Questões de Inglês - Grammar

T E X T

Children set for more climate disasters than their grandparents, research shows

    People born today will suffer many
times more extreme heatwaves and
other climate disasters over their
lifetimes than their grandparents,
[05] research has shown. The study is the
first to assess the contrasting
experience of climate extremes by
different age groups and starkly
highlights the intergenerational
[10] injustice posed by the climate crisis.

    The analysis showed that a child
born in 2020 will endure an average of
30 extreme heatwaves in their lifetime,
even if countries fulfil their current
[15] pledges to cut future carbon emissions.
That is seven times more heatwaves
than someone born in 1960. Today’s
babies will also grow up to experience
twice as many droughts and wildfires
[20] and three times more river floods and
crop failures than someone who is 60
years old today.

    However, rapidly cutting global
emissions to keep global heating to
[25] 1.5C would almost halve the heatwaves
today’s children will experience, while
keeping under 2C would reduce the
number by a quarter.

   A vital task of the UN’s Cop26
[30] climate summit in Glasgow in November
is to deliver pledges of bigger emissions
cuts from the most polluting countries
and climate justice will be an important
element of the negotiations. Developing
[35] countries, and the youth strike
protesters who have taken to the
streets around the world, point out that
those who did least to cause the climate
crisis are suffering the most.

 [40]    “Our results highlight a severe
threat to the safety of young
generations and call for drastic emission
reductions to safeguard their future,”
said Prof Wim Thiery, at Vrije

[45] Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and who
led the research. He said people under
40 today were set to live
“unprecedented” lives, ie suffering
heatwaves, droughts, floods and crop
[50] failures that would have been virtually
impossible – 0.01% chance – without
global heating

    Dr Katja Frieler, at the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research in
[55] Germany and part of the study team,
said: “The good news is we can take
much of the climate burden from our
children’s shoulders if we limit warming
to 1.5C by phasing out fossil fuel use.
[60] This is a huge opportunity.”

    Leo Hickman, editor of Carbon
Brief, said: “These new findings
reinforce our 2019 analysis which
showed that today’s children will need
[65] to emit eight times less CO2 over the
course of their lifetime than their
grandparents, if global warming is to be
kept below 1.5C. Climate change is
already exacerbating many injustices,
[70] but the intergenerational injustice of
climate change is particularly stark.”

    The research, published in the
journal Science, combined extreme
event projections from sophisticated
[75] computer climate models, detailed
population and life expectancy data,
and global temperature trajectories
from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.

  [80]   The scientists said the increases
in climate impacts calculated for today’s
young people were likely to be
underestimates, as multiple extremes
within a year had to be grouped
together and the greater intensity of
[85] events was not accounted for.

    There was significant regional
variation in the results. For example,
the 53 million children born in Europe
and central Asia between 2016 and
[90] 2020 will experience about four times
more extreme events in their lifetimes
under current emissions pledges, but
the 172 million children of the same age
in sub-Saharan Africa face 5.7 times
[95] more extreme events.

    “This highlights a disproportionate
climate change burden for young
generations in the global south,” the
researchers said.

 [100]   Dohyeon Kim, an activist from
South Korea who took part in the global
climate strike on Friday, said:
“Countries of the global north need to
push governments to put justice and
[105] equity at the heart of climate action,
both in terms of climate [aid] and
setting more ambitious pledges that

take into consideration historical
responsibilities.”

[110]   The analysis found that only those
aged under 40 years today will live to
see the consequences of the choices
made on emissions cuts. Those who are
older will have died before the impacts
[115] of those choices become apparent in the
world.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ 2021/sep/27/

T E X T

    Now, according to an annual survey
by the Babson Survey Research Group and
the Online Learning Consortium, more than
6.3 million students took at least one
[5] distance education course in the Fall 2016
semester (the most recent academic year
for which data is available). That’s 31.6
percent of all higher education
enrollments, according to the study, and
[10] about half of them were taking all of their
classes online.

    Many of these students are traditional
age. But for adult students (generally
defined as those 25 and over, working full

[15] time jobs or with parenting
responsibilities) online education is a
particularly attractive option. Citing several
studies, Louis Soares, chief learning and
innovation officer for the American Council
[20] on Education, says that about a third of all
adult students — roughly 13 million — are
pursuing advanced degrees online.

    “I think it has given adult students
more opportunities,” Mr. Soares said. “If
[25] done correctly, online education can create
a robust learning experience.”

    Research has shown that students can
learn as well online as they can in a face to
face classroom, according to Jovita Ross

[30] Gordon, a professor at Texas State
University.

    “In terms of pros and cons, it offers
great convenience and access for
populations who might not otherwise have
[35] it,” said Professor Ross-Gordon, an expert
on adult education. “But a certain degree
of self-direction is required. And it can be
isolating for some folks.”

    The vast majority of colleges and
[40] universities in the United States offer at
least some online classes, but there are
still those who question its legitimacy and
also the quality of for-profit colleges whose
curriculum is offered solely online.

[45]    Walden University, where Mr. Haynes
is earning his doctoral degree, is one such
institution. He said that he researched the
school through the V.A. and other sources,
and heard positive reports from a friend
[50] who was also pursuing his doctorate in
business administration at Walden, which
Mr. Haynes learned was accredited by the
Accreditation Council for Business Schools.

    For Manda Gibson, online education is
[55] the preferred mode of learning. “I love it,”
said Ms. Gibson, 45, the mother of four,
who works full-time as an instructional
designer at Simpson College in Indianola,
Iowa. Ms. Gibson is pursuing her master’s
[60] in business administration online with

Colorado State University-Global Campus,
and before that earned a bachelor of arts
in management, taking mostly online
classes, at Simpson.

[65]    “When I sit in a regular class, my
mind wanders,” she says. “`Did I do this
for my kids?’ ‘What am I making for dinner
tonight?’ When I do online, I can say, ‘this
hour is my hour.’”

[70]    But she says, with the flexibility of
online education comes responsibility. “You
have to take it seriously,” she said. “Some
people think online classes are easier. I
think it’s actually more work. Because you
[75] might have to spend more time with the
content.”

    Time is a commodity that Mr. Haynes,
like many adult learners, has little of. He
and his wife — Sgt. Chelsea Aiko Haynes
[80] of the Army — have six children, ranging
in age from 1 to 17. He is also active with
the Semper Fi Fund, a nonprofit
organization that provides financial
assistance for catastrophically injured
[85] servicemen and women. But most days,
after the children are off to school and his
wife is at her job at the Pentagon, he sits
down in the living room with his MacBook
Air and gets ready to learn. “I open the
[90] blinds to get some natural sunlight in,” he
said. “The TV’s off, the phone’s on vibrate.
And I commit myself fully to my studies.”

    Here are some tips for success in
online education for adult learners, from
[95] Jeremy Haynes and Manda Gibson, two
students who have flourished in this
learning environment, and from George
Haber, an adjunct professor at Vaughn
College in Queens, and a veteran of over
[100] 25 years of teaching online.

    Set aside specific time periods when
you can do required reading or writing and
stick to the schedule, whether it’s an hour
a night three nights a week; Saturday or
[105] Sunday morning; or some combination.

    Get acquainted with your academic
adviser from the start, as he or she is your
lifeline for anything at the institution.

    Choose a subject for your first
[110] online class that you’re interested in, if
possible. You will be more likely to become
engaged in the material and learn the
technology.

    Ask questions and reach out for help
[115] early. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t
understand something; a quality online
program will not only have self-help
tutorials, but also good student services to
help with the details.

[120]    Take part in any online discussions
or forums. Your lack of participation will be
easily noted by the instructor.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/

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    Is owning a dog good for your health?

    Dogs really are our best friends, according to a Swedish study that says canine ownership could reduce heart disease. A study of 3.4 million people between the ages of 40 and 80 found that having a dog was associated with a 23% reduction in death from heart disease and a 20% lower risk of dying from any cause over the 12 years of the study.

    Previous studies have suggested dogs relieve social isolation and depression – both linked to an increased risk of heart disease and early death. Dog owners show better responses to stress, their blood pressure and pulse rates don’t soar, have higher levels of physical activity and slightly lower cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association was sufficiently swayed by a review of dozens of studies to release a statement in 2013 saying that owning a dog “was probably” associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Their reluctance to more strongly endorse dog ownership is because most studies are what is called observational – researchers note an association, but can’t prove causation. This means that other factors might explain why dog owners are healthier than, say, goldfish owners – for example, perhaps only people who are fit in the first place buy pets that need daily walks.

    Tove Fall, an epidemiologist and the lead author of this latest study, says they tried their best to allow for any differences in education, existing ill-health and lifestyles between those with and without dogs. The study found the biggest positive impact of having a dog was on people living alone. “It seems that a dog can be a substitute for living with other people in terms of reducing the risk of dying,” says Fall. “Dogs encourage you to walk, they provide social support and they make life more meaningful. If you have a dog, you interact more with other people. If you do get ill and go into hospital and you have a dog, there’s a huge motivation to try to get back home.” Of course, getting a dog and watching it from your sofa while you eat fatty food is not going to reduce your risk of heart disease.

(Luisa Dillner. www.theguardian.com, 04.12.2017. Adaptado.)

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A civil rights 'emergency': justice, clean air and water in the age of Trump
by Oliver Milman in New York

The Trump administration’s dismantling of environmental regulations has intensified a growing civil rights battle over the deadly burden of pollution on minorities and low-income people. Black, Latino and disadvantaged people have long been disproportionately afflicted by toxins from industrial plants, cars, hazardous housing conditions and other sources. But political leaders, academics and activists spoke of a growing urgency around the struggle for environmental justice as the Trump administration peels away rules designed to protect clean air and water.

“What we are seeing is the institutionalization of discrimination again, the thing we’ve fought for 40 years,” said Robert Bullard, an academic widely considered the father of the environmental justice movement. “There are people in fence-line communities who are now very worried. If the federal government doesn’t monitor and regulate, and gives the states a green light to do what they want, we are going to get more pollution, more people will get sick. There will be more deaths.”

(Excerpt from the site: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/20/environmental-justice-in-the-age-of-trump. Researched on November 2017.)