Globo Online

Mark Twain

Mark Twain, the famous American writer, author of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also wrote the tragicomic story about a man who committed suicide and left the following note:

"I married a woman with a grown daughter. My father fell in love with my stepdaughter and married her, thus becoming my son-in-law, and
my stepdaughter became my mother because she was my father's wife.
My wife gave birth to a son, who was, of course, my father's brother-in-law, and also my uncle for he was the brother of my stepmother.
My father's wife became the mother of a son, who was, of course, my brother, and also my grandchild for he was the son of my daughter.
Accordingly, my wife was my grandmother because she was my mother's mother.
I was my wife's husband and grandchild at the same time, and, as the husband of a person's grandmother is his grandfather, I AM MY OWN GRANDFATHER."

(Text from Amadeu Marques, English 3)

According to what is said in the text, the man committed suicide because:

	he married a woman’s oldest daughter.
	his father became his uncle.
	his old man became his grandfather.
	he became his own wife’s grandson.
	his father’s wife gave birth to his brother-in-law and uncle at the same time.

You’ll find names of different olympic sports below. Which alternative presents two of them whose results always depend upon team performances?

	Javelin – rowing.
	Discus – hockey.
	Diving – badminton.
	Fencing – handball.
	Relay – soccer.

"Poor Mexico, so far from God and so near the United States."

The sentence by Porfirio Diaz, president of Mexico from 1877 to 1880 and from 1884 to 1911, means that:

	to be near the US is to be far from God.
	God and the United States are Mexico’s best friends.
	Mexico is a land of paupers.
	the USA may be a danger to Mexico.
	the Mexican border is a constant social hazard to both countries.

"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

(Abraham Lincoln, former American president)

According to the famous statesman:

	There might be a shortage of almost everything, but the supply of fools is inexhaustible.
	Fooling others is a most entertaining pastime.
	Some people are full-time fools, while others are part-time fools only and that’s why you can fool them always.
	No one is sometimes a fool .
	One cannot fool everyone always.

Every day for six months the businessman walked past the corner beggar downtown and dropped two quarters in the beggar's box. But, being a charitable fellow, the businessman never took any shoelaces out of the box.
One day when he dropped his usual coins, the businessman felt the beggar's hand on his arm. He noticed the man was about to say something.
"Yes", said the businessman, not waiting for the question, "I suppose you're wondering why I never take any shoelaces after I put the money in the box."
"No", said the beggar, "I just wanted to tell you that the price of shoelaces is going up to sixty cents next week."

(in Laugh Parade, New York)

It's reasonable to infer that:

	The man hadn’t taken any shoelaces for half a year in spite of giving the beggar the money for them.
	The beggar wanted the man to take the shoelaces.
	The businessman got surprised because he wasn’t taking any shoelaces at that time.
	The beggar told the man the price of the shoelaces the businessman was taking was going up the following week.
	The blindman touched his arm before he could say anything.

Globo Online

Centro de estudos