Questões de Vestibular de Inglês - Pronome subjetivo | Subjective pronoun

Are social networking sites addictive?

¹With the increasing popularity of wireless devices like smartphones — devices that can move lots of data very quickly — users have access to their social networks 24 hours a day. Most social networking sites have developed applications for your mobile phone, so logging on is always convenient. Social networks also tap into our human desire to stay connected with others. Besides, the rush of nostalgia as you connect with your former grade-school classmate on Facebook can be quite heady and exciting.

²But what's the main reason we find these sites so addictive? Plain old narcissism. We broadcast our personalities online whenever we publish a thought, photo, YouTube video or answer one of those “25 Things About Me" memes. We put that information out there so people will respond and connect to us. And being part of a social network is sort of like having your own entourage that follows you everywhere, commenting on and applauding everything you do. It's very seductive.

³In 2008, researchers at the University of Georgia studied the correlation between narcissism and Facebook users. Unsurprisingly, they found that the more “friends" and wall posts a user had, the more narcissistic he or she was. They noted that narcissistic people use Facebook in a selfpromoting way, rather than in a connective way. It may be an obvious theory, but it also suggests that social networks bring out the narcissist in all of us.

⁴Social networks are also a voyeuristic experience for many users. Following exchanges on Twitter or posts on Facebook and MySpace are akin to eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. It's entertaining and allows you to feel like a “fly on the wall" in someone else's life.

⁵Social networking sites also publicly list your “friends" or “followers" — giving you instant status. How many people do you know online who spend all their time trying to get more friends, more followers, more testimonials? We work hard in real life to elevate our statuses, make friends and search out boosters for our self-esteem. Online social networking provides this to us, and we don't even have to change out of our sweatshirts to get it.

(adapted from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/socialnetworking/information/social-networking-sites-addictive2.htm)

Glossary

addictive: viciante; tap into: explorar/tirar proveito; broadcast: anunciar; entourage: comitiva/séquito; akin to eavesdropping: parecido com bisbilhotar; booster: aquilo que impulsiona; sweatshirts: camisetas

                             Why I took up the cello in my 60s

Michelle Hanson

Learning to play a musical instrument at any point in life is good for the brain. Who cares if I sound like a 'sick cow'?

                                   

It's exciting to know that I have done something right and rewarding – taking up the cello in my 60s. A new study from St. Andrew's University proves it. Taking up a musical instrument, even late in life, is good for the brain, and “can slow, stop, or even reverse, age or illness-related decline in mental functions". Hurrah!

My efforts have been rewarded, because starting the cello was a bit of a struggle, physically and mentally. Back then, my mother was alive, and rather critical: “You sound like a sick cow," she would cry out in a tormented way, but I persisted, joined an orchestra, and now here I am, with a bigger frontal cortex area than I might have otherwise had, and able to “adjust my behaviour more effectively in conflict-rich situations".

The more you practise the better, suggests the research. Good. It will spur me on, sick cow or not. Because I desperately need to keep my brain in order. Don't we all, if we're going to live to over 100? Last week I went for a walk with an old friend of mine and her dog. She is 92 and browned off.

“How are you?" I asked. “Fed up. I want to die." This was my mother's primary aim once she hit 96. “What do you want for your birthday?" we would ask. “To be dead!", she would say. No wonder. What else did life offer? At least my old friend could walk about. My mother could hardly walk, talk or eat.

If only they had played a musical instrument. You can do it sitting down, on your own, with friends, cheer yourself up, be in control, or wildly emotional. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Fonte: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/ 30/why-i-took-up-cello-in-60s

Glossário

took up: aprendi; struggle: luta/muito esforço; spur me on: encorajar/estimular; browned off: sem entusiasmo