Read the text and choose the best alternative.

                                Don’t Set Goals: Use Systems

Have you already set your goals for the New Year? Do you want to lose 10 kilos, run a marathon or speak fluent English? Some experts believe that you need systems, not goals. A system is something you do on a regular basis. This means focusing on what you can control (your actions) rather than what you can’t (the unpredictable). For example, don’t focus on losing 10 kilos, focus on shopping for healthy food and cooking something light every day. Don’t focus on the marathon; focus on the training schedule. Invent a system to improve your English, one step at a time. Good luck!

Disponível em: . Acesso em: junho de 2015.

According to the text we can state that:

I. In order to achieve something you should focus on your actions.

II. In order to achieve something you should eat healthy food every day.

III. In order to achieve something you should set your systems for the New Year.

IV. In order to achieve something you should take one step at a time.  

Read the text and choose the best alternative for the underlined word.

                       Pictures of Ascent in the Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe.

                                                                                                    By Douglas Anderson.

                                             New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. xi, 201 pp. $ 80.00.

The material world and the ability to transcend it are at the heart of this study of Edgar Allan Poe’s writings. In chapters such as “Problems of Disposal” and “The Gravity of Things,” Anderson contrasts the “weight of living” present in Poe’s life and work with, in Italo Calvino’s words, the “lightness of thoughtfulness.” This book provides a taxonomy of Poe’s literary imagination through suggestive literary analyses of the fictive environments that inhabit and undergird his stories, and it expands the purview of Poe studies as well as of nineteenth-century American literature.

Available in: <http://americanliterature.dukejournals.org/content/82/3/663.full.pdf> . Access on: August 2015.

Taxonomy means 

Read the text below:

                Study: Junk Food Doesn’t Only Make You Fat, It Makes You Lazy

According to a recent study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles, a diet rich in processed food and fat leads not only to excess weight but also to less motivation. Researchers found that rats on a junk food diet were significantly fatter than rats on a healthy diet. But the rats with the unhealthy diet also were less active and mentally slower. "Our data suggest that diet-induced obesity is a cause, rather than an effect, of laziness. Either the highly processed diet causes fatigue or the diet causes obesity, which causes fatigue," says lead researcher Aaron Blaisdell.

Disponível em: <http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=94296> . Acesso em: abril de 2015.

According to the text, it is possible to state that:

I. Rats which ate healthy food were thinner than the ones which ate junk food.

II. Laziness is a consequence from obesity.

III. Obesity can be considered as an effect of laziness.

IV. Less motivation is one of the causes which make junk food ingestion attractive.

V. Rats on a healthy diet were more active.

Read the text and choose the best alternative.

                                Solar eclipse in Europe

The UK could be plunged into darkness next month, as experts warn there could be the biggest solar eclipse since 1999. Nearly 90% of the sun's rays are expected to be blocked out in parts of Europe on March 20th.

In London and the Southeast, 85% of the sun will be obscured by the moon, while in northern Scotland, more than 95% will be covered.

But the National Grid warns there could be a solar power outage as a result. Solar power isn’t widely used in the UK, but other parts of Europe that heavily rely on it could be out of electricity for a short while.

There's no need to worry, though – the European Network Transmission System Operators for Electricity have been planning for the event for months.

The eclipse will last for around two hours at 8:40 a.m. The next one will not be until 2026.

Disponível em: <http://www.newsinlevels.com/products/solar-eclipse-in-europe-level-3/> . Acesso em: março 2015.

Check the statements according to lexical-semantic aspects from the text above:

I. In: ‘The UK could be plunged into darkness next month…’, the verb in bold could be changed to ‘immersed’ without changing the meaning of the sentence.

II. The word ‘warn’ in the first paragraph means to make someone conscious of a possible problem or danger so they will not be hurt or affected by it.

III. In the sentence: ‘In London and the Southeast, 85% of the sun will be obscured by the moon, while in northern Scotland, more than 95% will be covered.’; the conjunction ‘while’ means that the same exact thing will be happening in the entire area.

IV. Read the sentence: ‘But the National Grid warns there could be a solar power outage as a result.’ The words in bold ‘as a result’ mean that a solar power outage could happen because of the solar eclipse.

V. The meaning of the word ‘eclipse’ in the last paragraph is ‘decline’.

Choose the CORRECT alternative.  

Read the text and answer the question.

                  Life stress may lead to cognitive developmental delays in children

According to a new study, children living in harsh or unstable environments are more likely to experience learning and cognitive delays by age 4.

Researchers examined the cortisol levels and cognitive delays of 201 children from low-income families in the northeastern United States. It was found that those kids with higher levels of cortisol experienced harsh or insensitive caregiving.

"We discovered that exposure to specific forms of family adversity when children were 2 years old predicted their cortisol profile, which in turn was linked with notable differences in children´s cognitive functioning at age 4," the researchers say.

Disponível em: <http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=100733> . Acesso em: 16/06/15.

According to the research, we can state that:

I. Children who are more stressed may have cognitive delay.

II. Children who are stresser may have developmental delays.

III. Children from more rich families were evaluated in this research.

IV. Children from richer families were evaluated in this research.

V. Children from poorer families were evaluated in this research. 

Considere a descrição abaixo.

A longcase clock, also tall-case clock, floor clock, or grandfather clock, is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower, or waist of the case.

Essa descrição corresponde a:

Opera

Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor's dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

Disponível em: <http://www.grammarbank.com/short-reading-comprehension-passages.html> . Acesso em: novembro 2014.

Select the alternative that is TRUE, according to the text.

Read the text and choose the alternative that completes the sentences with the CORRECT passive voice.

                                       Britain’s Roman Villas

Numerous monuments recall the 400 or so years when Britain was part of the Roman Empire. Ancient city walls, old roads, front defenses. But it is at the villas that one feels closest to the everyday life of Roman Britain.

The villas were homes. In their kitchens bread ¹ _________ (to bake). Along their corridors echoed family conversations. They ² _________ well _________ (to build) and handsomely ³ _________.

The first villa ⁴ _________ (to build) around A.D. 80-90. It was a small farm. Later on, the house ⁵ _________ (to extend), kitchens and baths ⁶ _________ (to add).

It ⁷ _________ (to know) that many villas ⁸ _________ (to destroy) by fire. Their ruins remain hidden for years and it is often by accident that the site ⁹ _________ (to discover).

So in Hampshire a number of oyster-shells ¹⁰_________ (to find) by a farmer, and the shells, remnants of a long-ago feast, led to the discovery of the villa at Rockbourne.

Disponível em: <http://englishstandarts.blogspot.com.br/2012/06/passive-voice-texts-proverbs-and.html> . Acesso em: julho de 2015. 

Read the text.

Summer Solstice

June 21st (or 22nd) is the summer solstice for the northern hemisphere*. Solstice in Latin means "sun standing still." On that day it seems like the sun is standing still because there is more daylight than on any other day. It is the first day of summer and a special day for many groups of people. Many ancient cultures had many kinds of ceremonies on solstice. They celebrated light and fire. Many people also thought it was a time for love and growth. Nowadays many places around the world have parades or parties. The great English writer, William Shakespeare, said** whatever you dream on this night will come to pass. So, have great dreams on June 21! And if you are in the northern hemisphere, enjoy the longest day of the year.

* Summer solstice is on December 21 (or 22nd) in the southern hemisphere. June 21 (or 22nd) is the southern hemisphere's Winter solstice.

** in his play A Midsummer's Night Dream

Glossary

solstice – the 2 times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the earth's equator.

Equator – the imaginary (not real) line that divides the earth into 2 parts.

hemisphere – hemi means to divide into two, sphere means a round object like the earth. Hemisphere means one half of the circle. The northern hemisphere means above the equator or (middle) of the earth.

ancient – very old

come to pass – happen

Adapted from: <http://www.5minuteenglish.com> .

According to the text, it is CORRECT to say:

I. Solstice means that it looks like the sun doesn't move.

II. Summer solstice is on July 21.

III. Many ancient people celebrated summer solstice with fire.

IV. Nowadays no one celebrates solstice.

V. Shakespeare said whatever you dream about on June 21 will happen.