Questões de Inglês - Grammar
Leia o texto para responder à questão.
Because it is locked away inside the skull, the brain is hard to study. Looking at it requires finicky machines which use magnetism or electricity or both to bypass the bone. There is just one tendril of brain tissue that can be seen from outside the body without any mucking about of this sort. That is the retina. Look into someone’s eyes and you are, in some small way, looking at their brain.
This being so, a group of researchers decided to study the structure of the eye for signs of cognitive decline. Changes in the brain, they reasoned, might lead to changes in the nervous tissue connected to it. They focused on a part of the eye called the retinal nerve-fibre layer (RNFL). This is the lowest layer of the retina and serves to link the light-sensitive tissue above to the synapses which lead to the brain. The team’s results show that people with a thin RNFL are more likely to fail cognitive tests than those with a thick one. They are also more likely to suffer cognitive decline as they age.
(www.economist.com, 30.06.2018. Adaptado.)
No trecho do primeiro parágrafo “Looking at it requires finicky machines”, a palavra sublinhada refere-se a
Texto 2
What are the missing words in the cartoon? Consider context, grammar and the respective order to complete the blanks.
Read the text and answer question.
Good day! My name is Sheila. I’m from Melbourne, Australia. My ___________ is from Montreal, Canada. We live in Sydney. A lot of ___________ living in Australia come from other ___________.
Choose the best alternative to complete the blanks in the text:
Text
COPENHAGEN — The Nordic countries regularly appear at the top of an annual list of the world’s happiest nations, but their reputation as “happiness superpowers” masks the difficulties of a significant part of the population, a new analysis shows.
Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland led the 2018 ranking of the World Happiness Report, and Sweden wasn’t far behind, placing ninth. But in the five Nordic countries, an average of 12.3 percent of the population is “struggling” or “suffering,” according to a report by the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen.
[...]
The report, based on research conducted from 2012 to 2016, asked people to assess their satisfaction with life on a scale of zero to 10. Those who answered seven or higher were categorized as “thriving,” those who responded five or six were classified as “struggling,” and those who said four or lower were deemed to be “suffering.” Most respondents in the Nordic countries reported satisfaction of seven to nine.
The Nordic states have a sophisticated social net that means that young people face less pressure regarding education, health or jobs than do many of their peers elsewhere. The countries have some of the world’s highest taxes, but schools and hospitals are free, parental leave is generous, and unemployment benefits and care for the elderly help those no longer working. But with that security and help come expectations to do well, and pressure to be as happy as one’s peers.
[...]
The trends highlighted in the report appear to be backed up by various national studies conducted in the region. In Sweden, the number of people with depression increased 20 percent in 10 years, the national board on health and welfare said last year, a rise that was particularly pronounced among the young. In Denmark, people ages 16 to 24 are more lonely than are people in their grandparents’ generation, a national survey of 180,000 people conducted this year by the Danish Health Authority showed.
Mr. Birkjaer of the Happiness Research Institute noted that a performance culture and the growing use of social media contributed to depression, loneliness and stress.
“These problems are difficult to solve,” he said. “Let’s say social media are a major cause, then what do we do? Ban them? Something else would come in their place.” [...]
(Source: https://www.nytimes.com, retrieved on September 15, 2018)
What class of word does "rise" belong to in the sentence: " In Sweden, the number of people with depression increased 20 percent in 10 years, the national board on health and welfare said last year, a rise that was particularly pronounced among the young"(5th paragraph)?
Directions: Read the text below and answer question according to it.
Most Common Prejudices
What are some of the most common ways
people discriminate against each other? Some of the
areas where people show their intolerance are wellknown,
such as race. But others are less
[5] acknowledged1, even if more common:
Age: Ageism is more common than you think. Older
people are thought to be inflexible and stuck2 in the
past, while younger people are seen as inexperienced
and naive. One-fifth of working adults say they
[10] experience ageism in the workplace.
Class: Classism usually takes the form of
discrimination by wealthier people against those who
are less well off. However, classism goes both ways—
people of lower economic status can see the wealthy
[15] as elite snobs who, while monetarily secure, are
morally bankrupt3.
Color: Different from racism, colorism is discrimination
based only on the color of a person’s skin; how
relatively dark or light they are. Colorism takes place
[20] within and between races. It is common in multi-ethnic
and non-white societies and societies with historical
racial prejudice.
Ability: Usually called ableism, a less well-known form
of prejudice is discrimination against people with visible
[25] disabilities such as those in wheelchairs or with a
learning disability. The disabled face discrimination not
only from their peers4, but from institutions, schools,
employers, and landowners5 who are hesitant to
accommodate the disabled.
[30] Sex/Gender: Possibly the most universal and long
running prejudice is that based on a person’s gender or
sex. Historically, sexism has placed men in a more
advantageous position than women.
Weight/Size: In short, sizeism is discrimination based
[35] on a person’s body size or weight. Sizeism works with
social standards of beauty and usually takes the form
of discrimination against the overweight — anti-fat
prejudice.
Religion: Religious discrimination and persecution has
[40] been common throughout history. But prejudice based
on religious affiliation doesn’t end with organized
religion; atheists are prone6 to discrimination and being
discriminated against.
Sexual Orientation: Most commonly, prejudice based
[45] on sexual orientation includes discrimination against
those of a non-heterosexual orientation. Discrimination
against the non-heterosexual takes many forms
depending on the society. In some societies prejudice
is open and tolerated, but in most Western societies,
[50] bias7 against the non-heterosexual is more discreet.
Country of Origin: Nativism is a common form of
discrimination against immigrants to a country. Unlike
many other forms of discrimination, nativism is many
times encouraged and enforced by some public
[55] entities.
Which prejudice do you have? Which prejudice have
you experienced?
Adapted from https://aloftyexistence.wordpress.com
Glossary:
1 - acknowledged – reconhecidos (as)
2 - stuck – presos (as)
3 - bankrupt – falidos (as)
4 - peers - pares; colegas
5 - landowners – proprietários (as)
6 - prone – propensos (as)
7 - bias – julgamento ou opinião parcial
Mark the group of uncountable words extracted from the text above.
TEXT I
Ever had the feeling your past is slipping away? There’s a simple trick that should reinforce your recollections.
Have you ever seen or heard something amazing – a scene in a film, a joke or a song – only to forget it later on? Instead of the crystal clear images you wanted to recall, you’re instead left with scraps of images and mangled sentences, or more frustratingly still, nothing at all. Even monumental events, like meeting a film star, can sometimes fade surprisingly quickly.
There may be a disarmingly simple way to cement those memories, however. According to research by Chris Bird at the University of Sussex, all it requires is a few seconds of your time and a bit of imagination. Bird recently asked some students to lie in a brain scanner and view a series of short clips from YouTube (involving, for example, neighbors playing practical jokes on each other). Straight after some of the clips, they were given 40 seconds to replay the scene in their minds and describe it to themselves. For the others, they just moved onto a new video.
It turned out that simply describing the event to themselves massively improved their chances of remembering it accurately a week or so later: on average, they were able to remember twice as many details. Bird also found that his brain scans appeared to reflect the strength of the memory: when the activity during their descriptions closely mirrored the activation as they watched the video itself, the students seemed to have built particularly strong foundations for later recall.
That may, perhaps, be a sign of just how much effort and detail they were imagining as they described the scene. It could also be that it allowed the students to peg the events to other memories; one student compared a character in the clips to James Bond, for instance – instantly making him more memorable.
In other words, if you want to make sure something sticks in your mind, just take a minute or so to describe it to yourself, consciously and deliberately picking the most vivid details.
Bird can see how it might be particularly important in the courtroom. ―The findings have implications for any situation where accurate recall of an event is critical, such as witnessing an accident or crime,‖ he says. ―Memory for the event will be significantly improved if the witness rehearses the sequence of events as soon as possible afterwards.‖ But it could be equally helpful for anyone hoping to cling to something worth remembering.
Source: BBC
(Adapted from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/, Nov/2015)
Choose the item which best completes the sentence bellow: “The _____ practical way to cement the memories of your dreams is _____ write them down as soon as you can.”