Present perfect: o que é, exemplos e diferença do simple past

(Mackenzie SP/2016)

http://www.PINTEREST.com

According to the lyrics to the song Fire and Rain by James Taylor above,

(FATEC SP/2016)

O uso do Present Perfect, no primeiro quadrinho da tirinha (em I’ve decided), pode ser explicado por se tratar de uma ação

(IBMEC RJ/2011)

THE SPECIAL CHINESE ECONOMIC ZONES: THE IMPORTANCE TO THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMY

Over the past decade, there has been a sea change in China’s economic policies. Like other developing countries which are attempting to become more export- orientated, China has started to set up free trade zones called “Special Economic Zones”(SEZ’s) and feature various incentives designed to encourage foreign investment. What is the significance of these zones? Have they really played an important role in the development of the economy of China? In this paper I first describe the background to the establishment of these zones, looking at China’s economy before the 1970s. Then I describe some of the aims and characteristics of the SEZ’s. Lastly, I attempt to assess the significance of the SEZ’s in the development of the wider Chinese economy.
Historically, China has adopted an inward-looking strategy to its economic development. Successive Chinese governments thought that the economy could grow purely through self-reliance. However, there are always limitations to what a country can do by itself and they can hold back the growth of an economy and certainly China’s economic growth lagged far behind much of the rest of the world up to the 1970’s.
By contrast, countries like the USA were achieving significant economic growth in this period because they were practicing foreign trade policies which facilitated free trade. Any shortages in the domestic economy, for example oil in the USA or Japan, could be compensated for by imports. Foreign trade, then, could help to aid economic growth.
The export trade is also vital. Not only can exports be a means of paying for imports, but they also help to earn foreign exchange. Since 1979, the Chinese government has recognized the importance of exports as a means of fostering economic growth. Economic policies and special incentive programs have been introduced to increase exports. One measure taken was the opening of the five special economic zones.
The aims of the establishment of the SEZ’s were to earn foreign exchange, to enhance employment, to attract foreign investment and to accelerate the introduction of technology and management expertise. Five SEZ’s were established and, in order to attract foreign investors and develop foreign trade, they offer similar packages of favorable incentives to foreign firms. One of the most attractive points of these packages is that income tax is fixed at the rate of 15 per cent, lower than that in other parts of China. Other advantages such as tax exemptions, land use rights, and banking and finance privileges are not available to firms operating outside the SEZ’s.
Many other non-financial advantages are provided inside the SEZ’s. Firms are provided relatively free-market environments with minimal government intervention. This means that private and jointventure enterprises are free to hire their own workers. They are also free to set wages to reflect market conditions. Bonuses can be awarded to workers for outstanding performance.
The favorable impact of the SEZ’s on the economy of China is fivefold: They attract foreign investment, they help the growth of the export industry, they earn foreign exchange, they provide employment opportunities and lastly they help the indigenous economy improve its level of technology.
The preferential treaties of the SEZ’s have attracted foreign investors to invest a huge amount of money in China. One significant factor is that the investment has not been confined to the export industry, but has permeated other sectors such as infrastructure construction, commerce, tourism and real estate.
The establishment of the SEZ’s has opened a way for China to increase its trade with foreign countries. They not only enhance trading activities such as foreign investment and tourism but also help China to earn foreign exchange through these activities. As all five SEZ’s are coastal cities, they are convenient for ocean transport routes and help to promote the export industry. Preferential policies have encouraged foreigners to set up export- oriented factories in the territories. From 1985 to 1987, an annual average real growth rate of 83% was recorded for exports from the five zones. At the same time the proportion of the SEZ’s’ industrial products which went to export had risen to 53% by 1987.
Since the beginning of the open-door policy, small-scale private businesses have been allowed to coexist with state enterprises. This has increased employment opportunities for local people and raised the level of economic activity. Also, many state workers sense that going into business on their own may provide greater income potential. They generally adopt an attitude of refusing to work and refusing to relax. Many prefer to work for joint-venture firms for higher wages. So the average income in SEZ’s now ranks as the highest in China.
In theory advanced technology and know-how will also flow into the country as a result of foreign investment. In turn, with increasing exports the force of international competition may bring greater pressure on Chinese firms to adopt more efficient work practices. It is perhaps questionable how much benefit the wider Chinese economy has reaped from these investments. The technology, patents and know-how remain firmly the property of, and are controlled by the parent companies. It may however be the case that in the long run the work culture and practices adopted by foreign companies could have some washback effect over wider economic practices in the country.
In conclusion, the establishment of the SEZ’s has helped to increase the export trade which in turn has helped to improve the Chinese economy. A large amount of foreign investment has occurred not only in the export trade, but also in infrastructure construction, commerce and tourism. Foreign companies have been encouraged to set up factories in the territories and the export industry has grown. Jobs opportunities have been provided for locals as factories need labor and the average income of the people has increased. In addition, advanced foreign technology has been brought in with the inflow of foreign investment. All these factors have contributed to the growth of the Chinese economy. It remains to be seen if these quantitative advances, in which the SEZ’s have played an important role, are matched by commensurate advances in the quality of life for the majority of Chinese people.
(Horshey, J.P. – The China Business Review)

In the last paragraph there are many examples of the use of the present perfect (…has helped to increase the export trade,… has occurred not only in the export trade, Foreign companies have been encouraged, Jobs opportunities have been provided…, All these factors have contributed…) This verb tense was used because:

(IBMEC RJ/2011)

Global Thinking in the 21st Century

At the end of the 20th century, the world changed in important ways. Until recently nations acted independently. Each did its business and tried to solve its problems alone. But now, the economy is worldwide and communications technologies have connected people all over the globe. Many problems are global too, and can no longer be solved by individual nations.

Environmental destruction is one of these problems. As the world’s population has grown and technology has developed, the environment has suffered. Some nations have begun to try to stop the pollution and the environmental destruction. But the environment is global – the atmosphere, the oceans, and many forms of life are all connected. Thus, the solutions require global thinking.

The problem of ocean pollution is a good example. Since all the oceans of the world are connected. Pollution does not stay where it begins. It spreads out from every river and every harbor and affects bodies of water everywhere.

For centuries, people have used the oceans as a dumping place. Many cities take tons of garbage out to sea and dump it there. Five million plastic containers are thrown into the world’s oceans every day! Aside from plastics, many other dangerous substances are dumped in oceans.

Some people believe that oceans are so large that chemicals and waste will disappear. However, many things, such as chemicals and plastics, stay in the water and create problems.

Another global pollution problem concerns the atmosphere. Until recently, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were used around the world in manufacturing refrigerators. Scientists discovered that these CFCs were destroying the ozone layer in the atmosphere and this layer helps protect the earth from the sun’s rays. Without this layer, most forms of life on earth – including humans – probable would not be able to live.

CFCs will soon be completely banned in the United States and in most developed countries while many other countries still use CFCs in manufacturing. Among these are some of the most populous on earth, such as India and China, which need to change their refrigerator factories to non-CPC processes. But they may not be able to make this change alone and will need help from the industrialized countries. This is what global thinking means – working together for solutions.

Some examples of the use of the present perfect were extracted from the text(…communications technologies have connected people all over the globe,… the environment has suffered, Some nations have begun to try…, … people have used the oceans as a dumping place). This verb tense was used because:

Questão 06 – (UFGD MS/2009)

“The cultural wealth of the world

is its diversity in dialogue”

The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity was adopted unanimously in a most unusual context. It came in the wake of the events of 11September 2001, at the UNESCO General Conference, which was the meeting for its 31st session, was the first ministerial-level meeting to be held after those terrible events. It was an opportunity for States to reaffirm their conviction that intercultural dialogue is the best guarantee of peace and to reject outright the theory of the inevitable clash of cultures and civilizations. Such a wideranging instrument is a first for the international community. It raises cultural diversity to the level of “the common heritage of humanity”,“as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature” and makes its defence an ethical imperative indissociable from respect for the dignity of the individual. The Declaration aims both to preserve cultural diversity as a living, and thus renewable treasure that must not be perceived as being unchanging heritage but as a process guaranteeing the survival of humanity; and to prevent segregation and fundamentalism which, in the name of cultural differences, would sanctify those differences and so counter the message of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration makes it clear that each individual must acknowledge not only otherness in all its forms but also the plurality of his or her own identity, within societies that are themselves plural. Only in this way can cultural diversity be preserved as an adaptive process and as a capacity for expression, creation and innovation. The debate between those countries which would like to defend cultural goods and services “which, as vectors of identity, values and meaning, must not be treated as mere commodities or consumer goods”, and those which would hope to promote cultural rights has thus been surpassed, with the two approaches brought together by the Declaration, which has highlighted the causal link uniting two complementary attitudes. One cannot exist without the other.The Declaration, accompanied by the main lines of an action plan, can be an outstanding tool for development, capable of humanizing globalization. Of course, it lays down not instructions but general guidelines to be turned into groundbreaking policies by Member States in their specific contexts, in partnership with the private sector and civil society. This Declaration, which sets against inward-looking fundamentalism, is the prospect of a more open, creative and democratic world, and also, now, one of the founding texts of the new ethics promoted by UNESCO in the early twenty-first century. My hope is that one day it may acquire the same force as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Koïchiro Matsuura

Director-General

Disponível em:

<http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001271/127160m.pdf&gt;.

Acesso em: 09/12/2008.

The following sentence in the present perfect tense would be: “[…] It was an opportunity for States to reaffirm […]”.

 (FATEC SP/2008)

Just Like Humans

Animal personality is now taken seriously.

We name them, raise them, clothe them and spoil them. We describe them as manipulative, grumpy, sensitive and caring.

And they’re not even human – they’re our pets. It’s in our nature to ascribe human characteristics to animals even if they don’t really exist. For this reason, in the interests of remaining objective observers of nature, scientists have taken pains to avoid anthropomorphizing animals. To talk about a dog’s having a swagger or a cat’s being shy would invite professional sneers.

In recent years, however, evidence has begun to show that animals have personalities after all. Chimps, for example, can be conscientious: they think before they act, they plan and they control their impulses, says Samuel Gosling, a Texas-based psychologist. Research has identified similar personality traits in many other species.

The implications of these findings for research on human personality are powerful.

Scientists can look to animal studies for insight into humans the same way they now look to animal testing for insight into drugs.

Animal research has already begun to shed light on how different sights [sic] of people respond to medications and treatments – aggressive and passive rats respond differently to antidepressants, for example.

The hope is that animals can help illuminate the murky interplay of genes and the environment on people’s personalities. The research may even lead to predictions about what people will do, based on their personalities, when they’re stressed out or frightened. Putting personality testing – already a thriving business – on a firm footing could uncover a wealth of knowledge about where personality comes from.

(Newsweek, June 18, 2007)

Assinale a alternativa que contém o uso correto do tempo verbal “present perfect”, como no exemplo – “evidence has begun to show that animals have personalities after all” –, no segundo parágrafo do texto.

(UEM PR/2008)
Male body image

Maybe1 it’s a shift in society; maybe it’s entirely thanks to David Beckham, but one way or another23 men have started to care about the way they look33.
What a great figure
New figures24 show that the market amongst2 young men for plastic surgery is bigger than ever; it has doubled in the last five years34. In America sales of men’s hair dyes have risen from 18 million to over 100 million35 in the same period. And the picture looks pretty25 similar in Britain. Last year the UK grooming market, according to a Mintel report, was estimated to be worth around £585 million in the UK. Clinique reported that their company’s sales to men increased by 25% in 1999, suggesting that up until recently3 men have been buying women’s skin care products for themselves36. Now the same products are being repackaged38 to attract the male buyer, so there’s nothing stopping you acting as vain as28 Big Brother contestant, Paul Clarke.

Men and their worst bits
When men are dissatisfied39, the main focuses of concern are height, stomachs13, chests18 and hair loss.
Guys often surreptitiously draw in their stomachs and walk ‘taller’ as they pass mirrors (check it out if you don’t believe us).
Dr Stephen Edwards, a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales, Swansea, is currently6 researching the structure of male body image and body image concerns19 in men. He believes that young men today7 feel more pressure to look good than they did just8 five years ago29, but it is still doubtful41 that they feel the same pressures from media influences as women do30. However, he is quick to point out the main body image issues that affect men more than women. “Muscularity12 is not an issue for women whereas it is for men,” he says.
“Being ‘too’ thin is not a problem for women, Whereas4 for men this would be equated with being weedy.”

Distorted body image and health problems
“As a general rule, and at the extremes, body image concern in women would be associated with eating disorders40, whereas with men exercise addiction26 is a concern, as is the use of anabolic steroids20,” says Dr Edwards.
Recent9 research backs this up, with evidence of an increase in body-dissatisfaction among males. It has been known that boys go through a phase of relative dissatisfaction with appearance44 in early adolescence, but physical16 changes through puberty bring them closer to ideal. There is also some evidence that men undergoing a mid-life21 crisis (i.e. men between the ages of about 45 and 55) are most likely to be dissatisfied with their appearance17.

How many men suffer from eating disorders?
No accurate27 figures exist. Roughly 0.5 – 1% of women between the ages of 18 and 25 experience anorexia nervosa. The figures for bulimia nervosa are probably a little higher31. The rate among men is estimated to be only 5% of that in women.
“Historically45, body image research has been driven by interest in the eating disorders37,” explains Dr Edwards. “Given the low figures for males it wasn’t really a research priority. Now10, this is changing.”

Gay men and body image
Gay men are more likely32 than straight5 men to be Unhappy46 with their reflection in the mirror22. This seems to be mainly due to the higher emphasis on appearance11 in gay male culture, although it is possible that stability of relationships may also be a factor as it is often found that people in stable, long-term relationships have a more positive body image than singles.
Texto disponível em http://www.thesite.org/
healthandwellbeing/wellbeing/bo dyimageandselfesteem>
. Acesso em 23/08/2007.

– Choose the alternative in which the form of the present perfect tense emphasizes the continuity of the action.

(URCA CE/2006)

YOU´LL LOUVRE IT!

By Lou Lumenick

RON Howards´s splendid “The Da Vinci Code” is the Holy Grail of summer blockbusters: a crackling, fast-moving thriller that´s every bit as brainy and irresistible as Dan Brown´s controversial bestseller. After being kept under close wraps by Sony, the hotly anticipated film was finally screened for critics yesterday before its premiere tonight at the Cannes Film Festival and its worldwide opening on Friday.

It´s the best thing that either Howard and Tom Hanks – perfectly cast as Brown´s hero, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon – Blank I , since their last collaboration, “Apollo 13”, a decade ago. (…)

Even those who haven´t read the book know that conspiracy involves Opus Dei, a real-life prelature of the Roman Catholic Church, which has condemned the novel as libelous and blasphemous.

While the movie doesn´t seriously deviate from Brown´s premises, sometimes that premise is held at arm´s length: “We´ve been dragged into a world of people who think this stuff is real,” as Langdon puts it. While we´re not going to reveal major spoilers, the few people who haven´t read the book might want to stop reading now if they want to derive the fullest enjoyment from Blank II “The Da Vinci Code”. (…)

Howard keeps the narrative taut, and Akiva Goldsman´s screenplay is a model adaptation that hews closely to the essentials of Brown´s already cinematic novel without being slavish. And this lavish production almost entirely avoids the schmaltz that Howard and Goldsman ladled over their previous collaborations, “A Beautiful Mind” and “Cinderella Man.”

At the movie´s heart is Hanks, who is sympathetic, funny and immensely watchable as the rumpled Langdon. He´s well matched by Tautou, who in a difficult role shows the most screen presence since her breakthrough performance in “Amelie.”

“The only thing that matters is what you believe,” – Langdon tells Sophie at one point. It´s also the creed of “The Da Vinci Code,” which is far more interested in being a rare summer movie that you won´t forget an hour after leaving the theater than questioning the basis of anybody´s religious faith.

http://www.nypost.com/php

The present perfect is used appropriately in:

(EFOA MG/2006)
Who lives longer?

1How to live longer is a topic that has fascinated mankind for 2centuries. Today scientists are beginning to separate the facts from the 3fallacies surrounding the aging process. Why is it that some people reach 4a ripe old age and others do not? Several factors influencing longevity are 5set at birth, but surprisingly, many others are elements that can be 6changed. Here is what you should know.
7Some researchers divide the elements determining who will live 8longer into two categories: fixed factors and changeable factors. Gender, 9race and heredity are fixed factors – they can’t be reversed, although 10certain long term social changes can influence them. For example, 11women live longer than men – at birth, their life expectancy is seven to 12eight years more. However, cigarette smoking, drinking and reckless 13driving could shorten this advantage.
14There is increasing evidence that length of life is also influenced 15by a number of elements that are within our ability to control. The most 16obvious are physical life-style factors.
17Cutting calories may be the single most significant life-style 18change you can make. Experiments have shown that in laboratory 19animals, a 40 percent calorie reduction leads to a 50 percent extension in 20longevity. According to experts, eating less has a more profound and 21diversified effect on the aging process than does any other life-style 22change. It is the only factor we know of in laboratory animals that is an 23anti-aging factor.
24A long life, however, is not just the result of being good to your 25body and avoiding disease. All the various factors that constitute and 26influence daily life can be critical too. In searching for the ingredients to a 27long, healthy existence, scientists are studying links between longevity 28and the psychological and social aspects of human existence. Several 29aspects can play significant roles in determining your longevity.
30Researchers have found that people who are socially integrated – 31members of a family network, married, or participants of structured group 32activities – live longer.
33Early studies indicated that the more friends and relatives you 34had, the longer you lived. Newer studies focus on the types of 35relationships that are most beneficial. According to these studies, larger 36networks don’t always seem to be advantageous to women, since certain 37kinds of ties add more demands rather than generate more help.
38A feeling of autonomy or control can come from having a say in 39important decisions (where you live, how you spend your money) or from 39being surrounded by people who inspire confidence in your ability to 40master certain tasks. Studies show these feelings bring a sense of wellbeing 41and satisfaction with life.
42Where you live can make a difference in how long you live. A 43study by the California Department of Health Services in Berkeley found a 4440 percent higher mortality rate among people living in a poverty area 45compared to those in a nonpoverty area. According to the study, the 46difference was not due to age, sex, health care or life-style. The resulting 47hypothesis was that a locale can have socioeconomic characteristics, 48such as high crime rate and level of stress, that make it unhealthy.
49People with higher incomes, more education and high-status 50occupations tend to live longer. Researchers used to think this was due to 51better living and job conditions, nutrition and access to health care, but 52these theories have not held up.
53The message from experts is clear. There are many ways to add 54years to your life. Instituting sound health practices and expanding your 55circle of acquaintances and activities will have a beneficial effect. The 56good news about aging is many of the factors related to longevity are also 57related to life satisfaction.
(Source: SKALKA, P. Who lives longer? In: SMITH, L. C.; MARE, N. N. (Org.).
Topics for today: an advanced reading skills text. 2 ed. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle, 1997, p. 70-73. Adapted.)

The sentence which IS NOT an example of the present perfect simple is:

(UECE CE/2004)

THE TREE MASSACRE

by Alex Shoumatoff

The paper industry is destroying¹¹ one of America’s last great stands of native forest²⁵ to bring you fresh shopping¹² bags and toilet paper.

If there were an international tribunal that prosecuted⁹ crimes against the planet, like the one in The Hague that deals²³ with crimes against humanity, what is happening²² on the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee would undoubtedly be indictable.

The crime — one of many clandestine ecocides American corporations are committing¹ around the world — has taken² place²⁸ over three decades. About 200,000 acres on this tableland have already been clear-cut³⁰ by the paper industry, and the cutting¹³ continues³. Where once grew¹⁰ some of the most biologically rich hardwood forest in North America’s Temperate Zone (which extends⁴ from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Canada), there are now row after row of fast-growing loblolly pine trees genetically engineered to yield the most pulp in the shortest time. But the paper industry’s insatiable appetite²⁶ for timber has met⁵ with unexpected competition from an equally voracious insect. In the last four years, an estimated 50 to 70 percent of the pines planted⁶ on the plateau have been devoured³¹ by the southern pine beetle. The entire South has been ravaged³² by the worst outbreak in its history of this native predator of pine trees, caused by the tremendous increase in the amount of pine available for it to eat on the industry plantations that have replaced²⁰ the native forest. Unable to salvage its dead timber, the paper industry has been losing¹⁷ hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet it seems⁷ still committed to destroying¹⁶ what remains²⁴ of the extraordinarily lush forest on the Cumberland Plateau, which, along with eastern Tennessee’s Great Valley and the Cumberland Mountains, has the highest concentration of endangered species in North America. The loss of biodiversity is tragic but also absurd economically; it doesn’t even make good business sense.

Not many people are aware of what is taking¹⁴ place³³. Nearly 90 percent of the Cumberland Plateau is in private hands and exempt from all but a few government regulations¹⁸. The federal and state agencies that are supposed to be regulating the paper, timber, and mining¹⁵ industries are populated with³⁴ these companies’ former executives and have come²⁹ to view these industries as clients whose permits and projects should be facilitated³⁵ rather than scrutinized. But a quarter of the world’s paper²⁷ and 60 percent of America’s wood products are being¹⁹ produced³⁶ in the South, and the will to address the abuses of the paper industry, which contributes⁸ millions of dollars to the campaign coffers of politicians around the country, just isn’t there — certainly not in Tennessee.

There’s another reason for the lack of public awareness: Much of the devastation is hidden from view by thin “beauty strips” of native forest left along the plateau’s highways. The only way to get the full picture is to go up in a small plane and see it from the air.

VOCABULÁRIO

loblolly pine – espécie de pinheiro

beetle – besouro, inseto

timber – madeira

to ravage – devastar

Assinale a opção cujos verbos estão no present perfect: