Questões de Inglês

Seize the day – Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway at 100

[1]    Mrs Dalloway is explicitly quotidian. It follows 
ordinary people through ordinary activities on an 
ordinary day – shopping, walking in the park, riding the 
bus, going to appointments, mending a dress. As Woolf’s 
[5] characters go about their day, scenes and impressions are 
filtered through their individual consciousnesses, 
threaded together with language, images and memories.

    The novel opens with the famous line “Mrs 
Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself”, a 
[10] sentence remarkable for its banality, as well as for its 
commitment to the in medias res plunge into life that 
Woolf was so keen on. The iconic status of the line is 
demonstrated by the number of online parodies it 
inspires, perhaps only surpassed by William Carlos 
[15] Williams’s poem This Is Just To Say, which has become a 
verified meme. 

    On Good Friday 1924, Woolf wrote on a page of 
the manuscript she was drafting – then called The Hours

– that “I will write whatever I want to write.” She could 
[20] write whatever she wanted to write because she owned 
her own publishing house, The Hogarth Press. The actual 
press was in the basement of her suburban Richmond 
home. 

    Mrs Dalloway was the second of Woolf’s novels to 
[25] be self-published in this way. Being a small-press 
publisher allowed her to experiment formally in ways that 
would have been impossible if she was working with a 
mainstream publisher. In A Writer’s Diary, she describes 
her process as both exploratory and technical. On August 
[30] 30, 1923, she wrote: “I dig out beautiful caves behind my 
characters”. Later, in October 1924: “I practise writing; do 
my scales”. 

    Despite Woolf’s refusal to compromise with 
mainstream tastes, Mrs Dalloway was well received. Her 
[35] contemporaries recognised the novel’s importance 
immediately. “An intellectual triumph”, proclaimed P.C. 
Kennedy in the New Statesman; “a cathedral”, 
pronounced E.M. Forster in the New Criterion. It sold 
moderately well: 1,500 copies within about a month of its 
[40] publication on May 14 – more than her prior novel, 
Jacob’s Room, had sold in a year.  

    Woolf’s novel was revolutionary for its depiction of 
same-sex attraction and mental illness, as well as for its 
challenge to the novel form and representation of time. 
[45] Septimus, so capable as a soldier in the Great War, buries 
the trauma of seeing his commanding officer Evans killed, 
only to have it resurface in visual and aural hallucinations, 
of Evans behind the trees, and birds singing in Greek. He 
perceives, as Clarissa does, the burden of the past upon 
[50] the present, and he suffers as a result of the coercion of 
the social system. 

    “In this book I have almost too many ideas,” Woolf 
wrote in her diary on June 19, 1923. “I want to give life 
and death, sanity and insanity; I want to criticise the 
[55] social system, and to show it at work, at its most 
intense.” Woolf’s ideas have inspired scores of 
interpretations, focusing on time, space, reality, 
psychology, domesticity, history, sexual relations, politics, 
fashion, the environment, health and illness. She is now 
[60] probably the most written-about 20th century English 
author. I can remember vividly first reading this novel as 
an undergraduate, after which I devoured Woolf’s 
revolutionary 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own, which 
criticised the educational, economic and social 
[65] constraints that prevented women, in many instances, 
from writing anything at all. 

    Woolf, of course, could and did write. This was a 
function, as she knew, of her financial and class privilege. 
In her fiction, she modelled a method of writing that 
[70] critiques patriarchal thinking. She focuses our attention 
on overlooked individuals and their inner lives, and she 
splendidly undoes the Victorian conception of plot. Woolf 
writes of the past emerging into the present day and the 
present’s capacity to reshape the past. In her diary, she 
[75] called this her “tunnelling process”. In tunnelling through 
narrative, Woolf flung out a lot of what seems to be dust

– buying flowers, ogling girls, table manners and weight 
gain, advertising, letter writing, doctor’s appointments, 
eating eclairs in a department store cafe. The novel 
[80] reminds us of these moments’ triviality, and their 
significance, through repeated reference to the bells and 
clocks of London striking the hour. 

    This is why the opening line – and the novel as a 
whole – is so remarkable. It catches drops of shimmering 
[85] reality from moments that can so easily go unremarked. 
This, Woolf knew, was what writing needed to do: to stop 
time.  Her metaphor shows that Woolf’s thinking about 
time also had a spatial dimension. These two dimensions 
of space and time structure Mrs Dalloway’s theme and 
[90] method, As David Daiches explained in his 1939 book The 
Novel and the Modern World, Woolf first links a series of 
different perspectives through a single shared moment in 
time – marked by the sound of the bells – then switches 
to an individual perspective, anchored in space, and 
[95] moves through that individual’s memories. 

    Since its publication, Mrs Dalloway has continued 
to inspire. Since the 1970s, she has enjoyed an 
unparalleled position in the history of 20th century 
letters. Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, Robin 
[100] Lippincott’s Mr Dalloway and John Lanchester’s Mr 
Phillips all appeared in the three years between 1998 and 
2000, all of them reflecting Woolf’s legacy, tacitly or 
explicitly. Because of the Oscar-winning film adaptation 
by Stephen Daldry, Cunningham’s novel is the most 
[105] recognisable of these three. The Hours revises Mrs 
Dalloway through the stories of three women: Virginia 
Woolf herself; Laura Brown, a 1950s housewife who 
reads Mrs Dalloway; and Clarissa Vaughan, nicknamed 
Mrs Dalloway by her former lover Richard, for whom she 
[110] throws a literary party.

    Mrs Dalloway shows us the ways that words can 
both connect and sever. Characters pass each other on 
the street, muse on a shared past, or witness the same 
event from different vantage points and through different 
[115] filters of personality and psyche. As Hermione Lee 
explained, for Woolf “the really important life was 
‘within’”. 

Adapted from: https://theconversation/jan.30.2025

        Here’s One More Reason to Try to Exercise

    Next time you’re feeling the burn during a workout, it might give you a boost to know that exercise can also be a balm: Research suggests it is one of the best tools for fighting chronic inflammation.

    Inflammation has emerged as a looming health concern in recent years — experts say it can be both a cause and a sign of disease. And while there’s still a lot we don’t know about its significance, most experts agree that the less chronically inflamed we are, the healthier we are.

    The scientific evidence is also clear that people who are sedentary tend to have higher levels of inflammation compared to people who exercise regularly. And when sedentary people start moving consistently, their inflammation levels generally decline. Some researchers believe that exercise’s power to fight inflammation may even be at the heart of why physical activity is so effective at protecting us against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and other chronic diseases.

    The growing understanding that exercise and inflammation are linked has been relatively recent, and this has spurred a boom of research into the connection, said Dr. Robert Shmerling, a rheumatologist and a medical editor at Harvard Health Publishing. Here’s what we know — and what it means for you.

    While inflammation may seem like a menace, it serves a vital function in keeping you healthy. For example, after a paper cut or an ankle sprain, immune cells flood the area, which causes the surrounding tissue to swell and turn red — this kind of acute inflammation usually resolves in a few days. A similar process happens when you get an infection, like a cold or the flu.

    But chronic inflammation is a low-grade condition that can simmer for years. It can begin with an infection or injury, but then morph into a lingering state, in which the immune system starts attacking healthy tissue, Dr. Shmerling said. Chronic inflammation can also be linked to diet, stress, smoking, obesity, sleep quality and your level of physical activity. And it increases as you age (a process that researchers call “inflammaging”).

    Experts suspect this prolonged immune response may put you at greater risk for disease, and in some cases, make you feel fatigued, depressed or foggy. A doctor can usually detect chronic inflammation through blood tests that measure specific chemicals, or biomarkers, released by your immune system.

    Research suggests that consistent, moderate exercise can fight inflammation by tamping down on the release of inflammatory chemicals, and ramping up the release of chemicals that fight it. Exercise can also lower inflammation indirectly, for example, by improving sleep quality and lowering stress.

    For people who are sedentary, exercise is especially effective at counteracting inflammation, experts said. Certain kinds of fat cells have been shown to release chemicals into the blood that cause low-grade inflammation. When someone who has been sedentary starts working out consistently, not only does their fat tissue often shrink, but studies also suggest that the physical activity might alter their fat cells so they produce fewer inflammatory substances, Dr. Shmerling said.

    Regardless, there’s no downside to someone taking up exercise, Dr. Shmerling added. “They may get healthier in a hurry, and it might have nothing to do with inflammation,” he said. “The outcome is still a positive one.”

    While research hasn’t yet given us a prescription for exactly what kind and how much exercise is most effective for fighting inflammation, experts share tips for making the most of exercise’s potential impact on it.

    Most moderate-intensity exercise seems to reduce inflammation in the short term, and the more consistently you work out, the more you keep chronic inflammation at bay, said Suzi Hong, a professor at the University of California San Diego’s School of Public Health. Dr. Hong and her team found that a single, moderate, 20-minute treadmill workout, such as a brisk walk or jog, sparked a temporary anti-inflammatory response. If you’re breathing harder than usual to keep up the pace, and you feel like you’re putting in moderate effort, she said, you’re probably fighting inflammation. For lasting benefits, though, you have to make it a habit.

    For starters, resistance training helps to reduce inflammation-causing fat cells, particularly when combined with regular aerobic exercise. People with chronic inflammation tend to lose muscle mass more rapidly as they age than those with less inflammation, so strength training may be especially important for them to remain mobile and independent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults make time for at least two strength-training sessions per week.

    Chronic stress is another contributor to inflammation, so finding a workout you enjoy may offer greater anti-inflammatory benefits by helping to relieve stress. If you’re looking for a place to start, a large body of research suggests that yoga can help to calm the nervous system, lower inflammatory markers and lessen symptoms of diseases associated with chronic inflammation. Avoid overtraining, since repeated intense workouts without appropriate recovery can heighten your levels of inflammation and weaken your immune system.

    As with many other aspects of health, moderation and consistency are keys to getting and staying fit — and to fighting inflammation for the long haul.

Adapted from: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/

        Here’s One More Reason to Try to Exercise

    Next time you’re feeling the burn during a workout, it might give you a boost to know that exercise can also be a balm: Research suggests it is one of the best tools for fighting chronic inflammation.

    Inflammation has emerged as a looming health concern in recent years — experts say it can be both a cause and a sign of disease. And while there’s still a lot we don’t know about its significance, most experts agree that the less chronically inflamed we are, the healthier we are.

    The scientific evidence is also clear that people who are sedentary tend to have higher levels of inflammation compared to people who exercise regularly. And when sedentary people start moving consistently, their inflammation levels generally decline. Some researchers believe that exercise’s power to fight inflammation may even be at the heart of why physical activity is so effective at protecting us against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia and other chronic diseases.

    The growing understanding that exercise and inflammation are linked has been relatively recent, and this has spurred a boom of research into the connection, said Dr. Robert Shmerling, a rheumatologist and a medical editor at Harvard Health Publishing. Here’s what we know — and what it means for you.

    While inflammation may seem like a menace, it serves a vital function in keeping you healthy. For example, after a paper cut or an ankle sprain, immune cells flood the area, which causes the surrounding tissue to swell and turn red — this kind of acute inflammation usually resolves in a few days. A similar process happens when you get an infection, like a cold or the flu.

    But chronic inflammation is a low-grade condition that can simmer for years. It can begin with an infection or injury, but then morph into a lingering state, in which the immune system starts attacking healthy tissue, Dr. Shmerling said. Chronic inflammation can also be linked to diet, stress, smoking, obesity, sleep quality and your level of physical activity. And it increases as you age (a process that researchers call “inflammaging”).

    Experts suspect this prolonged immune response may put you at greater risk for disease, and in some cases, make you feel fatigued, depressed or foggy. A doctor can usually detect chronic inflammation through blood tests that measure specific chemicals, or biomarkers, released by your immune system.

    Research suggests that consistent, moderate exercise can fight inflammation by tamping down on the release of inflammatory chemicals, and ramping up the release of chemicals that fight it. Exercise can also lower inflammation indirectly, for example, by improving sleep quality and lowering stress.

    For people who are sedentary, exercise is especially effective at counteracting inflammation, experts said. Certain kinds of fat cells have been shown to release chemicals into the blood that cause low-grade inflammation. When someone who has been sedentary starts working out consistently, not only does their fat tissue often shrink, but studies also suggest that the physical activity might alter their fat cells so they produce fewer inflammatory substances, Dr. Shmerling said.

    Regardless, there’s no downside to someone taking up exercise, Dr. Shmerling added. “They may get healthier in a hurry, and it might have nothing to do with inflammation,” he said. “The outcome is still a positive one.”

    While research hasn’t yet given us a prescription for exactly what kind and how much exercise is most effective for fighting inflammation, experts share tips for making the most of exercise’s potential impact on it.

    Most moderate-intensity exercise seems to reduce inflammation in the short term, and the more consistently you work out, the more you keep chronic inflammation at bay, said Suzi Hong, a professor at the University of California San Diego’s School of Public Health. Dr. Hong and her team found that a single, moderate, 20-minute treadmill workout, such as a brisk walk or jog, sparked a temporary anti-inflammatory response. If you’re breathing harder than usual to keep up the pace, and you feel like you’re putting in moderate effort, she said, you’re probably fighting inflammation. For lasting benefits, though, you have to make it a habit.

    For starters, resistance training helps to reduce inflammation-causing fat cells, particularly when combined with regular aerobic exercise. People with chronic inflammation tend to lose muscle mass more rapidly as they age than those with less inflammation, so strength training may be especially important for them to remain mobile and independent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults make time for at least two strength-training sessions per week.

    Chronic stress is another contributor to inflammation, so finding a workout you enjoy may offer greater anti-inflammatory benefits by helping to relieve stress. If you’re looking for a place to start, a large body of research suggests that yoga can help to calm the nervous system, lower inflammatory markers and lessen symptoms of diseases associated with chronic inflammation. Avoid overtraining, since repeated intense workouts without appropriate recovery can heighten your levels of inflammation and weaken your immune system.

    As with many other aspects of health, moderation and consistency are keys to getting and staying fit — and to fighting inflammation for the long haul.

Adapted from: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/

The following text refers to question

This is what happens when a plane collides with a bird.

    Late Monday night, Virgin Australia flight VA148 set out from Queenstown in New Zealand bound for Melbourne. Not long after takeoff, the right engine of the Boeing 737-800 jet started emitting loud bangs, followed by flames. The pilot flew on with the remaining engine, bringing the plane’s 73 passengers and crew to a safe emergency landing at nearby Invercargill airport.

    Virgin Australia says the dramatic turn of events was caused by a “possible bird strike”. Queenstown Airport played down the likelihood of bird strike, saying “no birds were detected on the airfield at that time”. While we don’t know exactly what happened, bird strike is a common and real risk for aircraft. It can damage planes, and even lead to deaths.

    A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft and a bird (though the definition is sometimes expanded to include collisions on the ground with land animals including deer, rabbits, dogs and alligators). The first bird strike was recorded by Orville Wright in 1905, over a cornfield in Ohio. Now they happen every day, with some seasonal variability due to the migratory patterns of birds.

    Perhaps the most famous migratory bird strike occurred in 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 encountered a flock of migrating Canadian geese shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Both of the plane’s engines failed, and captain Sully Sullenberger was forced to pilot it to an unpowered landing in the Hudson River.

    Most bird strikes occur early in the morning or a sunset when birds are most active. Pilots are trained to be vigilant during these times. Radar can be used to track flocks of birds. ___________, this technology is ground-based and not available worldwide so it can’t be used everywhere.

    The two largest manufacturers of passenger jets, Boeing and Airbus, use turbofan engines. These use a series of fan blades to compress air before adding fuel and flame to get the thrust needed to take off. Bird strike in one of these engines can cause severe damage to the fan blades, causing the engine to fail. Engine manufacturers test the safety of these engines by firing a high-speed frozen chicken at them while the engine is operating at full thrust.

    The Australian Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority circular on wildlife hazard management outlines what airports should do to keep birds and animals away from the vicinity of the airport. One technique is to use small gas explosions to mimic the sound of a shotgun to deter birds from loitering near the runway. In areas with high bird populations, airports may also use certain grasses and plants that do not attract the birds.

Available in: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/bird-strike-plane-what-happens/index.html.

The following text refers to question

This is what happens when a plane collides with a bird.

    Late Monday night, Virgin Australia flight VA148 set out from Queenstown in New Zealand bound for Melbourne. Not long after takeoff, the right engine of the Boeing 737-800 jet started emitting loud bangs, followed by flames. The pilot flew on with the remaining engine, bringing the plane’s 73 passengers and crew to a safe emergency landing at nearby Invercargill airport.

    Virgin Australia says the dramatic turn of events was caused by a “possible bird strike”. Queenstown Airport played down the likelihood of bird strike, saying “no birds were detected on the airfield at that time”. While we don’t know exactly what happened, bird strike is a common and real risk for aircraft. It can damage planes, and even lead to deaths.

    A bird strike is a collision between an aircraft and a bird (though the definition is sometimes expanded to include collisions on the ground with land animals including deer, rabbits, dogs and alligators). The first bird strike was recorded by Orville Wright in 1905, over a cornfield in Ohio. Now they happen every day, with some seasonal variability due to the migratory patterns of birds.

    Perhaps the most famous migratory bird strike occurred in 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 encountered a flock of migrating Canadian geese shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Both of the plane’s engines failed, and captain Sully Sullenberger was forced to pilot it to an unpowered landing in the Hudson River.

    Most bird strikes occur early in the morning or a sunset when birds are most active. Pilots are trained to be vigilant during these times. Radar can be used to track flocks of birds. ___________, this technology is ground-based and not available worldwide so it can’t be used everywhere.

    The two largest manufacturers of passenger jets, Boeing and Airbus, use turbofan engines. These use a series of fan blades to compress air before adding fuel and flame to get the thrust needed to take off. Bird strike in one of these engines can cause severe damage to the fan blades, causing the engine to fail. Engine manufacturers test the safety of these engines by firing a high-speed frozen chicken at them while the engine is operating at full thrust.

    The Australian Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority circular on wildlife hazard management outlines what airports should do to keep birds and animals away from the vicinity of the airport. One technique is to use small gas explosions to mimic the sound of a shotgun to deter birds from loitering near the runway. In areas with high bird populations, airports may also use certain grasses and plants that do not attract the birds.

Available in: https://edition.cnn.com/travel/bird-strike-plane-what-happens/index.html.

        Rebeca Andrade: Meet the athlete

                                                             Julia Yohe

                                    Jun. 13, 2024 5:04 pm ET

    Rebeca Andrade is 25-years-old and 4-foot-9. She was born May 8, 1999, in Guarulhos, Brazil. She has seven siblings, three of them — Yago, Henrique and Igor — also trained as gymnasts during their child hood.

    The athlete was raised by a single mother, Rosa Santos, who worked as a maid. So, she began the sport at age 4, but with seven siblings and a single mother, her family didn’t have much money to help with her training. Her brothers often walked her to the gym when they couldn’t afford a bus pass — a trek that took over two hours. Rebeca’s mother also would sometimes walk to work, loaning Rebeca her bus pass to get to the gym more easily. However, at age 9, she moved away from her family to a high-performance training center in Curitiba. A year later, she moved to Rio de Janeiro.

    Rebeca Andrade is one of 11 women gymnasts to medal in every event at the World Championships, and one of three in the 21st century. With her silver medal in the all-around competition at the 2023 World Championships, she joined Simone Biles (gold) and Shilese Jones (bronze) in making up the first-ever all Black all-around podium at a world championship.

    With a silver medal in the all-around at the Tokyo Olympics, Rebeca Andrade became the first Olym pic medalist for Brazil in women’s gymnastics. Three days later, she won the first Olympic gold medal for Brazil in women’s gymnastics when she finished first in the vault event final.

Source (adapted): https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/rebe ca-andrade-meet-athlete