No trecho final do terceiro parágrafo “I lean toward the latter”, a expressão sublinhada refere-se
Words that define the presente
At a time when the world is changing more quickly than ever before, we need a new vocabulary to help us grasp what’s happening.
Catfishing. This word would make more sense if it referred to fishing for cats, but in fact, it refers to people who construct false identities online. Whether out of boredom, loneliness or malice, they lure other people into continued messaging correspondence, thereby building false relationships with them (the apparent source of the term “catfish” is a 2010 documentary called Catfish, whose verity, ironically enough, has been questioned).
There are two ways of looking at this: 1) The internet/ cyberspace is wonderful, because it gives people the freedom to augment or totally change their identities, and this is a marvellous new dawn for human expression, a new step in human evolution. 2) Nah, it’s a false dawn, because the internet is essentially a libertarian arena, and, as such, an amoral one (lots of “freedoms” but with no attendant social obligations); it is a new jungle where we must watch our backs and struggle for survival, surely a backward step in evolution. I lean toward the latter.
(Cameron Laux. www.bbc.com, 08.08.2018. Adaptado.)
Words that define the presente
At a time when the world is changing more quickly than ever before, we need a new vocabulary to help us grasp what’s happening.
Catfishing. This word would make more sense if it referred to fishing for cats, but in fact, it refers to people who construct false identities online. Whether out of boredom, loneliness or malice, they lure other people into continued messaging correspondence, thereby building false relationships with them (the apparent source of the term “catfish” is a 2010 documentary called Catfish, whose verity, ironically enough, has been questioned).
There are two ways of looking at this: 1) The internet/ cyberspace is wonderful, because it gives people the freedom to augment or totally change their identities, and this is a marvellous new dawn for human expression, a new step in human evolution. 2) Nah, it’s a false dawn, because the internet is essentially a libertarian arena, and, as such, an amoral one (lots of “freedoms” but with no attendant social obligations); it is a new jungle where we must watch our backs and struggle for survival, surely a backward step in evolution. I lean toward the latter.
(Cameron Laux. www.bbc.com, 08.08.2018. Adaptado.)
Gabarito comentado
A expressão “the latter" indica o segundo entre dois elementos (pessoas, coisas, grupos ou ideias) mencionados anteriormente. Assim, no caso do texto, no trecho anterior à expressão “the latter", o autor descreve as duas formas de se ver a prática de criar falsas identidades na internet. Portanto, “the latter" se refere à segunda dessas formas.
Eis a descrição da segunda forma de se ver o fenômeno do “catfishing" apresentada no texto: “(…) 2) Nah, it's a false dawn, because the internet is essentially a libertarian arena, and, as such, an amoral one (lots of “freedoms" but with no attendant social obligations); it is a new jungle where we must watch our backs and struggle for survival, surely a backward step in evolution. (…)".
Alternativa A.
ERRADA. A evolução humana proporcionada pela internet é a perspectiva apontada no número 1.
Alternativa B.
ERRADA. Como vimos, “the latter" o segundo entre dois itens previamente mencionados.
Alternativa C.
CORRETA. Repita-se: a expressão “the latter" indica o segundo (o último) entre dois elementos mencionados anteriormente.
Alternativa D.
ERRADA. As duas opções apresentam dois pontos de vista a respeito do mesmo conceito: o fenômeno do “catfishing".
Alternativa E.
ERRADA. As duas opções veem à internet como espaço de liberdade. Enquanto a primeira perspectiva entende que isso é algo positivo, a segunda (a qual a expressão “the latter" se refere), entende que, porque não há obrigação social atrelada à liberdade, isso é algo negativo.
GABARITO DO PROFESSOR: LETRA C.
