Questões de Língua Inglesa da ESAF

Read the text below in order to answer questions 17 and 18.

NEW POLICIES TO FIT THE NEW ECONOMY

Growing Prosperity: The battle for Growth with Equity in the 21^st Century, written by two liberal economists, represents a breakthrough in the political debate over the New Economy. This is the first book that lays out a progressive economic policy designed to encourage technology-driven growth, while ameliorating bad consequences such as widening income disparity and excessive dependence on a volatile stock market.

According to the authors, Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison, Washington policymakers have been excessively fixated on low inflation and a balanced budget. Bluestone and Harrison term this the "Wall Street" model of growth. This model, if carried into the future, will make it difficult to sustain prosperity over the long run. For one thing, the drive to cut the budget deficit has constrained spending on research and development, education, and infrastructure. Over time, they say, this will slow the rate of technological innovation – the equivalent of eating the seed corn.

The authors of the present book emphasize the need to

Read the text below in order to answer questions 14 to 16.

THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2000

Most analysts believe that the budget for the year 2000 presented by the government is feasible, but many points used to design the budget depend on negotiations with Congress. "If first impressions are confirmed, the budget corresponds to reality", says former Central Bank President Affonso Celso Pastore. According to the Chief Economist for Citibank, the budget is feasible but not easy to accomplish.

Specialists say that the government would have to reduce monthly expenses immediately until the end of the year from R$ 3.5 billion to R$ 2.87 billion, which would correspond to a 20% reduction. "It's quite a tight budget", said former Minister Maílson da Nóbrega. The main problem is that state employees' salaries have been raised and an extra R$ 3.1 billion will have to be paid next year.

In connection to the budget for year 2000, analysts believe that it

Read the text below in order to answer questions 14 to 16.

THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2000

Most analysts believe that the budget for the year 2000 presented by the government is feasible, but many points used to design the budget depend on negotiations with Congress. "If first impressions are confirmed, the budget corresponds to reality", says former Central Bank President Affonso Celso Pastore. According to the Chief Economist for Citibank, the budget is feasible but not easy to accomplish.

Specialists say that the government would have to reduce monthly expenses immediately until the end of the year from R$ 3.5 billion to R$ 2.87 billion, which would correspond to a 20% reduction. "It's quite a tight budget", said former Minister Maílson da Nóbrega. The main problem is that state employees' salaries have been raised and an extra R$ 3.1 billion will have to be paid next year.

According to the text, the state employees'salaries

Read the text below in order to answer questions 14 to 16.

THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2000

Most analysts believe that the budget for the year 2000 presented by the government is feasible, but many points used to design the budget depend on negotiations with Congress. "If first impressions are confirmed, the budget corresponds to reality", says former Central Bank President Affonso Celso Pastore. According to the Chief Economist for Citibank, the budget is feasible but not easy to accomplish.

Specialists say that the government would have to reduce monthly expenses immediately until the end of the year from R$ 3.5 billion to R$ 2.87 billion, which would correspond to a 20% reduction. "It's quite a tight budget", said former Minister Maílson da Nóbrega. The main problem is that state employees' salaries have been raised and an extra R$ 3.1 billion will have to be paid next year.

Read the text below in order to answer questions 21 to 23:

THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR 2000

The proposed budget for 2000 is fully consistent with the four-year plan for 2000-03 ("Avança Brasil"), also submitted to Congress at the end of August 1999. This plan identifies the federal expenditure programmes that are to receive priority in the allocation of budgetary resources over the next four years, reflecting the main governmental objectives in the social, infrastructure and other public expenditure areas. It seeks to exploit regional and cross-projects synergies, and to attract partnerships with the other levels of government, the public enterprises, the multilateral development banks, and the private sector, to promote a more regionally balanced and sustainable development of the country. Increased emphasis will be placed on the evaluation of the results of these programmes, and on the accountability of the public managers of the programmes for these results.

The phrase "other levels of government" refers to