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Singing away the coronavirus blues: making music in a time of crisis reminds us we belong

March 24, 2020

By Michelle Langley and Leah Coutts

In being confined to our homes, we are missing our normal social support from friends and family, and our freedom
to control our day-to-day lives. But making music provides a means to regain control.
People in Spain have been filmed acting out with music, creating duos across apartment buildings. The citizens of
Wuhan chanting “Keep it up, Wuhan!” and singing patriotic songs from their windows encouraged themselves and
[5] their neighbours in their efforts to save their city. In Italy, citizens have been playing instruments and singing from
their balconies during their lockdown. Parodies on YouTube are both lifting community spirits and reminding people
to look after each other.
For some, this behaviour might have begun with trying to break the tedium of staying confined at home. But others
clearly wished to support their community in one of the only ways they had left available to them: by making music.
[10] It is an antidote to the growing sense of alienation and isolation in society in general – even more so now we are
being asked to actively practise social distancing and isolation. In the face of uncertainty and panic, music is a social
balm for soothing anxiety, enhancing community connections and acting in defiance of a threat to community spirit.
During the coronavirus crisis, community support has evolved from a series of spontaneous musical flash mobs to
connect with each other to coordinated displays of appreciation – including clapping, shouting and singing – to
[15] acknowledge the health workers on the front lines. Much like singing, this external expression of gratitude is helping
people to cope in times of crisis: providing personal and social development, mental health and well-being benefits,
and community strength and harmony.
Finding the first evidence for singing – likely our first foray into music – is impossible, though instruments dating
back some 40,000 years have been found in Europe. These bone flutes would not be the first instruments to be
[20] created, however, as they already show signs of complex design and most musical tools, such as skin drums,
couldn’t survive the many thousands of years to discovery by an archaeologist.
Today, music is the most consumed form of culture. People listen to music to regulate their mood, to achieve self

awareness, and as an expression of personal and collective identity and social relatedness.

The ability of music to increase social cohesion and direct human attention was probably a key reason for its
[25] development throughout human behavioural evolution, allowing early humans to convey emotions and intentions
effectively. This communication could prove decisive in times of stress, and ultimately mean the difference between
life and death. Now, we are seeing this age-old human adaptation once again being mobilised in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic to keep communities pulling together.

Retrieved and adapted from https://theconversation.com/singing-away-the-coronavirus-blues-making-music-in-a-time-of-crisis-reminds-us-webelong-133790. Access on April 20, 2020.

Text

Singing away the coronavirus blues: making music in a time of crisis reminds us we belong

March 24, 2020

By Michelle Langley and Leah Coutts

In being confined to our homes, we are missing our normal social support from friends and family, and our freedom
to control our day-to-day lives. But making music provides a means to regain control.
People in Spain have been filmed acting out with music, creating duos across apartment buildings. The citizens of
Wuhan chanting “Keep it up, Wuhan!” and singing patriotic songs from their windows encouraged themselves and
[5] their neighbours in their efforts to save their city. In Italy, citizens have been playing instruments and singing from
their balconies during their lockdown. Parodies on YouTube are both lifting community spirits and reminding people
to look after each other.
For some, this behaviour might have begun with trying to break the tedium of staying confined at home. But others
clearly wished to support their community in one of the only ways they had left available to them: by making music.
[10] It is an antidote to the growing sense of alienation and isolation in society in general – even more so now we are
being asked to actively practise social distancing and isolation. In the face of uncertainty and panic, music is a social
balm for soothing anxiety, enhancing community connections and acting in defiance of a threat to community spirit.
During the coronavirus crisis, community support has evolved from a series of spontaneous musical flash mobs to
connect with each other to coordinated displays of appreciation – including clapping, shouting and singing – to
[15] acknowledge the health workers on the front lines. Much like singing, this external expression of gratitude is helping
people to cope in times of crisis: providing personal and social development, mental health and well-being benefits,
and community strength and harmony.
Finding the first evidence for singing – likely our first foray into music – is impossible, though instruments dating
back some 40,000 years have been found in Europe. These bone flutes would not be the first instruments to be
[20] created, however, as they already show signs of complex design and most musical tools, such as skin drums,
couldn’t survive the many thousands of years to discovery by an archaeologist.
Today, music is the most consumed form of culture. People listen to music to regulate their mood, to achieve self

awareness, and as an expression of personal and collective identity and social relatedness.

The ability of music to increase social cohesion and direct human attention was probably a key reason for its
[25] development throughout human behavioural evolution, allowing early humans to convey emotions and intentions
effectively. This communication could prove decisive in times of stress, and ultimately mean the difference between
life and death. Now, we are seeing this age-old human adaptation once again being mobilised in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic to keep communities pulling together.

Retrieved and adapted from https://theconversation.com/singing-away-the-coronavirus-blues-making-music-in-a-time-of-crisis-reminds-us-webelong-133790. Access on April 20, 2020.

Text

Zoom's massive 'overnight success' actually took nine years

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business

When you think of a social network, you probably imagine news feeds, birthday reminders and baby photos. But
the social network of the moment -- the one that's currently getting more app downloads than either Snapchat or
TikTok -- looks a little different: It's a videoconferencing service called Zoom, where many peoples' work and social
lives now unfold.
[5] As the coronavirus pandemic has forced millions around the world to stay in their homes, the 9-year-old platform
has emerged as the go-to service for not only virtual meetings and classroom lessons but happy hours, costume
parties, church services, brunches, book clubs and romantic dates. Like Facebook and Twitter, it's also become a
key part of internet culture: The Facebook Group "Zoom Memes for Self Quarantines," with nearly 395,000
members, offers a steady stream of jokes, ranging from a video of a student pretending Zoom is glitchy to get out
[10] of a homework assignment to a professor starting a lesson with cameos from stuffed animals.
From the start, Zoom aspired to stand out in a market of products that were probably more hated than loved. In
a letter to shareholders included with its paperwork for going public a year ago, founder and CEO Eric Yuan talked
about "how unhappy" people were with the videoconference tools on the market. But that was before the pandemic.
Now video conferencing tools have gone from the punchline of a dry office joke to a vital social lifeline - and perhaps
[15] none more so than Zoom.
Zoom's free version can host up 100 video participants at once - Microsoft (MSFT- owned Skype's free model allows
for 50 - and features personalized tools, including the ability to pick from different backgrounds (whether it be the
Golden Gate Bridge option or a picture you upload), change the camera angles, hold encrypted private calls, send
direct messages and record sessions. In recent weeks, Zoom has emerged as the most downloaded app on the
[20] Apple App Store, repeatedly breaking its download records.
The company launched in 2011 when Yuan left Cisco as a founding engineer on its WebEx video platform, one
of Zoom's rivals. In April 2019, Zoom went public and fared better than splashier tech companies such as Lyft and
Uber, which held their IPOs around the same time. Zoom shares surged 72% on its first day of trading, giving it
a market valuation of $16 billion. As of Friday, Zoom was valued at more than $40 billion, or roughly as much
[25] as Uber. (Unlike Uber, Zoom is actually profitable.)
From the start of its life as a publicly traded company, investors seemed to ________ Yuan's vision, as laid out his
letter to shareholders: "video is the future of communications." But it looks like that future came much faster and
more abruptly than anyone could have expected. "This is a very critical moment," Yuan said on a conference call
with analysts earlier this month. "Overnight almost everybody read and understood they needed a tool like this." At
[30] the same time, Zoom must work to keep its service up and running amid surging demand for online communication
tools and social networks that has strained far bigger platforms.

Retrieved and adapted from: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/27/tech/zoom-appcoronavirus/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0IPLspbqiLT_Y7Eo4wLLSSk8O4pzWPW8z2y_Uhdk86WqIFOCnae7grLpQ. Access on April 05, 2020.

Text

Zoom's massive 'overnight success' actually took nine years

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business

When you think of a social network, you probably imagine news feeds, birthday reminders and baby photos. But
the social network of the moment -- the one that's currently getting more app downloads than either Snapchat or
TikTok -- looks a little different: It's a videoconferencing service called Zoom, where many peoples' work and social
lives now unfold.
[5] As the coronavirus pandemic has forced millions around the world to stay in their homes, the 9-year-old platform
has emerged as the go-to service for not only virtual meetings and classroom lessons but happy hours, costume
parties, church services, brunches, book clubs and romantic dates. Like Facebook and Twitter, it's also become a
key part of internet culture: The Facebook Group "Zoom Memes for Self Quarantines," with nearly 395,000
members, offers a steady stream of jokes, ranging from a video of a student pretending Zoom is glitchy to get out
[10] of a homework assignment to a professor starting a lesson with cameos from stuffed animals.
From the start, Zoom aspired to stand out in a market of products that were probably more hated than loved. In
a letter to shareholders included with its paperwork for going public a year ago, founder and CEO Eric Yuan talked
about "how unhappy" people were with the videoconference tools on the market. But that was before the pandemic.
Now video conferencing tools have gone from the punchline of a dry office joke to a vital social lifeline - and perhaps
[15] none more so than Zoom.
Zoom's free version can host up 100 video participants at once - Microsoft (MSFT- owned Skype's free model allows
for 50 - and features personalized tools, including the ability to pick from different backgrounds (whether it be the
Golden Gate Bridge option or a picture you upload), change the camera angles, hold encrypted private calls, send
direct messages and record sessions. In recent weeks, Zoom has emerged as the most downloaded app on the
[20] Apple App Store, repeatedly breaking its download records.
The company launched in 2011 when Yuan left Cisco as a founding engineer on its WebEx video platform, one
of Zoom's rivals. In April 2019, Zoom went public and fared better than splashier tech companies such as Lyft and
Uber, which held their IPOs around the same time. Zoom shares surged 72% on its first day of trading, giving it
a market valuation of $16 billion. As of Friday, Zoom was valued at more than $40 billion, or roughly as much
[25] as Uber. (Unlike Uber, Zoom is actually profitable.)
From the start of its life as a publicly traded company, investors seemed to ________ Yuan's vision, as laid out his
letter to shareholders: "video is the future of communications." But it looks like that future came much faster and
more abruptly than anyone could have expected. "This is a very critical moment," Yuan said on a conference call
with analysts earlier this month. "Overnight almost everybody read and understood they needed a tool like this." At
[30] the same time, Zoom must work to keep its service up and running amid surging demand for online communication
tools and social networks that has strained far bigger platforms.

Retrieved and adapted from: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/27/tech/zoom-appcoronavirus/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0IPLspbqiLT_Y7Eo4wLLSSk8O4pzWPW8z2y_Uhdk86WqIFOCnae7grLpQ. Access on April 05, 2020.

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Tower of London’s “queen” raven Merlina missing

    Merlina, who joined the flock in 2007, has not been seen for several weeks.

    The Tower usually has six ravens at any time and, according to legend, if they ever leave then both the fortress and the kingdom will fall. There are currently seven in residence.

    A spokesman said Merlina’s “continued absence indicates to us that she may have sadly passed away”.

    He added: “Merlina was our undisputed ruler of the roost, queen of the Tower ravens. She will be greatly missed by her fellow ravens, the ravenmaster, and all of us in the Tower community.”

    Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife said he would be taking some time to mourn Merlina, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

    “I know so many of you lovely folk will be saddened by this news,” he said in a social media statement. “None more than me. Please excuse my absence for a few days.”

    Tower staff added that they had no immediate plans to replace Merlina. Charles II is believed to have been the first monarch to officially decree that the birds must be kept at the Tower at all times.

    When numbers fell to just a single raven guard, Winston Churchill ordered that the flock — known as an “unkindness” — was increased to at least six.

    In 2018 the Tower launched a raven breeding programme after Historic Royal Palaces warned it was becoming “increasingly difficult” to source the birds.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-55651104

Leia o texto e responda à questão.

Tower of London’s “queen” raven Merlina missing

    Merlina, who joined the flock in 2007, has not been seen for several weeks.

    The Tower usually has six ravens at any time and, according to legend, if they ever leave then both the fortress and the kingdom will fall. There are currently seven in residence.

    A spokesman said Merlina’s “continued absence indicates to us that she may have sadly passed away”.

    He added: “Merlina was our undisputed ruler of the roost, queen of the Tower ravens. She will be greatly missed by her fellow ravens, the ravenmaster, and all of us in the Tower community.”

    Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife said he would be taking some time to mourn Merlina, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

    “I know so many of you lovely folk will be saddened by this news,” he said in a social media statement. “None more than me. Please excuse my absence for a few days.”

    Tower staff added that they had no immediate plans to replace Merlina. Charles II is believed to have been the first monarch to officially decree that the birds must be kept at the Tower at all times.

    When numbers fell to just a single raven guard, Winston Churchill ordered that the flock — known as an “unkindness” — was increased to at least six.

    In 2018 the Tower launched a raven breeding programme after Historic Royal Palaces warned it was becoming “increasingly difficult” to source the birds.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-55651104