On the sentence ‘There is a revolving door between the banks and the higher reaches of government.’, the expression underlined and in italic means:
Read the film review below and answer the questions that follow.
INSIDE JOB – REVIEW - 4/5 STARS
How did the financial crash of 2008 happen? This documentary, narrated by Matt Damon, does
a good job of explaining a complex story of credit and discredit.
(…)
This film is as gripping as any thriller. Aided by some fascinating interviews, Ferguson lays out an awful
story. In the 1980s, the markets and financial services were deregulated, and the driving force for this
liberalisation was Alan Greenspan, formidable chairman of the US federal reserve board from 1987 to
2006. Banks and loan companies were freer to gamble with their depositors' money; they were themselves freer to borrow more; they were free to offer investors dizzyingly complex financial instruments,
with income streams from different debts bundled up, including high-interest home loans offered to
high-risk borrowers – the so-called "sub-prime" market that offered mouthwateringly high returns.
(…)
Perhaps the most sensational aspect of this film is Ferguson's contention that the crash corrupted
the discipline of economics itself. Distinguished economists from America's Ivy League universities were drafted in by banks to compose reports sycophantically supporting reckless deregulation.
They were massively paid for these consultancies. The banks bought the prestige of the academics,
and their universities' prestige, too. Ferguson speaks to many of these economists, who clearly
thought they were going to be interviewed as wry, dispassionate observers. It is really something
to see the expression of shock, outrage and fear on their faces as they realise they're in the dock.
One splutters with vexation; another gives vent to a ripe Freudian slip. Asked by Ferguson if he has
any regrets about his behaviour, he says: "I have no comments … uh, no regrets."
This is what Ferguson means by "inside job". There is a revolving door between the banks and
the higher reaches of government, and to some extent the groves of academe. Bank CEOs become
government officials, creating laws convenient for their once and future employers.
Perhaps only the pen of Tom Wolfe could do justice to these harassed, bald, middle-aged masters of the universe, as they appear in Ferguson's film. The director shows how their body-language is always the same: somehow more guilty-looking when they are in the White House rose
garden in their career pomp, being introduced to the press, than when they are facing openly
hostile Senate hearings. They look uneasy, shifty, in weirdly ill-fitting suits, as if they are oppressed by the scrutiny, and worn out, possibly, by the strain of suppressing their own scruples.
Their financial capacity far outstrips their capacity for enjoying themselves. They look very unhappy. Occasionally, British figures including Mervyn King and Alistair Darling are to be glimpsed in
these photos, reminding us that we Brits have been ardent deregulators, as well.
(…)
I was reminded of Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker, his very funny book about the financial mentality of
the 80s boom. He noted that if a regular person won the lottery, he might roll around on the floor,
kicking his legs up with glee, but when bankers won their arbitrary lottery, they instead became
solemn, pompous, overwhelmed with their own importance and stateliness. Their recklessness
and excess coexisted with an almost priestly sense of worth. Even more than rich lawyers, rich
bankers felt that their money proved their superior cleverness and also moral worthiness as the
generators of prosperity. Yet that prosperity didn't trickle down very far.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/17/inside-job-review Access October 10, 2015.
Gabarito comentado
Alternativa correta: D
Tema central: identificação de uma expressão idiomática em inglês — revolving door — no contexto de crítica a práticas políticas e financeiras. Questões assim exigem leitura atenta do contexto para determinar sentido figurado (metáfora) e não interpretação literal.
Resumo teórico: revolving door é uma expressão usada para descrever a troca contínua de pessoas entre cargos no governo e posições no setor privado, especialmente quando cria conflito de interesses ou favorece as empresas (definição em dicionários como Cambridge/Oxford).
Justificativa da alternativa D: No trecho o autor afirma que “Bank CEOs become government officials, creating laws convenient for their once and future employers.” Esse contexto descreve precisamente a mobilidade de pessoal entre bancos e altos cargos governamentais — ou seja, a passagem de indivíduos entre funções de legislador/regulador e cargos na iniciativa privada. Logo, D (“movement of personnel between roles as legislators and regulators”) é a correspondência correta.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A – “joint venture formed by industries…”: incorreta — refere-se a uma parceria empresarial explícita; não há indicação de criação de uma empresa conjunta.
B – “collection of actions promoted by CEOs…”: incorreta — confunde atitude/ações com a ideia de mobilidade de pessoas; o foco do trecho é a troca de cargos, não um conjunto de iniciativas.
C – “deregulator amongst some prestigious academy members to abide”: incorreta — mistura conceito de desregulação com academias; o “revolving door” refere‑se à circulação de indivíduos entre setores, não a um regulador específico entre acadêmicos.
E – “flexibility of rules to borrow, buy, sell…”: incorreta — descreve desregulação financeira (tema do texto), mas não corresponde ao sentido idiomático de “revolving door”, que é movimento de pessoas.
Estratégia prática para provas: sempre procure pistas no contexto imediato (verbos como “become”, expressões que apontam para “people”/“CEOs”) e descarte leituras literais quando o trecho tem sentido crítico/metafórico. Se a alternativa descreve ação de pessoas trocando funções, é muito provável que seja correta para “revolving door”.
Fonte útil: definições de expressão idiomática consultáveis em dicionários como Cambridge Dictionary / Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.
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