Why did I smile at one message and feel confused by the next? I joined an online pen-pal club to practice…

Questão

Why did I smile at one message and feel confused by the next? I joined an online pen-pal club to practice English, and I received two short posts on the same day. Jordan wrote: “I’m excited for Friday night football. Our marching band plays first, and then we cheer when the quarterback makes a great pass. I hope we get two touchdowns!” Amina wrote: “On Saturday we’ll watch football at my cousin’s house. My favorite striker is back, so I’m wearing my club jersey. I really want to see a goal in the last minutes!” Both friends used the same word, “football”, but the details around it made me realize they were not talking about the same kind of game. Based on the messages, interpret what the different uses of the word “football” suggest about how English varies across communities.

1. A) It shows that the word changes meaning only because it was translated from Portuguese.
2. B) It shows that the same word can have different meanings depending on cultural context.
3. C) It shows that the meaning changes because the word is a modern internet abbreviation.
4. D) It shows that one of the writers is using incorrect grammar and should be corrected.
5. E) It shows that both writers are using exactly the same meaning, just with extra details.

✅ Resposta correta: alternativa B

Resolução passo a passo

1. Leia as duas mensagens e identifique os detalhes ao redor da palavra "football". Jordan fala de marching band, quarterback, touchdowns e passes, elementos do futebol americano. Amina fala de striker, club jersey e goal nos minutos finais, elementos do futebol associado ao esporte jogado com os pés, chamado de soccer nos Estados Unidos.
2. Perceba que a mesma palavra aparece com significados diferentes. O sentido não está apenas no vocabulário isolado, mas no contexto cultural e social de quem fala, que define se "football" se refere ao esporte americano ou ao futebol de campo.
3. Assim, a alternativa correta é a B: a mesma palavra pode ter sentidos diferentes conforme o contexto cultural. Isso mostra a variação do inglês entre comunidades.
4. Por que as outras estão erradas:
5. A) Está errada porque não há tradução do português envolvida; as mensagens são escritas originalmente em inglês.
6. C) Está errada porque a variação de sentido não depende de abreviação da internet; "football" não é abreviação de nada.
7. D) Está errada porque nenhuma das mensagens apresenta erro gramatical; a diferença é de sentido, não de correção.
8. E) Está errada porque os sentidos são claramente diferentes, como mostram os termos de cada mensagem.
9. Concluímos que o gabarito oficial B está correto, pois o texto mostra que o contexto cultural determina o significado de "football".

💡 Dica: Compare os contextos culturais para entender o significado da palavra.

Alternativa por alternativa

Raio-X da questão

Questões parecidas com resolução

• Why do some English speakers use different words when talking to the same group of people? During an online game, a…
• What happens to English when it travels with people? During an online meeting to plan a student podcast, Lia (from…
• Late on Saturday, three cousins keep a video call while planning a visit to their grandmother. One says, “I’ll take the…
• Have you ever shown up at the right place but at the wrong time? In a weekend chat, a community basketball club tried to…
• Why would two people press the same button on a phone but name it differently? During a community project, Luisa helped…
• Why do speakers in different countries use different words for the same thing? Three friends—Emma from London, Jack from…

Todas as questões de Variação linguística