SóProvas

ID
28846
Banca
CESGRANRIO
Órgão
CAPES
Ano
2008
Provas
Disciplina
Inglês
Assuntos

How to dig out from the information avalanche
Majority of workers feel overwhelmed by deluge of data,
survey finds
By Eve Tahmincioglu
updated 8:18 p.m. ET March 16, 2008
Don't expect Shaun Osher, the CEO of Core Group
Marketing in New York, to answer your e-mail right away.
He has stopped responding to e-mails every minute and
only checks his e-mail account twice a day. He also started
turning off his BlackBerry during meetings.
This tactic has made him so much more productive
that earlier this year he held a meeting with his staff of 50
and "strongly suggested" that they stop relying so heavily
on e-mail and actually start calling clients on the phone.
And, he requested his employees put cell phones and
PDAs on silent mode during meetings, as well as curtail
the common practice of cc-ing everybody when sending
out an e-mail. "There was so much redundancy, so much
unnecessary work," he explains. "One person could handle
an issue that should take two minutes, but when an email
goes out and five people get cc-ed, then everybody
responds to it and there's a snowball effect."
It's not that Osher has anything against technology. In
fact, he loves it. The problem is, last year he realized he
was inundated with so many e-mails and so much
information in general that he began to experience data
overload. "In the beginning, e-mail and all this data was a
great phenomenon, revolutionizing what we do. But the
pendulum has swung way too much to the other side," he
maintains. "We're less productive."
Osher isn't the only one out there under a data
avalanche. Thanks to technological innovations, you can
be talking to a customer on your cell phone, answering a
LinkedIn invitation on your laptop, and responding to email
on your PDA all at the same time. Besides, during
tough economic times, who will want to miss any
information when your job could be on the line if you indulge
in the luxury of being offline? Turns out, seven out of 10
office workers in the United States feel overwhelmed by
information in the workplace, and more than two in five
say they are headed for a data "breaking point," according
to a recently released Workplace Productivity Survey.
Mike Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets,
says there are a host of reasons we're all on the information
brink: "exponential growth of the size of the information
'haystack,' the immensity and immediacy of digital
communications, and the fact that professionals are not
being provided with sufficient tools and training to help
them keep pace with the growing information burden."
Ellen Kossek, a professor from Michigan State, believes
we are less productive in this age of 24-7 technology, and
our multitasking mentality has spawned a "not-mentallypresent"
society. "We're becoming an attention-deficit
disorder society switching back and forth like crazy,"
Kossek says. "We're connected all the time. We're
working on planes, in coffee shops, working on the
weekends. Work is very seductive, but yet we're actually
less effective."
The key to getting your head above the data flood,
according to workplace experts, is managing and reducing
the information you're bombarded with.

© 2008 MSNBC Interactive - (slightly adapted)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23636252/

When Shaun Osher affirms that ". the pendulum has swung way too much to the other side," (lines 23-24), he means that

Alternativas
Comentários

  • A)WRONG (an excess of emails has generated a sudden increase in productivity.) - It is wrong, because the text enforces that  "the excess of e-mail brings data overload"

    B) WRONG (cell phones, PDAs and laptops have become excessively complex devices.) - The passage is wrong, once the texts does not mentions  cell phones and PDA's  as being excessively complex, but as something to be used on the silet mode during the meetings.

    C) RIGHT (excessive e-mails and data overload have begun to negatively impact work.) -  Is right once the phrase "the pendulum has swung way too much to the other side" is said in the figurative sense where pendulum actually means excessive e-mails and data and has swung correspond to have begun, and much to the other side corresponds to negatively impact work.

    So:

    EXCESSIVE E-MAILS AND DATA OVERLOAD HAVE BEGUN TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT WORK

    THE PENDULUM HAS SWUNG WAY MUCH TO THE OTHER SIDE

    D) WRONG (offices have become more efficient due to e-mail and other information technology advents.) - It is wrong, once the text sustains when "everybody responds to it (e-mails) there's a snowball effect" which means it overload the mails box and to don't get to even read answers or work about the e-mail.

    E) WRONG (data avalanche has been a fortunate consequence of the widespread adoption of information technology.) - The passage is wrong, once it hadn't been fortunate consequence, it has been fortunate only in the beggining when " it was a great phenomenon".

  • c-

     

    When someone says that the pendulum has swung too far he means that a change has become so extreme that it turned unpleasant, causing overall distress. It alludes to the pendulum of a clock, which goes all the way to one side before returning to its central position 

  • GAB: LETRA C

    Complementando!

    Fonte:  Prof. Ena Loiola

    When  Shaun  Osher  affirms  that  “…  the  pendulum  has  swung  way  too  much  to  the  other side,” (lines 23-24), he means that = Quando Shaun Osher afirma que "... o pêndulo oscilou demais para o outro lado," (linhas 23-24), ele quer dizer que  

     

    Opção A: an excess of emails has generated a sudden increase in productivity = um excesso de e-mails tem gerado um aumento súbito da produtividade e Opção D: offices have become more efficient  due  to  e-mail  and  other  information  technology  advents  =  tarefas  tornaram-se  mais eficientes devido ao e-mail e outros adventos da tecnologia de informação. 

     

    • Pelo contrário, o que tem causado o aumento de produtividade é não depender de e-mail, ou seja o decréscimo do número de e-mails. 
    • Erradas. 

     

    ===

    Opção B: cell phones, PDAs and laptops have become excessively complex devices = telefones celulares, PDAs e laptops tornaram-se dispositivos excessivamente complexos. 

     

    • O pêndulo ao que o autor se refere em sentido figurado, não tem nada a ver com o aumento da complexidade dos aparelhos laptop, PDAs  e celulares, opção errada. 

     

    ===

    Opção  C:  excessive  e-mails  and  data  overload  have  begun  to  negatively  impact  work  =  o excesso de e-mails e sobrecarga de dados começaram a impactar negativamente o trabalho. 

     

    • The  problem  is,  last  year  he  realized  he  was  inundated  with  so  many  e-mails  and  so  much information in general that he began to experience data overload. “In the beginning, e-mail and all  this  data  was  a  great  phenomenon,  revolutionizing  what  we  do.  But  the  pendulum  has swung way too much to the other side,” he maintains. 
    • O  problema  é  que,  no  ano passado,  ele  percebeu  que  estava  inundado  com  tantos  e-mails e tantas informações  em geral, que ele começou a sentir sobrecarga de dados. "No início, e-mail e todos esses dados foi um grande fenômeno, revolucionando o que fazemos. Mas o pêndulo oscilou demais para o outro lado ", ele afirma. 

     

    • Ao referir-se a pêndulo oscilar para outro lado, Shaun Osher faz referência uma condição que mudou de algo que era surpreendente no início, para algo que passou a ter um efeito negativo no trabalho. 
    • Esta é a opção correta. 

    ===

    Opção  E:  data  avalanche  has  been  a  fortunate  consequence  of  the  widespread  adoption  of information  technology  =  avalanche  de  dados  foi  uma  consequência  feliz  da  adoção generalizada da tecnologia da informação. 

    Majority of workers feel overwhelmed by deluge of data, survey finds = Maioria dos trabalhadores se sente oprimido pelo dilúvio de informações, levantamento revela 

     

    Overwhelmed = oprimido, sobrecarregado, esmagado, soterrado, esgotado 

     

    • Foi uma consequência sim, mas não feliz. Observe o subtema do texto acima, o autor destaca uma consequência negativa da avalanche ou dilúvio de dados. 
    • Opção errada.