Interpretação de Texto - PUCMG

What does James Earl Ray really know about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.? The question arises with new urgency because Ray, 68 - who pleaded guilty to the murder, got sentenced without a trial to 99 years in prison and then recanted his confession - is in failing health. Over the years he has dropped mysterious hints that King's murder was a conspiracy. Unless he talks soon, whatever information he has will go with him to his grave. That's why King's family last week joined Ray's long-standing campaign to have his day in court. A trial could happen if Ray's lawyer, William Pepper, can persuade a Tennessee court later this month to approve ballistics tests on the highpowered rifle Ray is believed to have used - and prove it's not the murder weapon. As King's son Dexter, who heads the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change in Atlanta, declares, "I don't think a trial - if he's granted a trial will give us unequivocal truth. But at least in regard to new evidence, we'll know more than we do now." True, but does it take a trial for Ray to start talking?

I've never been one for conspiracy theories, but the King murder is one case that needs reopening. The official story put together by the FBI - that Ray acted alone - is just too flaky. I've never understood how a bumbling petty crook like Ray, who was once nabbed by police as he reentered the window of a business he had just robbed to steal a few more items, could singlehandedly evade a police dragnet in Memphis, Tennessee, drive a conspicuous white Mustang all the way to Atlanta, then get out of the country and journey as far as Portugal before finally being apprehended in London.

He had to have had help - if not with the killing itself, then surely with the getaway

(FROM: Time, February 17 1997, p. 51)

Vocabulário do texto:

1. The writer says that James Ray pleaded guilty to the murder. This means that Ray

a) formally admitted he was guilty of a crime
b) admitted there was some truth in the story
c) had to accept everything he was told to do
d) unwillingly admitted he had changed his mind
e) claimed some of his suspicions were justified

Resposta correta: a

Resolução: A expressão “pleaded guilty” significa “declarar-se culpado”. A resposta correta é, portanto, a alternativa a: formally admitted he was guilty of a crime (admitiu formalmente que era culpado por um crime).

2. James Earl Ray got sentenced to

a) as much as fifty years
b) a couple of years
c) sixty-eight years
d) nearly half a century
e) almost a hundred years

Resposta correta: e

Resolução: O texto informa que James Earl Ray foi condenado a 99 anos de prisão: “got sentenced without a trial to 99 years in prison”. A resposta correta é, portanto, a alternativa e: almost a hundred years (quase cem anos).

3. According to the text, Ray

a) is mentally ill at the moment
b) is now in an unhealthy condition
c) has refused to see any doctors
d) has only two more days to live
e) worries too much about his lawyer

Resposta correta: b

Resolução: O texto informa que o estado de saúde de Ray está se deteriorando: “is in failing health”. A resposta correta é, portanto, a alterantiva b: is now in an unhealthy condition (encontra-se agora em uma situação não saudável).

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