Cloze exercises são originalmente exercícios de leitura. No entanto, não consigo deixar de pensar que exigem domínio de não só de combinações em nível de paradigma mas também de associações em nível de sintagma. Fiz esse exercício usando um texto por Helen Joyce, correspondente da The Economist em São Paulo. Você concorda com a autora? Seria o português do Brasil a melhor opção?

Some lunatics learn languages for fun. The rest of us are looking for a decent return on our investment. That means choosing a language with plenty of native speakers. One spoken by people worth talking to, in a place worth visiting. One with close relatives, so you have a head start with your third language. One not so distant from English that you give up.

There really is only one rational 1. ­­­_____: Brazilian Portuguese. Brazil is big (190m residents; half 2. _____ continent). Its economic prospects are bright. São Paulo 3. _____ Latin America’s business capital. No other 4. _____ has flora and fauna more varied and beautiful. 5. _____ is home to the world’s largest standing forest, 6. _____ Amazon. The weather is great and 7. _____ are the beaches. The people are friendly, and 8. _____ white liars. You’ll be told “Your Portuguese is wonderful!” 9. _____ times before it is true.

You won’t need a new alphabet 10. _____ much new grammar, though you may find the language 11. _____ to declensions and unduly fond of the subjunctive. You’ll 12. _____ hundreds of words without effort (azul means blue, verde means green) and be 13. _____ to guess entire sentences (O sistema bancário é muito forte: the banking system is very strong) With new 14. _____ and a few new words, you’ll get 15. _____ in Portugal and parts of Africa. If you speak Spanish, French or Italian, you’ll find the work is 16. _____ done and if not, why not try? With Portuguese under your belt, you’ll fly along.

Best of all, you’ll stand out. Only about 10m Brazilians have reasonable English, and far more Anglophones speak French or Spanish than Portuguese, of any flavor. I did not choose this language; it was thrust on me by the offer of a job in São Paulo. But when I think of my sons, now ten and five, one day being able to write “fluent Brazilian Portuguese” on their CVs, I feel a little smug.

1.	(a)     popular	(b)     choice	(c)     goal	(d)     license
2.	(a)     the	(b)     of	(c)     as	(d)     a
3.	(a)     has	(b)     is	(c)     contains	(d)     takes
4.	(a)     power	(b)     monopoly	(c)     country	(d)     one
5.	(a)     It	(b)     Which	(c)     This	(d)     There
6.	(a)     The	(b)     There	(c)     An	(d)     Its
7.	(a)     then	(b)     so	(c)     also	(d)     alike
8.	(a)     comfort	(b)     sharply	(c)     shameless	(d)     fairly
9.	(a)     often	(b)     variety	(c)     few	(d)     many
10.	(a)     or	(b)     yet	(c)     for	(d)     with
11.	(a)     favoring	(b)     addicted	(c)     kind	(d)     tracked
12.	(a)     change	(b)     sound	(c)     learn	(d)     hear
13.	(a)     supposed	(b)     will	(c)     forward	(d)     able
14.	(a)     pronunciation	(b)     method	(c)     evidence	(d)     waves
15.	(a)     up	(b)     through	(c)     away	(d)     around
16.	(a)     still	(b)     unbelievable	(c)     not	(d)     already

By Bel Chavantes 

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