Questões de Inglês

O humor da tira decorre

1 A CALORIE is a calorie. Eat too many and spend too

few, and you will become obese and sickly. This is the

conventional wisdom. But increasingly, it looks too

simplistic. All calories do not seem to be created equal,

and the way the body processes the same calories may

vary dramatically from one person to the next.

2 This is the intriguing suggestion from the latest

research into metabolic syndrome, the nasty clique that

includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar,

unbalanced cholesterol and, of course, obesity. This

uniquely modern scourge has swept across America,

where obesity rates are notoriously high. But it is also

doing damage from Mexico to South Africa and India,

raising levels of disease and pushing up health costs.

3 Metabolic syndrome can still be blamed on eating too

much and exercising too little. But it is crucial to

understand why some foods are particularly harmful

and why some people gain more weight than others.

Thankfully, researchers are beginning to offer

explanations in a series of recent papers.

4 One debate concerns the villainy of glucose, which is

found in starches, and fructose, found in fruits, table

sugar and, not surprisingly, high-fructose corn syrup.

Diets with a high “glycaemic index”, raising glucose

levels in the blood, seem to promote metabolic

problems. David Ludwig of Boston Children's Hospital

has shown that those on a diet with a low glycaemic

index experience metabolic changes that help them

keep weight off compared with those fed a low-fat diet.

This challenges the notion that a calorie is a calorie.

Others, however, blame fructose, which seems to

promote obesity and insulin resistance. Now a study

published in Nature Communications by Richard

Johnson, of the University of Colorado, explains that

glucose may do its harm, in part, through its conversion

to fructose.

5 Dr Johnson and his colleagues administered a diet of

water and glucose to three types of mice. One group

acted as a control and two others lacked enzymes that

help the body process fructose. The normal mice

developed a fatty liver and became resistant to insulin.

The others were protected. The body's conversion of

glucose to fructose, therefore, seems to help spur

metabolic woes.

6 Jeffrey Gordon, of Washington University in St Louis,

says that many studies point to the importance of what

he calls “job vacancies” in the microbiota of the obese.

Fed the proper diet, a person with more vacancies may

see the jobs filled by helpful bacteria. In a paper,

recently published in Science, Dr Gordon explores this

in mice. To control for the effects of genetics, Dr Gordon

found four pairs of human twins, with one twin obese

and the other lean. He collected their stool, then

transferred the twins' bacteria to sets of mice. Fed an

identical diet, the mice with bacteria from an obese twin

became obese, whereas mice with bacteria from a thin

twin remained lean.

7 Dr Gordon then tested what would happen when mice

with different bacteria were housed together—mouse

droppings help to transfer bacteria. Bacteria from the

lean mice made their way to the mice with the obese

twin's bacteria, preventing those mice from gaining

weight and developing other metabolic abnormalities.

But the phenomenon did not work in reverse, probably

due to Dr Gordon's theory on the microbiota's job

vacancies. Interestingly, the invasion did not occur, and

obesity was not prevented, when the mice ate a diet

high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables. The transfer

of helpful bacteria therefore seems to depend on diet.

8 Dr Gordon hopes to be able to identify specific bacteria

that might, eventually, be isolated and used as a

treatment for obesity. For now, however, he and other

researchers are exposing a complex interplay of

factors.

9 One type of calorie may be metabolised differently than

another. But the effect of a particular diet depends on a

person's genes and bacteria. And that person's bacteria

are determined in part by his diet. Metabolic syndrome,

it seems, hinges on an intricate relationship between

food, bacteria and genetics. Understand it, and

researchers will illuminate one of modernity's most

common ailments.

 

De acordo com o texto, a obesidade é uma doença que é

Wiser and older

 

Sometimes the world of science and medicine produces something that can only be described 

as unalloyed good news. We are used to stories about pollution scares and increases in the 

rates of cancer, but bubbling beneath is the stark reality that we live at a time when humans are

healthier and live longer than at any time in our history.

[5]  The Office for National Statistics figures, recently released, make heartening if surprising reading. 

They show that most men are surviving until the age of 85, while women are living four years 

longer. Furthermore, we can expect these figures to increase as the century progresses. What’s  

driving this extraordinary increase in human longevity?

The increase has been driven by a number of advances. Firstly, the huge reduction in neonatal 

[10]  and infant deaths. These days, nearly all babies born in a prosperous advanced nation can expect 

to survive into adulthood. Over half the couples in the world are having fewer than two children

each. This is partly because almost everywhere infant morta-lity is falling, globally faster today  

than at any time in human history.

Sanitation, vaccination and better diets have increased lifespans once we survive infancy, but 

[15]  they cannot wholly explain why people are living into their eighties and beyond. A cut in physical  

stress and a huge reduction in exposure to toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment 

may explain much of the increase. In the 1950s, thousands died or became very ill during the  

London smogs. That threat, along with numerous other environmental containments, has gone. 

We have also begun to stop smoking and we are drinking less, too. 

[20]  Finally, life is much safer than it used to be. As psychologist Steven Pinker shows in his book, 

The better angels of our nature, the history of all socie-ties has shown an amazing decline in 

violence over the past century. We are ten times less likely to be murdered today than we were 

two hundred years ago, and three times less likely to be killed on the roads than we were in the 

1960s.

[25]  So, can the increase in longevity continue? According to gerontologists, there is no clear answer. 

Currently the maximum human lifespan is 122 years, attained by the French woman Jeanne Calment 

who died in 1997. Significantly, no one has come close to her astonishing record. Instead, more  

and more of us are dodging the bullets of middle age and living to our personal genetic potential.

So how long is the natural human lifespan? The answer seems to be that, in a world where 

[30]  infectious diseases are kept at bay and where we are safe from predators and starvation, and 

provided we keep our lifestyles in check, most people should reach 80 or 90.

Something very big is going on, wrote Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. He 

warned that “the social and economic implications of this phenomenon are profound, extending 

far beyond the individual older person and the immediate family, touching broader society and

[35]  the global community in unprecedented ways”. What the figures show more than anything is  

that we need a rapid and radical rethink of how we treat the elderly among us, as they will soon 

be the majority

 

(telegraph.co.uk)

Words and expressions such as older (title), live longer (l. 4), longevity (l. 8), older person (l. 34) and the elderly (l. 36) belong to the same semantic field.
The elderly is translated as:

Wiser and older

 

Sometimes the world of science and medicine produces something that can only be described 

as unalloyed good news. We are used to stories about pollution scares and increases in the 

rates of cancer, but bubbling beneath is the stark reality that we live at a time when humans are

healthier and live longer than at any time in our history.

[5]  The Office for National Statistics figures, recently released, make heartening if surprising reading. 

They show that most men are surviving until the age of 85, while women are living four years 

longer. Furthermore, we can expect these figures to increase as the century progresses. What’s  

driving this extraordinary increase in human longevity?

The increase has been driven by a number of advances. Firstly, the huge reduction in neonatal 

[10]  and infant deaths. These days, nearly all babies born in a prosperous advanced nation can expect 

to survive into adulthood. Over half the couples in the world are having fewer than two children

each. This is partly because almost everywhere infant morta-lity is falling, globally faster today  

than at any time in human history.

Sanitation, vaccination and better diets have increased lifespans once we survive infancy, but 

[15]  they cannot wholly explain why people are living into their eighties and beyond. A cut in physical  

stress and a huge reduction in exposure to toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment 

may explain much of the increase. In the 1950s, thousands died or became very ill during the  

London smogs. That threat, along with numerous other environmental containments, has gone. 

We have also begun to stop smoking and we are drinking less, too. 

[20]  Finally, life is much safer than it used to be. As psychologist Steven Pinker shows in his book, 

The better angels of our nature, the history of all socie-ties has shown an amazing decline in 

violence over the past century. We are ten times less likely to be murdered today than we were 

two hundred years ago, and three times less likely to be killed on the roads than we were in the 

1960s.

[25]  So, can the increase in longevity continue? According to gerontologists, there is no clear answer. 

Currently the maximum human lifespan is 122 years, attained by the French woman Jeanne Calment 

who died in 1997. Significantly, no one has come close to her astonishing record. Instead, more  

and more of us are dodging the bullets of middle age and living to our personal genetic potential.

So how long is the natural human lifespan? The answer seems to be that, in a world where 

[30]  infectious diseases are kept at bay and where we are safe from predators and starvation, and 

provided we keep our lifestyles in check, most people should reach 80 or 90.

Something very big is going on, wrote Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. He 

warned that “the social and economic implications of this phenomenon are profound, extending 

far beyond the individual older person and the immediate family, touching broader society and

[35]  the global community in unprecedented ways”. What the figures show more than anything is  

that we need a rapid and radical rethink of how we treat the elderly among us, as they will soon 

be the majority

 

(telegraph.co.uk)

most people should reach 80 or 90. (l. 31)
The function of should in the fragment above is to:

Wiser and older

 

Sometimes the world of science and medicine produces something that can only be described 

as unalloyed good news. We are used to stories about pollution scares and increases in the 

rates of cancer, but bubbling beneath is the stark reality that we live at a time when humans are

healthier and live longer than at any time in our history.

[5]  The Office for National Statistics figures, recently released, make heartening if surprising reading. 

They show that most men are surviving until the age of 85, while women are living four years 

longer. Furthermore, we can expect these figures to increase as the century progresses. What’s  

driving this extraordinary increase in human longevity?

The increase has been driven by a number of advances. Firstly, the huge reduction in neonatal 

[10]  and infant deaths. These days, nearly all babies born in a prosperous advanced nation can expect 

to survive into adulthood. Over half the couples in the world are having fewer than two children

each. This is partly because almost everywhere infant morta-lity is falling, globally faster today  

than at any time in human history.

Sanitation, vaccination and better diets have increased lifespans once we survive infancy, but 

[15]  they cannot wholly explain why people are living into their eighties and beyond. A cut in physical  

stress and a huge reduction in exposure to toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment 

may explain much of the increase. In the 1950s, thousands died or became very ill during the  

London smogs. That threat, along with numerous other environmental containments, has gone. 

We have also begun to stop smoking and we are drinking less, too. 

[20]  Finally, life is much safer than it used to be. As psychologist Steven Pinker shows in his book, 

The better angels of our nature, the history of all socie-ties has shown an amazing decline in 

violence over the past century. We are ten times less likely to be murdered today than we were 

two hundred years ago, and three times less likely to be killed on the roads than we were in the 

1960s.

[25]  So, can the increase in longevity continue? According to gerontologists, there is no clear answer. 

Currently the maximum human lifespan is 122 years, attained by the French woman Jeanne Calment 

who died in 1997. Significantly, no one has come close to her astonishing record. Instead, more  

and more of us are dodging the bullets of middle age and living to our personal genetic potential.

So how long is the natural human lifespan? The answer seems to be that, in a world where 

[30]  infectious diseases are kept at bay and where we are safe from predators and starvation, and 

provided we keep our lifestyles in check, most people should reach 80 or 90.

Something very big is going on, wrote Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. He 

warned that “the social and economic implications of this phenomenon are profound, extending 

far beyond the individual older person and the immediate family, touching broader society and

[35]  the global community in unprecedented ways”. What the figures show more than anything is  

that we need a rapid and radical rethink of how we treat the elderly among us, as they will soon 

be the majority

 

(telegraph.co.uk)

most men are surviving until the age of 85, while women are living four years longer. (l. 6-7) According to the sentence above, women will probably reach the age of:

Wiser and older

 

Sometimes the world of science and medicine produces something that can only be described 

as unalloyed good news. We are used to stories about pollution scares and increases in the 

rates of cancer, but bubbling beneath is the stark reality that we live at a time when humans are

healthier and live longer than at any time in our history.

[5]  The Office for National Statistics figures, recently released, make heartening if surprising reading. 

They show that most men are surviving until the age of 85, while women are living four years 

longer. Furthermore, we can expect these figures to increase as the century progresses. What’s  

driving this extraordinary increase in human longevity?

The increase has been driven by a number of advances. Firstly, the huge reduction in neonatal 

[10]  and infant deaths. These days, nearly all babies born in a prosperous advanced nation can expect 

to survive into adulthood. Over half the couples in the world are having fewer than two children

each. This is partly because almost everywhere infant morta-lity is falling, globally faster today  

than at any time in human history.

Sanitation, vaccination and better diets have increased lifespans once we survive infancy, but 

[15]  they cannot wholly explain why people are living into their eighties and beyond. A cut in physical  

stress and a huge reduction in exposure to toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment 

may explain much of the increase. In the 1950s, thousands died or became very ill during the  

London smogs. That threat, along with numerous other environmental containments, has gone. 

We have also begun to stop smoking and we are drinking less, too. 

[20]  Finally, life is much safer than it used to be. As psychologist Steven Pinker shows in his book, 

The better angels of our nature, the history of all socie-ties has shown an amazing decline in 

violence over the past century. We are ten times less likely to be murdered today than we were 

two hundred years ago, and three times less likely to be killed on the roads than we were in the 

1960s.

[25]  So, can the increase in longevity continue? According to gerontologists, there is no clear answer. 

Currently the maximum human lifespan is 122 years, attained by the French woman Jeanne Calment 

who died in 1997. Significantly, no one has come close to her astonishing record. Instead, more  

and more of us are dodging the bullets of middle age and living to our personal genetic potential.

So how long is the natural human lifespan? The answer seems to be that, in a world where 

[30]  infectious diseases are kept at bay and where we are safe from predators and starvation, and 

provided we keep our lifestyles in check, most people should reach 80 or 90.

Something very big is going on, wrote Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general. He 

warned that “the social and economic implications of this phenomenon are profound, extending 

far beyond the individual older person and the immediate family, touching broader society and

[35]  the global community in unprecedented ways”. What the figures show more than anything is  

that we need a rapid and radical rethink of how we treat the elderly among us, as they will soon 

be the majority

 

(telegraph.co.uk)

The first paragraph introduces the subject of the text by calling it unalloyed good news (l. 2). This expression refers to the following fact: