READING
President Lula still has some months of his second and final mandate. According to the constitution of 1988, a Brazilian president is only allowed to stay in office for eight consecutive years. Last year, one member of his party were thinking loudly to create a constitutional amendment that will allow Lula for another four years. The proposal had been added to the records of the political chambers, but it had no chance to be discussed about. The TSE, the electoral tribunal, resolutely rejected the proposal as unconstitutional.
In his years as president, Lula has profited from the economic boom and therefore he gained many votes for his second term. The Brazilian economy continued at last a stable growth due to extensive and expensive social programs. Many poor Brazilians saw their situation considerably improved, and it is expected that not only the hunger is contested, but soon even the extreme poverty in the country will be history. The country has overcome the international financial crisis relatively well.
But who will be able to fill the gap, that will be left after the succession of the popular president on January 1, 2011? He chose a woman. Dilma Vana Rousseff. Since 2005, Dilma is “Chefe da Casa Civil”, the second highest political office after the president. In her position as assistant to the president, Dilma is responsible for the administration of the current of requests of the Cabinet members, and for communications and negotiations with congressmen and governors. Before she took on this post, she was Minister of Mines and Energy. Dilma, daughter of a Bulgarian immigrant, was born in 1947 in Belo Horizonte, where she studied economics. She was active in opposing the right-wing dictatorship until she was arrested, tortured and put in prison. Last year, Dilma successfully was treated for lymphoma.
It is expected that José Serra will be Dilma's main opponent. Jose Serra is the current governor of São Paulo. Serra, son of an Italian immigrant, was born in 1942 in São Paulo. He started a training as an engineer, and was active in student unions. Serra was also active in the uprising against the military regime and had to flee quickly to Bolivia and Chile, amongst others. He studied economics in Chili until Pinochet seized power there. Serra then moved to France, where he stayed for some years. José returned to Brazil in the late seventies, and devoted himself to his political career. He was then a congress man and senator until he came Minister of Planning and Budget in the Office of President Cardoso. In 1996, he was running for mayor of São Paulo shelf. However he lost these elections. Subsequently he was Minister of Health until 2002, and was running for president during the elections of 2002, but lost from Lula. In 2004, he won the elections and became mayor São Paulo office, but left after two years. Since 2007, Serra is governor of the state of São Paulo, the largest state in terms of population and economic power of the country. He is a candidate on behalf of the PSDB, the Brazilian Social Democratic Party.
Marina Silva, candidate on behalf of the Green Party, was born in 1958 in the state of Acre. Between 2003 and 2008, Marina was Minster of Environmental Affairs, and was committed to the fight against the continuing deforestation of the Amazon. She frequently came into conflict with the cabinet chief Dilma and governors of the states in which the Amazon forest is located. She is now senator for the state of Acre.
Other candidates are expected to play only a supporting role in the Brazilian presidential election, edition 2010. The election promises to be very exciting. There will be electronic voting for all Brazilians. In addition, a fifty communities will participe in an experimental electronic voting system with biometric identification.
COMPREHENSION
1) According to the text, mark the correct option concerning Lula’s mandate:
a)He was allowed by TSE to stay in office for more years;
b)He focused his mandate on social programs improving the situation of few Brazilians;
c) He is supporting Dilma Rousseff an economist who has been working with him since his first mandate;
d) Experts evaluate that in the second term Brazil was one of the countries that went through the world economic crisis the worst.
3) Judge True or False
a)The whole country will count with new technology in this 2010 election
b)The biggest political battle may be established between José Serra and Dilma Rousseff
c)The use of the auxiliary “will” in the whole text indicates Future
d)José Serra started his career working activily in student unions
e)This is not the first time in Brazil people can choose between two women for Presidency
4) The pronoun it (line 9) refers to
a)the proposal
b)political chambers
c)chance
d)to stay in office
5)The words in bold can be classified as
a) Modal verbs
b) Linking Words
c) Preposition
d) Adverbs of frequency
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