Questões de Inglês

Moon phases tied to sleep cycles

By Nicholas Bakalar

July 31, 2013

The lunar cycle has been tied to a range of mysterious powers, from increases in violent crimes and hospital admissions to fertility and blood loss, and scientists consider most such beliefs nonsensical.

But now Swiss researchers have found evidence that the lunar cycle may affect sleep patterns. They found the connection by testing 33 healthy men and women, ages 20 to 74, in a sleep laboratory, and correlating the data with the moon’s phases. Thestudy appears in the Aug. 5 issue of Current Biology.

Melatonin levels, total sleep time and delta sleep time (the deepest sleep, as recorded by EEG) reached their lowest levels at full moon, and their highest as the moon waxed and waned. The average time it took to fall asleep and the time to arrive at REM sleep (the type of sleep in which dreams occur) followed the opposite pattern, longest at the full moon and shorter as it waxed and waned.

Christian Cojochen, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Basel, Switzerland, who led the study, was surprised and puzzled by the finding. “The only explanation we could come up with is that maybe there is a lunar clock in the brain, as found in other species like fish and other marine animals,” he said. “But we don’t have direct evidence for that.”

(http://well.blogs.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)

Moon phases tied to sleep cycles

By Nicholas Bakalar

July 31, 2013

The lunar cycle has been tied to a range of mysterious powers, from increases in violent crimes and hospital admissions to fertility and blood loss, and scientists consider most such beliefs nonsensical.

But now Swiss researchers have found evidence that the lunar cycle may affect sleep patterns. They found the connection by testing 33 healthy men and women, ages 20 to 74, in a sleep laboratory, and correlating the data with the moon’s phases. Thestudy appears in the Aug. 5 issue of Current Biology.

Melatonin levels, total sleep time and delta sleep time (the deepest sleep, as recorded by EEG) reached their lowest levels at full moon, and their highest as the moon waxed and waned. The average time it took to fall asleep and the time to arrive at REM sleep (the type of sleep in which dreams occur) followed the opposite pattern, longest at the full moon and shorter as it waxed and waned.

Christian Cojochen, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Basel, Switzerland, who led the study, was surprised and puzzled by the finding. “The only explanation we could come up with is that maybe there is a lunar clock in the brain, as found in other species like fish and other marine animals,” he said. “But we don’t have direct evidence for that.”

(http://well.blogs.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)

Moon phases tied to sleep cycles

By Nicholas Bakalar

July 31, 2013

The lunar cycle has been tied to a range of mysterious powers, from increases in violent crimes and hospital admissions to fertility and blood loss, and scientists consider most such beliefs nonsensical.

But now Swiss researchers have found evidence that the lunar cycle may affect sleep patterns. They found the connection by testing 33 healthy men and women, ages 20 to 74, in a sleep laboratory, and correlating the data with the moon’s phases. Thestudy appears in the Aug. 5 issue of Current Biology.

Melatonin levels, total sleep time and delta sleep time (the deepest sleep, as recorded by EEG) reached their lowest levels at full moon, and their highest as the moon waxed and waned. The average time it took to fall asleep and the time to arrive at REM sleep (the type of sleep in which dreams occur) followed the opposite pattern, longest at the full moon and shorter as it waxed and waned.

Christian Cojochen, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Basel, Switzerland, who led the study, was surprised and puzzled by the finding. “The only explanation we could come up with is that maybe there is a lunar clock in the brain, as found in other species like fish and other marine animals,” he said. “But we don’t have direct evidence for that.”

(http://well.blogs.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)

TEXT I

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French companywon the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company. Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson. The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts. Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html Acessado em 14/03/2013

Glossary:

Foreign: estrangeiro

Businessperson: homem/ mulher de negócios

Counterpart: seu semelhante

To win: ganhar, vencer

Disadvantage: desvantagem

Outside: do lado de fora

Level: nível

Select the question(s) below that have (has) answer(s) in the sentences I and II (lines 1 - 4).

TEXT I

WHAT IS OFFSHORE ENGLISH?

Offshore English is a term used by many people for international English (I). It is the English spoken and written by non-native speakers in international communication (II). Many in business are starting to worry that native speakers are actually at a disadvantage in international communication. A good example of this situation was when a company tried to sell flight simulators to South Korea, where a French companywon the contract because the buyers found it easier to understand the English that the French people spoke than the English spoken by the British company. Many native English speakers feel little necessity to learn foreign languages, so they often don’t understand the difficulties and problems learners have. They also don’t see (1) the need to modify their language for a foreign audience, so they use (2) idioms, synonyms, colloquialisms, phrasal verbs, etc, and don’t think (3) of the impact this has (4) on a foreign businessperson. The English studied by non-native speakers tends to use a more simple vocabulary, and considering the similarities in courses in many parts of the world, emphasized by a small number of course books (Headway Series) and the domination of a few examinations, for example TOEFL, etc. This means that non-native speakers from different countries and cultures sometimes understand each other more easily than the native speaker. Few native speakers outside the world of ESL (English as a Second language) teaching have much idea of what non-native learners assimilate, and think that as their English is native speaker level, they speak it better than their non-native counterparts. Because of this, companies are offering courses in Offshore English to native speakers to train them to speak the type of English that will make it easier for nonnative speakers to understand. So they will gain more contracts.

Adapted from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/what-offshore-english.html Acessado em 14/03/2013

Glossary:

Foreign: estrangeiro

Businessperson: homem/ mulher de negócios

Counterpart: seu semelhante

To win: ganhar, vencer

Disadvantage: desvantagem

Outside: do lado de fora

Level: nível

TEXTO: