For today’s reading comprehension activity, we’re going to take a look at an article from VEJA Magazine about the Brazilian state-run oil company, Petrobras.

Petrobras volta a importar gasolina após 40 anos

“Após quarenta anos de autonomia, a Petrobras voltou a importar gasolina. Prejudicada pela crise do etanol, a estatal foi obrigada a comprar o combustível da Venezuela, que já recebeu encomendas futuras.”

[Click the link above to read the full article]

1. What did Petrobras have to import? Where did it import the product from?

2. How many barrels of the product did Petrobras buy? When will the product arrive in Brazil?

3. What two factors negatively affected the production of this product in Brazil?

Answers after the jump.

Answers

1. Ethanol; Venezuela

2. 2 million; in February

3. Heavy rains that hurt the sugarcane crop; the high price of sugar on the international market, which lowered demand for ethanol