Questões de Inglês

TEXTO: 

  Scientists believe they have found an area within 

the brain that controls the ageing process. In a series of 

experiments on mice, they found that changes to this 

region could shorten or lengthen the animal’s lifespan. 

[5] The study is published in the journal Nature. 

  The hypothalamus is a small structure located deep 

within the brain. It plays a critical role in controlling 

growth, reproduction and metabolism — but now it could 

hold the key to ageing too. 

[10]   A team of scientists in the US looked at this region 

of the brain in mice. They found that blocking a chemical 

in this area increased the animals’ lifespan. Healthy mice 

typically live for between 600 to 1000 days. 

  But the rodents in the study were living about a fifth 

[15] longer without suffering problems that are common in 

old age, such as muscle loss or memory problems. 

Conversely, when the scientists boosted the substance 

in the hypothalamus, the animal’s lifespan was 

shortened. 

[20]   The researchers now want to fully understand the 

biological mechanism behind this process. They say 

the work could provide new insights into age - related 

diseases — and in the future even raise the prospect of 

drugs that could increase our lifespan. 

Disponível em: <www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/05/130503_witn_ageing.shtml>. Acesso em: 12 out. 2013.

About the perspective of future research benefit from the present study, scientists feel 

TEXTO: 

  Scientists believe they have found an area within 

the brain that controls the ageing process. In a series of 

experiments on mice, they found that changes to this 

region could shorten or lengthen the animal’s lifespan. 

[5] The study is published in the journal Nature. 

  The hypothalamus is a small structure located deep 

within the brain. It plays a critical role in controlling 

growth, reproduction and metabolism — but now it could 

hold the key to ageing too. 

[10]   A team of scientists in the US looked at this region 

of the brain in mice. They found that blocking a chemical 

in this area increased the animals’ lifespan. Healthy mice 

typically live for between 600 to 1000 days. 

  But the rodents in the study were living about a fifth 

[15] longer without suffering problems that are common in 

old age, such as muscle loss or memory problems. 

Conversely, when the scientists boosted the substance 

in the hypothalamus, the animal’s lifespan was 

shortened. 

[20]   The researchers now want to fully understand the 

biological mechanism behind this process. They say 

the work could provide new insights into age - related 

diseases — and in the future even raise the prospect of 

drugs that could increase our lifespan. 

Disponível em: <www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/05/130503_witn_ageing.shtml>. Acesso em: 12 out. 2013.

A suitable title for this text is

TEXTO:

  Scientists say that a common ingredient found in 

Chinese herbal medicine is responsible for the very high 

incidence of some cancers and kidney disease in 

Taiwan. For thousands of years the aristolochia plant 

[5] with its reddish-yellow flowers has been a mainstay of 

Chinese herbal medicine. Sometimes referred to as 

birthwort in Europe, the toxic nature of the plant was 

discovered in the 1990s when dozens of Belgian women 

began developing kidney failure and urinary tract cancers. 

[10] They had been using aristolochia-based slimming aids 

at clinic. 

  Now scientists say that the key element, 

aristolochic acid, is responsible for the very high levels 

of kidney disease and urinary tract tumors in Taiwan. 

[15] It’s estimated that about one in three of the population 

there have used herbal medicines containing the toxin. 

The country has the world’s highest incidence of cancers 

of the upper urinary tract - and in their study the scientists 

say more than half can be directly linked to the ingredient. 

[20]   While products containing aristolochic acid are 

banned in many countries, one of the big concerns is 

China. In 2004 a study suggests Chinese farmers 

produce enough of the plant to dose 100 million people. 

Scientists are concerned, that in the decades to come, 

[25] disease caused by the aristolochia will create an 

international public health problem of considerable 

magnitude. 

Disponível em: <www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/04/120412_witn_herbal_medicine.shtml>. Acesso em: 12 out. 2013.

The Belgian women mentioned in the text were using aristolochia to

TEXTO:

  Scientists say that a common ingredient found in 

Chinese herbal medicine is responsible for the very high 

incidence of some cancers and kidney disease in 

Taiwan. For thousands of years the aristolochia plant 

[5] with its reddish-yellow flowers has been a mainstay of 

Chinese herbal medicine. Sometimes referred to as 

birthwort in Europe, the toxic nature of the plant was 

discovered in the 1990s when dozens of Belgian women 

began developing kidney failure and urinary tract cancers. 

[10] They had been using aristolochia-based slimming aids 

at clinic. 

  Now scientists say that the key element, 

aristolochic acid, is responsible for the very high levels 

of kidney disease and urinary tract tumors in Taiwan. 

[15] It’s estimated that about one in three of the population 

there have used herbal medicines containing the toxin. 

The country has the world’s highest incidence of cancers 

of the upper urinary tract - and in their study the scientists 

say more than half can be directly linked to the ingredient. 

[20]   While products containing aristolochic acid are 

banned in many countries, one of the big concerns is 

China. In 2004 a study suggests Chinese farmers 

produce enough of the plant to dose 100 million people. 

Scientists are concerned, that in the decades to come, 

[25] disease caused by the aristolochia will create an 

international public health problem of considerable 

magnitude. 

Disponível em: <www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/04/120412_witn_herbal_medicine.shtml>. Acesso em: 12 out. 2013.

Fill in the parentheses with T (True) or F (False).

About the aristolochia plant, it’s correct to say:

( ) It started being used as a natural remedy by the end of the last century.

( ) It has been an essential part of Chinese herbal medicine.

( ) Scientists have now confirmed that it is harmful.

( ) Its harmful nature was first detected in Belgium in the nineties.

According to the text, the correct sequence, from top to bottom, is

TEXTO:

  Life in the age of internet addiction 

          Just one more tweet, dad! 

  Anyone who spends their day staring at screens 

can speak to the modern-day epidemic of eye fatigue. 

But what is our digital obsession doing to our brains? 

Researchers have noted a rise in something called Digital 

[5] Attention Disorder — the addiction to social networks 

and computers in general. 

  How does it work? More than 50 years ago, 

psychologist B.F. Skinner was experimenting on rats 

and pigeons, and noticed that the unpredictability of 

[10] reward was a major motivator for animals. If a reward 

arrives either predictably or too infrequently, the animal 

eventually loses interest. But when there was anticipation 

of a reward that comes with just enough frequency, the 

animals’ brains would consistently release dopamine, a 

[15] neurotransmitter in the brain that (basically) regulates 

pleasure. 

  What does this have to do with the internet? Some 

researchers believe that intermittent reinforcement — in 

the form of texts, tweets, and various other social 

[20] media — may be working on our brains the same way 

rewards did on Skinner’s rats. “Internet addiction is the 

same as any other addiction — excessive release of 

dopamine,” says Hilarie Cash, executive director of the 

reStart program for internet addiction and recovery, a 

[25] Seattle-area rehab program that helps wean people off 

the internet. “Addiction is addiction. Whether it’s 

gambling, cocaine, alcohol, or Facebook.” 

  “The vast majority of the American population is 

mildly addicted to technology, and our clinic treats only 

[30] very serious cases,” she told me in a phone interview. 

“Most of the people that come are young adult males 

around the ages of 18 to 30 who spend a lot of time on 

the internet. Their health is poor, their social relationships 

have turned to crap, they have no social confidence or 

[35] real-world friends. They don’t date. They don’t work.” 

  Internet and video game addiction starts young. 

Most young men are given computer or video games 

when they are five or six years old and therefore their 

childhood development is profoundly wired for these 

[40] activities. It’s quite different to drug addicts and alcoholics 

who are usually exposed to drugs or alcohol closer to 

the age of 15. Internet addicts usually have 15 to 20 

years of addiction on them due to starting younger. 

  The problem isn’t just young men, either. “Women 

[45] are getting addicted, too,” Cash told me. ”Although 

women usually become addicted later in life and, more 

often than not, directly to social media, while men are 

more adept to becoming addicted to multiplayer games. 

Women seem to juggle addiction and life better than 

[50] men.” 

Life in the age of internet addiction. Disponível em: . Acesso em:12 out. 2013.

The word or expression from the text expresses what is stated on the right in alternative