Questão nº 142
Questão de Língua Inglesa · CEBRASPE IRBR 2026 (nº 142)
In 1977, during his first official visit abroad as President of the United States, Jimmy Carter was betrayed by the language barrier and the choices of his translator. In the course of meeting his Polish counterpart, Edward Gierek, the translator was on hand to provide a translation of his president’s words into Polish. Unfortunately, his translations could, perhaps, have not been farther from the truth of what Carter said.
Announcing that he was extremely glad to be in Poland for his first trip abroad, the translator somehow managed to mistranslate the friendly statement into the announcement of seeming defection by the American President, turning "I left the United States this morning" into "I left the United States, never to return". Furthermore, Carter’s warm statement of his visit to the nation was bizarrely mistranslated into the comment that President Carter "was happy to grasp at Poland’s private parts". Following up this colossal mistake, the interpreter then successively translated Carter’s expression of a hope to learn more about the Polish people’s "desires for the future" into "I desire the Poles carnally". Adding insult to injury, during Carter’s toast at a state banquet later during the same trip, a different interpreter providing a translation could not understand the American President’s Georgia accent and consequently chose to simply not translate his words at all rather than offer an inaccurate depiction. In hindsight, the latter interpreter opted for the better path in the face of confusion.
About the previous text, judge the items bellow.
The author indicates in his text that he finds it difficult to understand how the first translator could make the mistakes he made.
Resposta comentada
O item cobra inferência sobre a atitude do autor: quando ele narra os erros absurdos do tradutor e depois diz que o segundo intérprete "opted for the better path" (escolheu o melhor caminho), fica implícito que ele considera os primeiros erros graves e difíceis de justificar. Palavras como "betrayed", "colossal mistake" e "bizarrely" revelam espanto e crítica — ou seja, o autor demonstra achar incompreensível que o tradutor tenha errado tanto.
- Correta: Certo. O texto deixa claro, pelo tom ("betrayed", "colossal mistake", "bizarrely") e pela comparação com o segundo intérprete, que o autor vê os erros do primeiro como absurdos e difíceis de entender.
Fica de olho: a banca costuma trocar a atitude do autor por uma afirmação factual do texto (ex.: "o autor afirma que o tradutor não sabia polonês") ou inverter o juízo (ex.: "o autor considera os erros compreensíveis"). Aqui o item fala de opinião/impressão do autor, não de fato narrado — se a alternativa citar algo que o texto não sustenta como juízo do autor, marca Errado.
Fonte: CEBRASPE IRBR 2026 Diplomata (Terceiro Secretário). Reproduzida para fins de estudo.