Compreensão de leitura C1: exercícios de inglês

Leia o texto e responda: Every few years, a new 'superfood' — kale, quinoa, açaí — is promoted as a miracle cure for everything from ageing to fatigue. Nutritionists tend to greet such claims with weary scepticism. While these foods are often nutritious, the term 'superfood' has no scientific definition and is primarily a marketing tool. Moreover, a sudden surge in global demand can have unintended consequences, raising prices for local populations who have traditionally relied on these foods as staples. What does the writer say about the term 'superfood'?

1. AIt refers only to fruit.
2. BIt was invented by doctors.
3. CIt has a precise scientific meaning.
4. DIt is mainly a marketing term.

Leia o texto e responda: Every few years, a new 'superfood' — kale, quinoa, açaí — is promoted as a miracle cure for everything from ageing to fatigue. Nutritionists tend to greet such claims with weary scepticism. While these foods are often nutritious, the term 'superfood' has no scientific definition and is primarily a marketing tool. Moreover, a sudden surge in global demand can have unintended consequences, raising prices for local populations who have traditionally relied on these foods as staples. What unintended consequence is mentioned?

1. AFarmers stop growing the food.
2. BThe foods lose their nutrients when they are exported.
3. CPeople eat less fruit.
4. DHigher prices for local populations.

Leia o texto e responda: Translation is often regarded as a mechanical process of substituting words from one language with their equivalents in another. Anyone who has attempted it seriously knows otherwise. Jokes, idioms and cultural references rarely survive literal translation, and even a simple word like 'home' carries emotional associations that may not exist in its supposed equivalent. The translator must therefore act as an interpreter of culture, constantly negotiating between fidelity to the original and naturalness in the target language. What misconception does the text address?

1. Athat idioms are easy to learn
2. Bthat translators are well paid
3. Cthat translation is a simple word-for-word process
4. Dthat all languages share the same grammar and vocabulary

Leia o texto e responda: For much of the twentieth century, economists assumed that people made decisions rationally, carefully weighing costs and benefits. Behavioural economics has challenged this view. Studies show that we are influenced by how choices are framed: a yoghurt described as '90% fat-free' sells better than one labelled '10% fat', although they are identical. Governments now use such insights to 'nudge' citizens towards better decisions, for example by making pension saving the default option rather than requiring people to opt in. What is an example of a 'nudge' in the text?

1. Aforcing people to save
2. Braising taxes on pensions
3. Cmaking pension saving the default option
4. Dbanning unhealthy food from supermarkets and schools

Leia o texto e responda: For much of the twentieth century, economists assumed that people made decisions rationally, carefully weighing costs and benefits. Behavioural economics has challenged this view. Studies show that we are influenced by how choices are framed: a yoghurt described as '90% fat-free' sells better than one labelled '10% fat', although they are identical. Governments now use such insights to 'nudge' citizens towards better decisions, for example by making pension saving the default option rather than requiring people to opt in. What does the yoghurt example illustrate?

1. AThe way information is presented affects choices.
2. BFood labels are often false and should be checked by the government.
3. CPeople prefer low-fat food.
4. DYoghurt is a healthy product.

Leia o texto e responda: For much of the twentieth century, economists assumed that people made decisions rationally, carefully weighing costs and benefits. Behavioural economics has challenged this view. Studies show that we are influenced by how choices are framed: a yoghurt described as '90% fat-free' sells better than one labelled '10% fat', although they are identical. Governments now use such insights to 'nudge' citizens towards better decisions, for example by making pension saving the default option rather than requiring people to opt in. What assumption did traditional economics make?

1. APeople never save money.
2. BGovernments should control prices.
3. CAdvertising doesn't work.
4. DPeople make rational decisions.

Leia o texto e responda: For most of the twentieth century, the idea that adult brains could change was dismissed by neuroscientists. The prevailing view held that the brain's structure was essentially fixed after childhood, and that the loss of neurons with age was an irreversible process of decline. Patients who suffered strokes were often told that whatever abilities they had lost were gone for good, and rehabilitation was correspondingly limited in its ambitions. That consensus has since collapsed. Research on 'neuroplasticity' has shown that the adult brain continually reorganises itself in response to experience, forming new connections and, in some regions, even new neurons. London taxi drivers, who must memorise thousands of streets, have been found to develop an enlarged hippocampus, the area associated with spatial memory. Stroke patients, meanwhile, can recover significant function through intensive, repetitive training that encourages healthy parts of the brain to take over lost tasks. The discovery has transformed rehabilitation, although researchers caution against the more extravagant claims of commercial 'brain-training' products, whose benefits rarely extend beyond the specific games they involve. What did most neuroscientists believe for much of the twentieth century?

1. Athat the brain grew new neurons every day
2. Bthat the adult brain could not change
3. Cthat memory improved with age
4. Dthat strokes were easy to treat

Leia o texto e responda: For most of the twentieth century, the idea that adult brains could change was dismissed by neuroscientists. The prevailing view held that the brain's structure was essentially fixed after childhood, and that the loss of neurons with age was an irreversible process of decline. Patients who suffered strokes were often told that whatever abilities they had lost were gone for good, and rehabilitation was correspondingly limited in its ambitions. That consensus has since collapsed. Research on 'neuroplasticity' has shown that the adult brain continually reorganises itself in response to experience, forming new connections and, in some regions, even new neurons. London taxi drivers, who must memorise thousands of streets, have been found to develop an enlarged hippocampus, the area associated with spatial memory. Stroke patients, meanwhile, can recover significant function through intensive, repetitive training that encourages healthy parts of the brain to take over lost tasks. The discovery has transformed rehabilitation, although researchers caution against the more extravagant claims of commercial 'brain-training' products, whose benefits rarely extend beyond the specific games they involve. Why are London taxi drivers mentioned?

1. Aas evidence that experience can physically change the adult brain
2. Bas an example of people with poor spatial memory
3. Cto show that driving for many hours every day damages the hippocampus
4. Dbecause they took part in a stroke study

Leia o texto e responda: The 'tragedy of the commons' describes a situation in which individuals, acting in their own interest, deplete a shared resource to everyone's detriment — overfishing being a classic example. For decades, economists assumed the only solutions were privatisation or strict government control. The political scientist Elinor Ostrom challenged this view, documenting numerous communities that had successfully managed forests, fisheries and irrigation systems for centuries through their own locally developed rules. Her work earned her the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009. What view did Ostrom challenge?

1. Athat fishing should be banned
2. Bthat only privatisation or state control could work
3. Cthat communities always fail when they try to share natural resources
4. Dthat resources are unlimited

Leia o texto e responda: The 'tragedy of the commons' describes a situation in which individuals, acting in their own interest, deplete a shared resource to everyone's detriment — overfishing being a classic example. For decades, economists assumed the only solutions were privatisation or strict government control. The political scientist Elinor Ostrom challenged this view, documenting numerous communities that had successfully managed forests, fisheries and irrigation systems for centuries through their own locally developed rules. Her work earned her the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009. What is the 'tragedy of the commons'?

1. Athe privatisation of land
2. Ba famous Greek play
3. Ca government's failure to collect taxes from large companies and landowners
4. Dthe overuse of a shared resource by individuals

Leia o texto e responda: The four-day working week has been tested in dozens of companies around the world, but one of the most closely watched experiments took place in the public sector. Between 2015 and 2019, Iceland ran trials involving more than 2,500 workers, around one per cent of the country's working population, including nurses, office staff and employees of preschools. Working hours were reduced from forty to thirty-five or thirty-six a week, without any reduction in pay. The results, analysed by independent researchers, were widely reported as an 'overwhelming success'. Productivity and the quality of services remained the same or improved in most workplaces, while workers reported less stress and a better balance between work and family life. Managers achieved this partly by reorganising tasks: meetings were shortened, unnecessary processes were removed and shifts were redesigned. Following the trials, unions negotiated shorter hours for a large majority of the country's workforce. Sceptics point out, however, that Iceland is a small, wealthy country with strong unions and a highly educated population, and that the reduction was closer to four and a half days than to a genuine four-day week. Whether the same results could be achieved in larger and more unequal economies remains disputed. Why are sceptics cautious about the results?

1. AMost workers disliked the shorter hours.
2. BIceland's conditions are unusual, and the cut was smaller than a full day.
3. CProductivity fell sharply in most workplaces as soon as the trials ended, according to the unions.
4. DThe researchers were paid by the unions.

Leia o texto e responda: The four-day working week has been tested in dozens of companies around the world, but one of the most closely watched experiments took place in the public sector. Between 2015 and 2019, Iceland ran trials involving more than 2,500 workers, around one per cent of the country's working population, including nurses, office staff and employees of preschools. Working hours were reduced from forty to thirty-five or thirty-six a week, without any reduction in pay. The results, analysed by independent researchers, were widely reported as an 'overwhelming success'. Productivity and the quality of services remained the same or improved in most workplaces, while workers reported less stress and a better balance between work and family life. Managers achieved this partly by reorganising tasks: meetings were shortened, unnecessary processes were removed and shifts were redesigned. Following the trials, unions negotiated shorter hours for a large majority of the country's workforce. Sceptics point out, however, that Iceland is a small, wealthy country with strong unions and a highly educated population, and that the reduction was closer to four and a half days than to a genuine four-day week. Whether the same results could be achieved in larger and more unequal economies remains disputed. How did managers keep productivity stable, according to the second paragraph?

1. Aby asking workers to work at weekends
2. Bby hiring many new employees to cover the hours that were lost
3. Cby reorganising tasks and removing unnecessary processes
4. Dby reducing the quality of public services