Questões de Inglês

TEXTO:

  Electrical devices may disrupt the migration of 

some birds, a study suggests. A German team has found 

that electromagnetic fields produced by equipment and 

AM radio signals affect the animals’ navigational 

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

  Some birds perform remarkable feats of navigation, 

migrating halfway around the world. And it’s thought that 

a built-in compass, which senses the Earth’s magnetic 

field, helps them to find their way. 

[10]   But this latest study suggests that low frequency 

waves produced by devices plugged into the mains 

electricity, could be interfering with this ‘inner satellite 

navigation system’. Scientists found that migratory birds 

exposed to this electromagnetic noise lost all sense of 

[15] direction. But when the field was blocked out, they found 

their bearings again. 

  Researchers believe electrical interference could 

be a particular problem when birds fly over urban areas. 

They think the birds are forced to switch to back-up 

[20] navigational systems, staying on course using the sun 

and stars instead. 

MORELLE, Rebecca. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 13 out. 2014.

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

It’s stated in the text:

( ) During the winter, all birds travel to a warmer place of the world.

( ) When migrating, birds may be thrown off course by radio waves.

( ) Birds are believed to be equipped with a kind of device that helps them establish their location on Earth.

( ) Low frequency waves were found to be harmless to migratory birds.

The correct sequence, from top to bottom, is 

TEXTO:

The Checkup 

HEALTH NEWS EXAMINED 

Headline says: 

Can drugs for depression harm babies’ hearts? 

Science says: A study of more than 900,000 women found that those who took antidepressants while pregnant weren’t more likely to have fetuses with heart defects. That’s good news for the 8% to 13% of women who take the drugs, but if you’re pregnant, you should still talk to your physician about side effects.

Headline says: 

The FDA will limit salt in processed foods. 

Science says: The FDA is proposing a guideline on the amount of sodium that manufacturers can add to processed food. The agency says too much sodium leads to high blood pressure and heart disease – but for now it’s just a recommendation, so it’s strictly voluntary.

Headline says:

A broccoli drink can detox your blood

Science says: Scientists gave 300 Chinese men and women a broccoli-sprout beverage that cleared air-pollution toxins from their system faster than normal. The researchers think the answer lies in the cancerpreventing compounds found in the veggies.

PARK, Alice. The Checkup.Time/Jul 7-14, 2014, p.12.

Considering the use of antidepressants by pregnant women, the author thinks that they

TEXTO:

The Checkup 

HEALTH NEWS EXAMINED 

Headline says: 

Can drugs for depression harm babies’ hearts? 

Science says: A study of more than 900,000 women found that those who took antidepressants while pregnant weren’t more likely to have fetuses with heart defects. That’s good news for the 8% to 13% of women who take the drugs, but if you’re pregnant, you should still talk to your physician about side effects.

Headline says: 

The FDA will limit salt in processed foods. 

Science says: The FDA is proposing a guideline on the amount of sodium that manufacturers can add to processed food. The agency says too much sodium leads to high blood pressure and heart disease – but for now it’s just a recommendation, so it’s strictly voluntary.

Headline says:

A broccoli drink can detox your blood

Science says: Scientists gave 300 Chinese men and women a broccoli-sprout beverage that cleared air-pollution toxins from their system faster than normal. The researchers think the answer lies in the cancerpreventing compounds found in the veggies.

PARK, Alice. The Checkup.Time/Jul 7-14, 2014, p.12.

As an answer to the first headline “Can drugs for depression harm babies’ hearts?”, scientists say that, if a pregnant woman takes antidepressants, her baby

TEXTO:

Programmable brain cells

  Pluripotent stem cell research took off like a rocket 

in 2012. After discovering that skin cells can be 

genetically reprogrammed into stem cells, which can in 

turn be reprogrammed into just about any cell in the 

[5] human body, a team led by Sheng Ding at UCSF 

managed to engineer a working network of newborn 

neurons from a harvest of old skin cells. In other words, 

the team didn’t just convert skin cells into stem cells, 

then into neurons — they actually kept the batch of 

[10] neurons alive and functional long enough to self-organize 

into a primitive neural network. In the near future, it’s 

likely that we’ll be treating many kinds of brain injuries 

by growing brand-new neurons from other kinds of cells 

in a patient’s own body. This is already close on the 

[15] horizon for liver and heart cells — but the thought of 

being able to technologically shape the re-growth of a 

damaged brain is even more exciting. 

PROGRAMMABLE brain cells. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 13 out. 2014.

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

It’s stated in the text:

( ) In 2012, there were rapid advances and major breakthroughs in stem cell research and in neuroscience.

( ) A group of scientists has discovered a way to transform human skin cells into brain cells.

( ) The main weakness of stem cells is that they cannot be converted into neurons.

( ) New neurons can only be created from brand-new skin cells.

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

TEXTO:

  Member states of the World Health Organization 

(WHO), meeting in Geneva, have voted to postpone for a 

further three years a decision on whether to destroy the 

last remaining stocks of the deadly smallpox virus. 

[5]   Smallpox was eradicated in 1979 but two stocks 

of live smallpox virus remain. For years the debate over 

what to do with them has raged. In Geneva developing 

countries argued it was high time to destroy all known 

samples of a virus which in the past claimed millions of 

[10] lives. 

  But the United States and Russia, the two countries 

which hold the virus samples, wanted to keep them for 

at least another five years saying that if smallpox ever 

re-emerged, either by accident or even deliberately, the 

[15] samples could be needed to create a vaccine. 

  That argument seemed finally after days of division 

to sway member states, and they approved a 

compromise — postponing a decision on destroying the 

virus samples for another three years. 

[20]   And so the fate of one of the world’s deadliest 

viruses is still not decided and the debate over whether 

the world is safer with it, or without it, will continue. 

<www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/05/ 110527_witn_smallpox.shtm>. Acesso em: 13 out. 2014.

“a virus which in the past claimed millions of lives.” (l. 9-10)

The verb “claimed” in this sentence is closest in meaning to

TEXTO:

  Member states of the World Health Organization 

(WHO), meeting in Geneva, have voted to postpone for a 

further three years a decision on whether to destroy the 

last remaining stocks of the deadly smallpox virus. 

[5]   Smallpox was eradicated in 1979 but two stocks 

of live smallpox virus remain. For years the debate over 

what to do with them has raged. In Geneva developing 

countries argued it was high time to destroy all known 

samples of a virus which in the past claimed millions of 

[10] lives. 

  But the United States and Russia, the two countries 

which hold the virus samples, wanted to keep them for 

at least another five years saying that if smallpox ever 

re-emerged, either by accident or even deliberately, the 

[15] samples could be needed to create a vaccine. 

  That argument seemed finally after days of division 

to sway member states, and they approved a 

compromise — postponing a decision on destroying the 

virus samples for another three years. 

[20]   And so the fate of one of the world’s deadliest 

viruses is still not decided and the debate over whether 

the world is safer with it, or without it, will continue. 

<www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2011/05/ 110527_witn_smallpox.shtm>. Acesso em: 13 out. 2014.

Considering vocabulary use in the text, the only alternative in which the word or expression is not suitably defined is