Questões de Inglês

The benefits of getting older

[1]   “Growing old is great – when you consider the alternative,” as the saying goes.
    Welcome to the age of ageing. With more than 800 million people over 60 and more centenarians
than the population of Iceland (that’s about 329,000), the world is having to brace itself for the economic –
and social – consequences. From a deluge of diseases to sagging skin and the dulling of the senses, old age
[5] is beset with creeping failures, medical interventions, and low expectations. But can there be a silver lining
for those joining the grey brigade?
    Growing old has been synonymous with bodily decay since ancient times. The Greeks had a
particularly dire view – many saw ageing itself as a disease. Yet the latest scientific research suggests
ageing isn’t a straightforward decline after all. As BBC Future has reported before, life peaks later than you
[10] might think.
When does old age begin?
    The poet Dante believed old age started at 45. A survey of the British public concluded that it starts
at 59 – the older the respondent, the greater the number of years they considered old. But the United Nations
and most scientists define it as any age after 60.
[15] Fewer colds
    It’s not just the brain that gets wiser with age. The human immune system encounters millions of
potential dangers every day. As the body’s police force, it needs to learn to spot the dangers. For this, we
produce unique white blood cells which are tailored to the molecular appearances of millions of different
invaders. When they recognise a foe they stick around, forming an “immune memory”. The next time it
[20] turns up, they help to rally a rapid response.
   The immune system remembers past enemies, making colds easier to beat when you get older
(Credit: Science Photo Library)
    John Upham from the University of Queensland says this memory can last a long time. “People who
have gone through various epidemics, their immune systems can remember the virus for 40 or 50 years in
[25] some cases. It does begin to drop off in your 70s or 80s, but there’s a bit of a sweet spot for people –
particularly from your 40s through to your late 60s and early 70s – where the immune system remembers
the viruses experienced over the years.”
    This cumulative protection translates into fewer colds. While 20-year olds can expect to catch two or
three in a year, over 50s average only one or two.
[30]    Other immune defences however, tend to weaken with age. The body produces fewer new white
blood cells, and they become sluggish. Aged immune systems also produce less antibodies – proteins which
stick to pathogens to help identify and eliminate them. But what if this could be life-saving? […]

Declining allergies
    And there’s good news for those with allergies, too. While the ultimate causes of allergies are still
[35] hotly debated, all are mediated by antibodies. The main culprit is Immunoglobulin E and like all other
antibodies, its production diminishes with age.
    Mitchell Grayson from the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin says the older you get, the less severe
the symptoms are likely to be. “Allergic disease peaks in childhood and then seems to decrease throughout
late adolescence and into their 20s. In the 30s there is another resurgence until people get into their 50s
[40] and 60s when the symptoms tend to get less common.” [...]
(Disponível em: <http://www.bbc.com>. Acesso em: 3 nov. 2015.)

The benefits of getting older

[1]   “Growing old is great – when you consider the alternative,” as the saying goes.
    Welcome to the age of ageing. With more than 800 million people over 60 and more centenarians
than the population of Iceland (that’s about 329,000), the world is having to brace itself for the economic –
and social – consequences. From a deluge of diseases to sagging skin and the dulling of the senses, old age
[5] is beset with creeping failures, medical interventions, and low expectations. But can there be a silver lining
for those joining the grey brigade?
    Growing old has been synonymous with bodily decay since ancient times. The Greeks had a
particularly dire view – many saw ageing itself as a disease. Yet the latest scientific research suggests
ageing isn’t a straightforward decline after all. As BBC Future has reported before, life peaks later than you
[10] might think.
When does old age begin?
    The poet Dante believed old age started at 45. A survey of the British public concluded that it starts
at 59 – the older the respondent, the greater the number of years they considered old. But the United Nations
and most scientists define it as any age after 60.
[15] Fewer colds
    It’s not just the brain that gets wiser with age. The human immune system encounters millions of
potential dangers every day. As the body’s police force, it needs to learn to spot the dangers. For this, we
produce unique white blood cells which are tailored to the molecular appearances of millions of different
invaders. When they recognise a foe they stick around, forming an “immune memory”. The next time it
[20] turns up, they help to rally a rapid response.
   The immune system remembers past enemies, making colds easier to beat when you get older
(Credit: Science Photo Library)
    John Upham from the University of Queensland says this memory can last a long time. “People who
have gone through various epidemics, their immune systems can remember the virus for 40 or 50 years in
[25] some cases. It does begin to drop off in your 70s or 80s, but there’s a bit of a sweet spot for people –
particularly from your 40s through to your late 60s and early 70s – where the immune system remembers
the viruses experienced over the years.”
    This cumulative protection translates into fewer colds. While 20-year olds can expect to catch two or
three in a year, over 50s average only one or two.
[30]    Other immune defences however, tend to weaken with age. The body produces fewer new white
blood cells, and they become sluggish. Aged immune systems also produce less antibodies – proteins which
stick to pathogens to help identify and eliminate them. But what if this could be life-saving? […]

Declining allergies
    And there’s good news for those with allergies, too. While the ultimate causes of allergies are still
[35] hotly debated, all are mediated by antibodies. The main culprit is Immunoglobulin E and like all other
antibodies, its production diminishes with age.
    Mitchell Grayson from the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin says the older you get, the less severe
the symptoms are likely to be. “Allergic disease peaks in childhood and then seems to decrease throughout
late adolescence and into their 20s. In the 30s there is another resurgence until people get into their 50s
[40] and 60s when the symptoms tend to get less common.” [...]
(Disponível em: <http://www.bbc.com>. Acesso em: 3 nov. 2015.)

Snake “not guilty of killing Cleopatra”

[1]    The story that Cleopatra, ancient queen of Egypt, was killed by a snake bite has been rejected as
“impossible” by University of Manchester academics.
    Egyptologists and snake experts have combined to examine the plausibility of the tale of the queen
being killed by a cobra hidden in a basket of figs.
[5]    They believe a snake big enough to kill the queen and two maids would not have been small enough
to be concealed.
    They also challenge the credibility of three consecutive fatal bites.
  Cleopatra, who died at the age of 39 in 30BC, was a ruler of Egypt who became embroiled in power
struggles within the Roman empire.
[10]   But her story and her death have become part of popular legend, portrayed in fictional form from
Hollywood epics to Carry On films and television comedy. [...]
    From Roman sources onwards, her death has often been attributed to a poisonous snake or “asp”,
with the queen using the fatal bite as a way of ending her own life.
    But Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley and Andrew Gray, curator of herpetology at Manchester Museum,
[15] say the supposed culprit – a cobra – would have been too physically big to be concealed in the way that has
been portrayed.
    They are typically 5-6ft long and can grow to 8ft (2.5m), and the Manchester experts reject the idea
such a snake could be hidden in the way suggested.

    Even if such a snake had been smuggled in to Cleopatra, they say it would have been very unlikely
[20] that it could have killed Cleopatra and two of her servants in quick succession.
    “Not only are cobras too big, but there’s just a 10% chance you would die from a snake bite: most
bites are dry bites that don’t inject venom,” said Mr Gray.
    “That’s not to say they aren’t dangerous: the venom causes necrosis and will certainly kill you, but
quite slowly.
[25]    “So it would be impossible to use a snake to kill two or three people one after the other.”
    “Snakes use venom to protect themselves and for hunting – so they conserve their venom and use it
in times of need.”
    Dr Tyldesley, author of Cleopatra: Egypt’s Last Queen, is a contributor to a free online course – a
Mooc – about ancient Egypt made by the university.
[30]    The course, A History of Ancient Egypt, is being launched next week and will study Egypt from
before the pharaohs through the relationships with Greece and Rome and ending with Cleopatra. 

(Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2015. Adaptado.)

Snake “not guilty of killing Cleopatra”

[1]    The story that Cleopatra, ancient queen of Egypt, was killed by a snake bite has been rejected as
“impossible” by University of Manchester academics.
    Egyptologists and snake experts have combined to examine the plausibility of the tale of the queen
being killed by a cobra hidden in a basket of figs.
[5]    They believe a snake big enough to kill the queen and two maids would not have been small enough
to be concealed.
    They also challenge the credibility of three consecutive fatal bites.
  Cleopatra, who died at the age of 39 in 30BC, was a ruler of Egypt who became embroiled in power
struggles within the Roman empire.
[10]   But her story and her death have become part of popular legend, portrayed in fictional form from
Hollywood epics to Carry On films and television comedy. [...]
    From Roman sources onwards, her death has often been attributed to a poisonous snake or “asp”,
with the queen using the fatal bite as a way of ending her own life.
    But Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley and Andrew Gray, curator of herpetology at Manchester Museum,
[15] say the supposed culprit – a cobra – would have been too physically big to be concealed in the way that has
been portrayed.
    They are typically 5-6ft long and can grow to 8ft (2.5m), and the Manchester experts reject the idea
such a snake could be hidden in the way suggested.

    Even if such a snake had been smuggled in to Cleopatra, they say it would have been very unlikely
[20] that it could have killed Cleopatra and two of her servants in quick succession.
    “Not only are cobras too big, but there’s just a 10% chance you would die from a snake bite: most
bites are dry bites that don’t inject venom,” said Mr Gray.
    “That’s not to say they aren’t dangerous: the venom causes necrosis and will certainly kill you, but
quite slowly.
[25]    “So it would be impossible to use a snake to kill two or three people one after the other.”
    “Snakes use venom to protect themselves and for hunting – so they conserve their venom and use it
in times of need.”
    Dr Tyldesley, author of Cleopatra: Egypt’s Last Queen, is a contributor to a free online course – a
Mooc – about ancient Egypt made by the university.
[30]    The course, A History of Ancient Egypt, is being launched next week and will study Egypt from
before the pharaohs through the relationships with Greece and Rome and ending with Cleopatra. 

(Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2015. Adaptado.)

Snake “not guilty of killing Cleopatra”

[1]    The story that Cleopatra, ancient queen of Egypt, was killed by a snake bite has been rejected as
“impossible” by University of Manchester academics.
    Egyptologists and snake experts have combined to examine the plausibility of the tale of the queen
being killed by a cobra hidden in a basket of figs.
[5]    They believe a snake big enough to kill the queen and two maids would not have been small enough
to be concealed.
    They also challenge the credibility of three consecutive fatal bites.
  Cleopatra, who died at the age of 39 in 30BC, was a ruler of Egypt who became embroiled in power
struggles within the Roman empire.
[10]   But her story and her death have become part of popular legend, portrayed in fictional form from
Hollywood epics to Carry On films and television comedy. [...]
    From Roman sources onwards, her death has often been attributed to a poisonous snake or “asp”,
with the queen using the fatal bite as a way of ending her own life.
    But Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley and Andrew Gray, curator of herpetology at Manchester Museum,
[15] say the supposed culprit – a cobra – would have been too physically big to be concealed in the way that has
been portrayed.
    They are typically 5-6ft long and can grow to 8ft (2.5m), and the Manchester experts reject the idea
such a snake could be hidden in the way suggested.

    Even if such a snake had been smuggled in to Cleopatra, they say it would have been very unlikely
[20] that it could have killed Cleopatra and two of her servants in quick succession.
    “Not only are cobras too big, but there’s just a 10% chance you would die from a snake bite: most
bites are dry bites that don’t inject venom,” said Mr Gray.
    “That’s not to say they aren’t dangerous: the venom causes necrosis and will certainly kill you, but
quite slowly.
[25]    “So it would be impossible to use a snake to kill two or three people one after the other.”
    “Snakes use venom to protect themselves and for hunting – so they conserve their venom and use it
in times of need.”
    Dr Tyldesley, author of Cleopatra: Egypt’s Last Queen, is a contributor to a free online course – a
Mooc – about ancient Egypt made by the university.
[30]    The course, A History of Ancient Egypt, is being launched next week and will study Egypt from
before the pharaohs through the relationships with Greece and Rome and ending with Cleopatra. 

(Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2015. Adaptado.)

Texto
 

Understanding Addiction
How Addiction Hijacks the Brain

[1] Key Points
   • Addiction involves craving for something intensely, loss of control over its use, and continuing
involvement with it despite adverse consequences.
    • Addiction changes the brain, first by subverting the way it registers pleasure and then by corrupting
[5] other normal drives such as learning and motivation.
    • Although breaking an addiction is tough, it can be done.
What causes addiction?
    The word “addiction” is derived from a Latin term for “enslaved by” or “bound to.” Anyone who has
struggled to overcome an addiction – or has tried to help someone else to do so – understands why.
[10]    Addiction exerts a long and powerful influence on the brain that manifests in three distinct ways:
craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite
adverse consequences.
    For many years, experts believed that only alcohol and powerful drugs could cause addiction.
Neuroimaging technologies and more recent research, however, have shown that certain pleasurable
[15] activities, such as gambling, shopping, and sex, can also co-opt the brain.
    Although a standard U.S. diagnostic manual (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fourth Edition or DSM-IV) describes multiple addictions, each tied to a specific substance or
activity, consensus is emerging that these may represent multiple expressions of a common underlying brain
process.
(Disponível em: <http://www.helpguide.org>. Acesso em: 2 nov. 2015. Adaptado.)