Questões de Inglês

Texto para a pergunta.

THE PERCEPTION OF TIME

1 A number of competing ideas explain why, as we age, our perception of time accelerates. One theory notes that our metabolism slows as we get
older, matching the slowing of our heartbeats and our breathing. Just as with a stopwatch [cronômetro] that is set to run fast, children’s versions of these
“biological clocks” tick more quickly. In a fixed period of time children experience more beats of these biological pacemakers [marca-passos] (breaths or
heartbeats, for example), making them feel as if a longer time has elapsed.
2 A competing theory suggests that our perception of time’s passage depends on the amount of new perceptual information we are subjected to from
our environment. The more novel stimuli, the longer our brains take to process the information. The corresponding period of time seems, at least in
retrospect, to last longer. This argument can explain the movie-like perception of events playing out in slow motion in the moments immediately
preceding an accident. It might be that rather than time actually slowing during the event, our recollection of the event is decelerated in hindsight
[compreensão tardia], as our brain records more detailed memories based on the flood of data it receives. Experiments on subjects experiencing the
unfamiliar sensation of free fall [queda livre] have demonstrated this.
3 This theory ties in nicely with the acceleration of perceived time. As we age, we tend to become more familiar with our environments and with life
experiences. Our daily commutes [deslocamentos de ida e volta entre a casa e o lugar de trabalho], which might initially have appeared long and
challenging, full of new sights and opportunities for wrong turns, now flash by as we navigate familiar routes on autopilot.
4 It is different for children. Their worlds are often surprising places filled with unfamiliar experiences. Youngsters are constantly reconfiguring their
models of the world around them, which takes mental effort and seems to make the sand run more slowly through their hourglasses [ampulhetas] than
for routine-bound [amarrados à rotina] adults. The greater our acquaintance with the routines of everyday life, the quicker we perceive time to pass, and
generally, as we age, this familiarity increases. This theory suggests that, to make our time last longer, we should fill our lives with new and varied
experiences, eschewing [evitando] the time-sapping [consumidora de tempo] routine of the mundane.
5 Neither idea explains the almost perfectly regular rate at which our perception of time seems to accelerate. The fact that the length of a fixed period
of time appears to reduce continually as we age suggests an “exponential scale” to time. We employ exponential scales instead of traditional linear
scales when measuring quantities that vary over a huge range of different values. 

 Adapted from Natural History, February 2020.

Texto para a pergunta.

THE PERCEPTION OF TIME

1 A number of competing ideas explain why, as we age, our perception of time accelerates. One theory notes that our metabolism slows as we get
older, matching the slowing of our heartbeats and our breathing. Just as with a stopwatch [cronômetro] that is set to run fast, children’s versions of these
“biological clocks” tick more quickly. In a fixed period of time children experience more beats of these biological pacemakers [marca-passos] (breaths or
heartbeats, for example), making them feel as if a longer time has elapsed.
2 A competing theory suggests that our perception of time’s passage depends on the amount of new perceptual information we are subjected to from
our environment. The more novel stimuli, the longer our brains take to process the information. The corresponding period of time seems, at least in
retrospect, to last longer. This argument can explain the movie-like perception of events playing out in slow motion in the moments immediately
preceding an accident. It might be that rather than time actually slowing during the event, our recollection of the event is decelerated in hindsight
[compreensão tardia], as our brain records more detailed memories based on the flood of data it receives. Experiments on subjects experiencing the
unfamiliar sensation of free fall [queda livre] have demonstrated this.
3 This theory ties in nicely with the acceleration of perceived time. As we age, we tend to become more familiar with our environments and with life
experiences. Our daily commutes [deslocamentos de ida e volta entre a casa e o lugar de trabalho], which might initially have appeared long and
challenging, full of new sights and opportunities for wrong turns, now flash by as we navigate familiar routes on autopilot.
4 It is different for children. Their worlds are often surprising places filled with unfamiliar experiences. Youngsters are constantly reconfiguring their
models of the world around them, which takes mental effort and seems to make the sand run more slowly through their hourglasses [ampulhetas] than
for routine-bound [amarrados à rotina] adults. The greater our acquaintance with the routines of everyday life, the quicker we perceive time to pass, and
generally, as we age, this familiarity increases. This theory suggests that, to make our time last longer, we should fill our lives with new and varied
experiences, eschewing [evitando] the time-sapping [consumidora de tempo] routine of the mundane.
5 Neither idea explains the almost perfectly regular rate at which our perception of time seems to accelerate. The fact that the length of a fixed period
of time appears to reduce continually as we age suggests an “exponential scale” to time. We employ exponential scales instead of traditional linear
scales when measuring quantities that vary over a huge range of different values. 

 Adapted from Natural History, February 2020.

Texto para a pergunta.

THE PERCEPTION OF TIME

1 A number of competing ideas explain why, as we age, our perception of time accelerates. One theory notes that our metabolism slows as we get
older, matching the slowing of our heartbeats and our breathing. Just as with a stopwatch [cronômetro] that is set to run fast, children’s versions of these
“biological clocks” tick more quickly. In a fixed period of time children experience more beats of these biological pacemakers [marca-passos] (breaths or
heartbeats, for example), making them feel as if a longer time has elapsed.
2 A competing theory suggests that our perception of time’s passage depends on the amount of new perceptual information we are subjected to from
our environment. The more novel stimuli, the longer our brains take to process the information. The corresponding period of time seems, at least in
retrospect, to last longer. This argument can explain the movie-like perception of events playing out in slow motion in the moments immediately
preceding an accident. It might be that rather than time actually slowing during the event, our recollection of the event is decelerated in hindsight
[compreensão tardia], as our brain records more detailed memories based on the flood of data it receives. Experiments on subjects experiencing the
unfamiliar sensation of free fall [queda livre] have demonstrated this.
3 This theory ties in nicely with the acceleration of perceived time. As we age, we tend to become more familiar with our environments and with life
experiences. Our daily commutes [deslocamentos de ida e volta entre a casa e o lugar de trabalho], which might initially have appeared long and
challenging, full of new sights and opportunities for wrong turns, now flash by as we navigate familiar routes on autopilot.
4 It is different for children. Their worlds are often surprising places filled with unfamiliar experiences. Youngsters are constantly reconfiguring their
models of the world around them, which takes mental effort and seems to make the sand run more slowly through their hourglasses [ampulhetas] than
for routine-bound [amarrados à rotina] adults. The greater our acquaintance with the routines of everyday life, the quicker we perceive time to pass, and
generally, as we age, this familiarity increases. This theory suggests that, to make our time last longer, we should fill our lives with new and varied
experiences, eschewing [evitando] the time-sapping [consumidora de tempo] routine of the mundane.
5 Neither idea explains the almost perfectly regular rate at which our perception of time seems to accelerate. The fact that the length of a fixed period
of time appears to reduce continually as we age suggests an “exponential scale” to time. We employ exponential scales instead of traditional linear
scales when measuring quantities that vary over a huge range of different values. 

 Adapted from Natural History, February 2020.

Texto para a pergunta.

THE PERCEPTION OF TIME

1 A number of competing ideas explain why, as we age, our perception of time accelerates. One theory notes that our metabolism slows as we get
older, matching the slowing of our heartbeats and our breathing. Just as with a stopwatch [cronômetro] that is set to run fast, children’s versions of these
“biological clocks” tick more quickly. In a fixed period of time children experience more beats of these biological pacemakers [marca-passos] (breaths or
heartbeats, for example), making them feel as if a longer time has elapsed.
2 A competing theory suggests that our perception of time’s passage depends on the amount of new perceptual information we are subjected to from
our environment. The more novel stimuli, the longer our brains take to process the information. The corresponding period of time seems, at least in
retrospect, to last longer. This argument can explain the movie-like perception of events playing out in slow motion in the moments immediately
preceding an accident. It might be that rather than time actually slowing during the event, our recollection of the event is decelerated in hindsight
[compreensão tardia], as our brain records more detailed memories based on the flood of data it receives. Experiments on subjects experiencing the
unfamiliar sensation of free fall [queda livre] have demonstrated this.
3 This theory ties in nicely with the acceleration of perceived time. As we age, we tend to become more familiar with our environments and with life
experiences. Our daily commutes [deslocamentos de ida e volta entre a casa e o lugar de trabalho], which might initially have appeared long and
challenging, full of new sights and opportunities for wrong turns, now flash by as we navigate familiar routes on autopilot.
4 It is different for children. Their worlds are often surprising places filled with unfamiliar experiences. Youngsters are constantly reconfiguring their
models of the world around them, which takes mental effort and seems to make the sand run more slowly through their hourglasses [ampulhetas] than
for routine-bound [amarrados à rotina] adults. The greater our acquaintance with the routines of everyday life, the quicker we perceive time to pass, and
generally, as we age, this familiarity increases. This theory suggests that, to make our time last longer, we should fill our lives with new and varied
experiences, eschewing [evitando] the time-sapping [consumidora de tempo] routine of the mundane.
5 Neither idea explains the almost perfectly regular rate at which our perception of time seems to accelerate. The fact that the length of a fixed period
of time appears to reduce continually as we age suggests an “exponential scale” to time. We employ exponential scales instead of traditional linear
scales when measuring quantities that vary over a huge range of different values. 

 Adapted from Natural History, February 2020.

Texto para a pergunta.

COVID-19 AND TOUCH

1 The pandemic has been an exercise in subtraction. There are the voids [vazios] left by loved ones who have succumbed to covid-19, the gaps
[lacunas] where jobs and schools used to be, and the absence of friends and family. And then there are the smaller things that are missing. To stop the
spread of covid-19, people have forsaken [abandonaram, renunciaram a] the handshakes, pats [tapinhas], squeezes [apertos leves], and strokes [afagos,
carícias] that warm [dão calor às] daily interactions. The loss of any one hardly seems worthy of note.
2 And yet touch is as necessary to human survival as food or water, says Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the Miller School of
Medicine, part of the University of Miami. It is the first sense to develop and the only one necessary for survival. We can live with the loss of sight or
hearing. But without touch, which enables us to detect such stimuli as pressure, temperature, and texture, we would be unable to walk or feel pain. Our
skin is the vehicle through which we navigate the world.
3 Certain groups have long been starved of touch. For centuries lepers [leprosos] were considered untouchable. Dalits, the lowest caste in India, were
literally known as “Untouchables.” Solitary confinement is used as a punishment in prisons. In a film made before his death in 2015 Peter Collins, a
Canadian convict locked up alone, said he craved [almejava] so intensely the touch of another human being that he pretended the flies walking on his
skin were his wife’s fingers. But not until the pandemic, with its widespread social distancing, have such vast swathes [faixas] of the population been
deprived of friendly physical contact for so long.
4 Humans need touch to form close relationships. To improve its chances of survival, Homo sapiens evolved to live in groups. Humans “need to interact
with each other,” explains Alberto Gallace, a psycho-biologist at the University of Milano-Bicocca, which may explain why, like other social animals, they
have developed a neurological system designed to respond to affectionate touch. Stimuli applied to the skin at a certain pressure and speed – “basically
a caress [carícia],” says Dr. Gallace – activates a specific nerve fiber in the skin. Simulating this fiber lights up parts of the brain responsible for pleasure,
releasing a cocktail of hormones, including dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, that soothe anxiety and make us feel happier.
5 The importance of touch starts early. A review of scientific literature conducted in 2016 found that babies who had skin-to-skin contact with their
mothers immediately after birth were 32% more likely to breastfeed [amamentar] successfully on their first attempt than those who did not. Several
hours later, they also had better heart and lung function and higher blood-sugar levels. In one study in 1986 in America premature babies who were
given regular massages for ten days shortly after they were born gained weight more quickly and left intensive care sooner than premature babies who
were not. Their physical and cognitive development was also better than the control group in tests a year later.
6 The positive health effects continue. Touch depresses levels of cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress. In addition to triggering the “fight
or flight” [lutar ou fugir] response, cortisol suffocates “natural killer cells,” a type of white blood cell that attacks viruses and bacteria. Touch can also
increase the production of natural killer cells in patients with HIV and cancer, according to Dr. Field. In 2014 researchers at Carnegie Mellon University
observed that healthy adults who were hugged more frequently were less likely to get colds, perhaps because such embraces are a way of
communicating affection, and people who feel cared for are less likely to fall ill [ficar doentes].
7 Without regular contact people can become “skin hungry,” a state in which they experience less touch than they want. The few studies that have
been done into skin hunger suggest it is harmful. A survey of 509 adults from around the world in 2014 suggested that being deprived of touch was
linked to loneliness, depression, stress, mood and anxiety disorders, and secondary immune disorders. In any event, it’s clear that the pandemic has
made many more people aware of their craving for touch. 

 Adapted from The Economist, February 20, 2021.

Texto para a pergunta.

COVID-19 AND TOUCH

1 The pandemic has been an exercise in subtraction. There are the voids [vazios] left by loved ones who have succumbed to covid-19, the gaps
[lacunas] where jobs and schools used to be, and the absence of friends and family. And then there are the smaller things that are missing. To stop the
spread of covid-19, people have forsaken [abandonaram, renunciaram a] the handshakes, pats [tapinhas], squeezes [apertos leves], and strokes [afagos,
carícias] that warm [dão calor às] daily interactions. The loss of any one hardly seems worthy of note.
2 And yet touch is as necessary to human survival as food or water, says Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the Miller School of
Medicine, part of the University of Miami. It is the first sense to develop and the only one necessary for survival. We can live with the loss of sight or
hearing. But without touch, which enables us to detect such stimuli as pressure, temperature, and texture, we would be unable to walk or feel pain. Our
skin is the vehicle through which we navigate the world.
3 Certain groups have long been starved of touch. For centuries lepers [leprosos] were considered untouchable. Dalits, the lowest caste in India, were
literally known as “Untouchables.” Solitary confinement is used as a punishment in prisons. In a film made before his death in 2015 Peter Collins, a
Canadian convict locked up alone, said he craved [almejava] so intensely the touch of another human being that he pretended the flies walking on his
skin were his wife’s fingers. But not until the pandemic, with its widespread social distancing, have such vast swathes [faixas] of the population been
deprived of friendly physical contact for so long.
4 Humans need touch to form close relationships. To improve its chances of survival, Homo sapiens evolved to live in groups. Humans “need to interact
with each other,” explains Alberto Gallace, a psycho-biologist at the University of Milano-Bicocca, which may explain why, like other social animals, they
have developed a neurological system designed to respond to affectionate touch. Stimuli applied to the skin at a certain pressure and speed – “basically
a caress [carícia],” says Dr. Gallace – activates a specific nerve fiber in the skin. Simulating this fiber lights up parts of the brain responsible for pleasure,
releasing a cocktail of hormones, including dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin, that soothe anxiety and make us feel happier.
5 The importance of touch starts early. A review of scientific literature conducted in 2016 found that babies who had skin-to-skin contact with their
mothers immediately after birth were 32% more likely to breastfeed [amamentar] successfully on their first attempt than those who did not. Several
hours later, they also had better heart and lung function and higher blood-sugar levels. In one study in 1986 in America premature babies who were
given regular massages for ten days shortly after they were born gained weight more quickly and left intensive care sooner than premature babies who
were not. Their physical and cognitive development was also better than the control group in tests a year later.
6 The positive health effects continue. Touch depresses levels of cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress. In addition to triggering the “fight
or flight” [lutar ou fugir] response, cortisol suffocates “natural killer cells,” a type of white blood cell that attacks viruses and bacteria. Touch can also
increase the production of natural killer cells in patients with HIV and cancer, according to Dr. Field. In 2014 researchers at Carnegie Mellon University
observed that healthy adults who were hugged more frequently were less likely to get colds, perhaps because such embraces are a way of
communicating affection, and people who feel cared for are less likely to fall ill [ficar doentes].
7 Without regular contact people can become “skin hungry,” a state in which they experience less touch than they want. The few studies that have
been done into skin hunger suggest it is harmful. A survey of 509 adults from around the world in 2014 suggested that being deprived of touch was
linked to loneliness, depression, stress, mood and anxiety disorders, and secondary immune disorders. In any event, it’s clear that the pandemic has
made many more people aware of their craving for touch. 

 Adapted from The Economist, February 20, 2021.