her a separate room, but she refuses to move. What is the right thing to do? We are all miserable, and productivity is very low.

B.S.

What’s harder than balancing the needs of one against the needs of the many? Doing it during the heat of summer, in an unventilated room. Your boss has proposed an elegant solution to this conflict, which addresses your colleague’s concerns and keeps the rest of the staff happy.

Your colleague probably doesn’t want to sit in a separate room because she prefers company. But her preference shouldn’t prevail on your office’s need to have people do their jobs productively. There is also one little problem: her request does not make much sense.

Dr. Roy M. Gulick, chief of infectious diseases at Cornell University, says that closing the windows does not help an autoimmune disorder – in fact __________. When it comes to germs, adequate ventilation can reduce the chance of spread from one person to another. The woman in question with the autoimmune disease probably is more likely to become ill by being in a crowded room with the windows closed than in the same crowded room with the windows open.

Helping a sick colleague is an ethical obligation, but so is getting the facts straight before asking people to inconvenience themselves. In this case the remedy that brings you fresh air may also bring your co-worker better health. Open the windows and rejoice.

By Ariel Kaminer
https://www.speakup.com.br

Exercícios – Mackenzie 2015 (adaptado)

1. the word miserable in the text means
a) extremely bad and shocking.
b) perfect in every way.
c) extremely unhappy or uncomfortable.
d) not able to be touched or measured, and difficult to describe or explain.
e) surprising, or difficult to believe.

2. the sentence that properly fills in blank __________ in the text is
a) infectious diseases are never cured.
b) this problem is solved forever.
c) the person will no longer complain about the weather.
d) it will surely get better.
e) it might very well hurt.

3. the text states that
a) productivity is low in the office due to the hot weather outside.
b) the boss has a very elegant posture towards the team and is very skillful in solving problems.
c) bringing fresh air to the workplace is what Dr. Roy suggests in order to spread ventilation to sick people.
d) odds are that one will get ill when placed in a crowded room with windows closed.
e) according to ethics, bothering people is recommended in situations of stress.

Respostas

1. A palavra “miserable” é um falso cognato e significa muito infeliz. A única alternativa que apresenta o mesmo sentido é (c). Lembrando que se trata de uma carta em que se reclama da atitude de uma funcionária que não quer trabalhar com as janelas abertas e as mantém fechadas, desagradando aos demais.
Resposta: C

2. Traduzindo o trecho em questão: “Dr. Roy M. Gulick, chief of infectious diseases at Cornell University, says that closing the windows does not help an autoimmune disorder – in fact __________” (Dr Roy M. Gulick, chefe das doenças infecciosas em Cornell University, diz que fechar as janelas não ajuda um distúrbio autoimune – na verdade__________.). O trecho que melhor completa é: “it might very well hurt” (poderia muito bem piorar). O elemento conformativo “in fact” só aceita essa reposta, pelo contexto.
Resposta: E

3. O texto afirma que as probabilidades são de que alguém ficará doente quando colocado numa sala lotada com as janelas fechadas. Está em “The woman in question with the autoimmune disease probably is more likely to become ill by being in a crowded room with the windows closed than in the same crowded room with the windows open” (A mulher em questão, com a doença autoimune, provavelmente é mais suscetível de ficar doente estando numa sala lotada com as janelas fechadas que na mesma sala lotada com as janelas abertas).
Resposta: D