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After 12 years in prison, a Texas inmate walked free on Jan. 17. The exoneration came courtesy of
University of Wisconsin-Madison law students and professors - and DNA tests proving that Christopher
Ochoa, now 33, was innocent of a 1988 rape and murder.
Fortunately for Ochoa, evidence from the crime was still available for DNA fingerprinting, a
simple test that can prove whether a biological sample did or did not come from a suspect.
The arrival of cheap and fast DNA fingerprinting is overturning the quest to convict the guilty and
free the innocent. The technology is far more specific than earlier tests of antibodies in blood or semen.
Terry Laber, who directed the blood laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, says,
"Before DNA, you'd have a good suspect, and do all the tests you could do, and you'd end up with 30
percent to 40 percent of the population qualifying."
But when biological samples - from blood, skin cells or semen - are DNA fingerprinted, the
specific DNA sequence is extremely unlikely to be found except in the perpetrator. A match, Laber says,
is "very powerful evidence."
If the suspect's DNA does not match the sample, however, the test becomes convincing evidence
for the defense. DNA tests have helped spring 10 people from death row since 1993, according to Richard
Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
These 10, among 93 capital convictions that have been vacated since 1973, have helped raise
public fears that executions may be based on questionable convictions. On Jan. 31, 2000, Illinois
Governor George Ryan announced a "moratorium" on executions, after 13 men had been released from
the state's death row. Ronald Jones, for example, was released in 1997 after being convicted of rape and
murder in 1989. DNA tests did not link him to the crime scene.
Dieter says the technique is so "powerful and scientifically reliable" that it can, as in Ochoa's case,
even refute a confession. "The public tends to put a lot of reliance on it. It can result in a dramatic shift"
in legal status.
But DNA fingerprinting does not help every convict who asks for it. In September, 2000, Derek
Barnebei was executed in Virginia for raping and murdering his girlfriend. The test he'd sought located
his DNA in tissue taken from under the victim's fingernails after the 1993 crime. Barnebei claimed
innocence to the end.
While Dieter welcomes DNA's ability to illuminate guilt and innocence, he says it is "not a
panacea for every case, it may not be involved in a simple shooting, where somebody dies but there are
no bodily fluids left."
There's also a disturbing possibility that DNA fingerprinting could finger the wrong person - if
labs make mistakes, or if cops plant evidence or lie on the witness stand. Such allegations - although they
do not concern capital cases - are the focus of the ongoing Los Angeles police scandal.
(Disponível em http://whyfiles.org/126dna_forensic/)
2 – Com base no texto assinale a(s) alternativa(s) correta(s) (2,0 – 0,5 each)
a) Uchoa foi o único a libertar-se da pena de morte ao recorrer ao exame de D.N.A ( )
b) O exame de DNA . tanto pode inocentar como confirmar a culpa de alguém ( X )
c) O fato do DNA do suspeito ser encontrado no corpo da vítima constitui u forte indício para o
crime ( X )
d) Não há nenhum risco na utilização do resultado da análise do DNA em processos criminais ( )
3 – As Frases abaixo foram extraídas do texto acima, diga qual o sentido dos verbos modais
presentes nelas (2,0 – 0,3 each).
a) a simple test that CAN prove whether a biological sample did or did not come from a suspect
HABILIDADE / CAPACIDADE
b) Before DNA, you'd have a good suspect, and do all the tests you COULD do
HABILIDADE / CAPACIDADE (PASSADO)
c) … raise public fears that executions MAY be based on questionable convictions
POSSIBILIDADE
d) that it CAN, as in Ochoa's case, even refute a confession
HABILIDADE / CAPACIDADE
e) …"not a panacea for every case, it MAY not be involved in a simple shooting…
POSSIBILIDADE
f) DNA fingerprinting COULD finger the wrong person
POSSIBILIDADE
4 – As Frases abaixo foram extraídas do texto “Free at last”, sublinhe as conjunções presentes neles
diga que sentido eles apresentam na frase (2,0 – 0,4 each)
5 – Fill in the blank with the appropriate modal verbs (can, could / may, might / ought to,
should / must) in order to express the following ideas. (obligation, possibility, ...) (0,5 –
each 0,1):
a. obligation – MUST I STOP(I/stop) smoking doctor?
possibility - No, but if you don't stop YOU MAY die.
b. advice – It's going to be very cold tonight so you SHOULD turn on the central heating.
6 – Fill the gaps with suitable conjunctions – doesn’t have BUT (0,5 – each 0,1):
7.1) Using the modals verbs complete: “We _________ go to the club. It depends on the weather”
A) MIGHT. c) will. e) N.D.A
b) must. d) can.
7.2) Which of these modals complete the sentence “________ you play the keyboard?”
a) May. c) Shall. e) N.D.A
b) CAN. d) Would.
7.3) Complete the sentence “I’m sure she isn’t here. She __________ be ta home” com o verbo modal
adequado.
a) MUST. c) will. e) N.D.A
b) can. d) shall
7.4) – _______________ you speak any foreign languages?
a) May c) Have e) N.D.A
b) CAN d) Must
7.5) – ____________ he is poor, he is contented.
a) unless c) ALTHOUGH e) N.D.A
b) until d) yet
7.6) – Look at the way that guy's walking. He__________ be drunk!.
a) has to c) should e) N.D.A
b) MUST d) Might
7.7 – Elizabeth works hard, _____________ Jane is lazy.
a) and c) because e) N.D.A
b) or d) BUT
7.8)– Where's Nick? He ___ be in his office.
a) might c). is to e) N.D.A
b) mustn't d) Can
7.9) – I rang the bell __________ no one answered.
a) AND c) so e) N.D.A
b) BUT d) if
7.10) – Which is the meaning of the modal verb COULD in the sentence “We’re not as cool
as we could be”
A) How many and which are the conjunctions in this comic strip?
BECAUSE - BEFORE
B) No Segundo quadrinho existe um verbo modal. Qual é ele e que sentido ele tem no
texto.
MUST - OBRIGAÇÃO
C) Se fôssemos parafrasear a frase do Doutor (3º quadrinho), usando os verbos
modais, ela deveria ser?
a) You can’t go bed d) You Shoudn’t go to bed
b) You couldn’t go to bed e) You mightn’t go to bed
c) You mustn’t go to bed
10.1) Qual o sentido do verbo modal na frase: I can’t find your life line?
a) Dedução lógica c) Obrigação e) N.D.A
b) Conselho d) Possibilidade
10.2) Existe algum outro verbo modal que pode assumir o mesmo sentido do verbo
CAN nesta frase citada? Qual? Como a frase ficaria?
10.3) Qual o sentido do verbo modal na frase I know you should stop and smell the
roses?
a) Dedução lógica c) Obrigação e) N.D.A
b) habilidade d) Permissão
10.4) Quais conjunções estão presentes na tirinha e em que sentido elas foram
usadas?
AND - ADIÇÃO
BUT - CONTRAST
10.5) Para que a frase “I Know we should stop and smell the roses...” tivesse um tom
de obrigação por parte do falante (Hagar) o verbo modal deveria ser?
f) CAN i) SHOULDN’T
g) MUST j) CAN’T
h) MUSTN’T