Questões de Inglês

Stop Wishing You Were Somewhere Else

 

If you reflect on this insidious tendency to be wishing you were somewhere else, you may agree that it’s a silly, even self-destructive thing to do. Before  you jump up and say, “Wait a minute, I don’t do that,” let me explain whatI mean.

There are many ways that we __ ( I )__ time wishing we __ ( II )__ somewhere else. We’ll be at work and wish we __ ( III )__ home. Or during the middle of the week we __ ( IV )__ it were Friday. Sometimes we wish we __ ( V )__ something else with our careers. We wish we __ ( VI )__ different responsibilities or could spend our time with different people. We wish our boss were different, or our employees. We wish our working environment were different or we had a different kind of commute. We wish our industry were different, or that our circumstances would change. This list could obviously go on. The problem is, these wishes aren’t reality, but rather, they are thoughts of a different reality.

If you’re not careful, you can begin to wish your life away, always wishing you were somewhere other than where you actually are. But you’re not somewhere else. Rather, you’re right here. This is reality. One of my favorite quotes is, “Life is what’s happening while we’re busy making other plans.” A slightly different version might be, “Life is what’s happening while we’re wishing we were elsewhere.” When you are wishing you were somewhere else, it’s almost as though you are one step removed from life rather than actually being in it, open to life exactly as it is.

From a practical standpoint, it’s very difficult to be focused and effective  when your mind is preoccupied with where it would rather be. In fact, the two are a contradiction of terms. Your concentration suffers because there is a lack of engagement, a lack of zeroing in on what’s truly significant. In addition, it’s virtually impossible to enjoy yourself and what you are doing when you’re focused more on where you’d rather be than where you actually are. Think about the things you enjoy most. In all cases, they are activities where you are completely absorbed in the moment, really focused on what you are doing. In the absence of the focus, the joy you experience is diminished. How much fun is it to read a good novel when you’re thinking about something else?

Adapted from Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff Treasury – A Special Collection for the Office by Richard Carlson

According to the text,

The following text refers to questions 12 and 13.

 

The Rebel Years

In March 1957, Elvis purchased the Graceland estate in Memphis. The address today is: 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee 38116.

The Colonial house is located _( I )_ a hill surrounded _( II ) _ fourteen acres _( III )_ land with a stand _( IV )_ mature trees, a barn and a tennis court. The estate is enclosed _( V )_ an eight-foot-high brick wall. The main entrance is a large iron gate _( VI )_ musical insignia. The house was built _( VII )_ tan Tennessee limestone and contained twenty-three rooms including five bedrooms. _( VIII )_ a spacious entry hall, the front part of the luxuriously appointed house comprises the living, dining and music rooms. Along the walls are large, white sofas. The focus of attention is the gilded concert grand piano. The curtains are white interlaced with gold thread. The shag rug is so thick that your shoes nearly disappear. At the back of the house are the recreation rooms, covering nearly the entire length of the house and about half of its breadth. The billiard room is dominated by a large pool table. The trophy room contains Elvis’s gold and platinum records. Upstairs is the bedroom suite and the guest rooms. The bedroom: navy-blue shag run, oversized white bed with built-in telephone, intercom, TV controls. After the bedroom come the study and the mirror-lined bath. Sixteen televisions are found throughout the house.

Since June 7, 1982, Graceland has been open to the public for an admission fee ($16.00: April 1993). An average of 2,500 visit the house every day.

Adapted from The Rebel Years by Lester Bangs

 

According to the text,

The following text refers to questions 12 and 13.

 

The Rebel Years

In March 1957, Elvis purchased the Graceland estate in Memphis. The address today is: 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee 38116.

The Colonial house is located _( I )_ a hill surrounded _( II ) _ fourteen acres _( III )_ land with a stand _( IV )_ mature trees, a barn and a tennis court. The estate is enclosed _( V )_ an eight-foot-high brick wall. The main entrance is a large iron gate _( VI )_ musical insignia. The house was built _( VII )_ tan Tennessee limestone and contained twenty-three rooms including five bedrooms. _( VIII )_ a spacious entry hall, the front part of the luxuriously appointed house comprises the living, dining and music rooms. Along the walls are large, white sofas. The focus of attention is the gilded concert grand piano. The curtains are white interlaced with gold thread. The shag rug is so thick that your shoes nearly disappear. At the back of the house are the recreation rooms, covering nearly the entire length of the house and about half of its breadth. The billiard room is dominated by a large pool table. The trophy room contains Elvis’s gold and platinum records. Upstairs is the bedroom suite and the guest rooms. The bedroom: navy-blue shag run, oversized white bed with built-in telephone, intercom, TV controls. After the bedroom come the study and the mirror-lined bath. Sixteen televisions are found throughout the house.

Since June 7, 1982, Graceland has been open to the public for an admission fee ($16.00: April 1993). An average of 2,500 visit the house every day.

Adapted from The Rebel Years by Lester Bangs

 

The words that properly fill in blanks I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII, in the text, are

Which sentence is grammatically correct about the picture above?

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

 

Has anyone counted the number of books, films and even songs (Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind”, for example) that have been dedicated to the life and death of Marilyn Monroe (1926-62)?This is in addition to all the movies __( I )__ Marilyn herself made during her brief career. Nearly 50 years after her death, the Monroe industry is alive and well. The latest example is My Week With Marilyn (__( II )__ received its US release in November, and is scheduled for Brazil on February 24). It tells the story of the film star’s trip to Britain, during the course___( III )__ she worked with Sir Laurence Olivier. Seen through the eyes of Olivier’s assistant, Colin Clark (__( IV )__ Marilyn had an affair), it stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn (pictured above), Kenneth Branagh as Olivier, and Judi Dench, __( V )__ plays another great actress, Dame Sybil Torndike.

www.speakup.com.br

 

According to the text,

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

 

Has anyone counted the number of books, films and even songs (Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind”, for example) that have been dedicated to the life and death of Marilyn Monroe (1926-62)?This is in addition to all the movies __( I )__ Marilyn herself made during her brief career. Nearly 50 years after her death, the Monroe industry is alive and well. The latest example is My Week With Marilyn (__( II )__ received its US release in November, and is scheduled for Brazil on February 24). It tells the story of the film star’s trip to Britain, during the course___( III )__ she worked with Sir Laurence Olivier. Seen through the eyes of Olivier’s assistant, Colin Clark (__( IV )__ Marilyn had an affair), it stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn (pictured above), Kenneth Branagh as Olivier, and Judi Dench, __( V )__ plays another great actress, Dame Sybil Torndike.

www.speakup.com.br

 

The words that properly fill in blanks I, II, III, IV and V, in the text, are