Questões de Inglês

Soda consumption increases risk of stroke

and vascular disease

By John Phillip



Americans drink more than 216 liters of carbonated
soft drinks each year, a number that continues to
increase at an alarming rate. Many people use lowcalorie
diet soda in a futile effort to lose weight. Yet
they find that these drinks have the opposite effect
leading them to be overweight or obese.

The high acid content in most carbonated
beverages removes calcium and other critical nutrients
from the bone and tissues, significantly increasing
disease risk over years of consumption.

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness
Institute and Harvard University have reported the
result of a study in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, the first to examine soda’s effect on stroke
risk and vascular diseases.

Past studies have linked sugar-sweetened
beverage consumption with weight gain, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gout and
coronary artery disease, but current research has
implicated diet soft drink consumption with increased
disease risk and weight gain due to depletion of
essential minerals.

Lead study author Dr Adam Bernstein noted
“Soda remains the largest source of added sugar in
the diet. What we’re beginning to understand is that
regular intake of these beverages sets off a chain
reaction in the body that can potentially lead to many
diseases, including stroke. Researchers analyzed
soda consumption among 43,371 men and 84,085
women over a time span of nearly thirty years. During
that time, 2,938 strokes were documented in women
while 1,416 strokes were documented in men.”

Despite the millions of dollars spent by soda
marketers to instill the virtues of drinking soda,
there is nothing healthy about consuming any type
of carbonated beverage. Moreover, the study did
note that drinking coffee was associated with a 10%
lower risk of stroke, compared to drinking sweetened
beverages.
Regarding low calorie drinks, researchers
concluded “older adults who drank diet soda daily
had a 43% increased risk of heart attacks or strokes
compared to those that never drank diet soda”.

The suggestion is to substitute carbonated
beverage consumption with an antioxidant packed
cup of green tea or coffee to significantly reduce risk
of strokes and vascular diseases.

Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections Magazine. May 12, 2012 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



One negative effect of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and one negative effect of diet soft drink consumption are respectively

a) coronary artery disease and liver disease
b) gout and vitamin suppression
c) low cholesterol and weight gain
d) mineral suppression and high blood pressure
e) weight gain and essential mineral suppression

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

There are schools which award students iPads if they never miss a day during a school year.

A resposta correta é:

Athens rehearses the nightmare of default

By Joshua Chaffin in Athens


Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens
chamber of commerce, sat in his office – around
the corner from where protesters were hurling
chunks of marble at riot police – and
contemplated what was once unthinkable: that
Greece would default on its debt and then be
forced into a messy exit from the euro.
“All hell would break loose,” Mr Michalos said,
sketching a society that would quickly run short of
fuel, food, medicine and necessities. “You would
have social upheaval.”
Since the crisis began, it has been widely held that
a default would prove disastrous not only for
Greece but also for the entire European Union,
and that it was to be avoided at all costs.
That assumption is being questioned as never
before. Some officials argue that the blowback
from a Greek default might not be so debilitating,
after all.
“I am not advocating a Greek default, hard or soft
– but I’m not excluding the possibility of it if the
Greeks don’t get their acts together, Europe is
prepared... I think we’ve taken the necessary
measures.” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Europe
minister, told the Financial Times.
That view is by no means unanimous among
Greece’s creditors. François Fillon, French prime
minister, on Friday had a stinging rebuke for those
who would consider it. “To put in play the default
of Greece is completely irresponsible,” he told
broadcaster RTL.
Stéphane Deo, European economist at UBS,
warned that a Greek default could wreak havoc
across the continent, including bank runs.
In rumour-prone Athens, business leaders,
politicians and economists are aghast at open
discussion of default. “It would be a nightmare,”
said Yannis Stournaras, head of the Foundation
for Economic and Industrial Research, an Athens
think-tank. “You would see serial defaults... Banks
would collapse completely. There would be no
banks.”
An important factor in any default would be the
reaction of the European Central Bank. It might be
possible to keep Greece in the eurozone and
contain the damage if the ECB were to provide a
lifeline to the country’s banks, some analysts
believe.
But it is also possible Frankfurt would decide it
could no longer accept Greek government bonds
as collateral. Without ECB liquidity – cut-off from
financial markets – Athens would have to print
drachmas to pay its bills.
The new currency would plunge in value against
the euro. That would trigger another wave of
defaults for businesses and citizens, unable to pay
outstanding debts in euros. Litigation, and even
deeper recession, would probably ensue.
Platon Monokroussos, research head at Eurobank
EFG, believes a Greek default might even cascade
into a full-]blown EU exit, because government
would probably try to impose capital controls,
close borders and take measures that violated EU
law.
Greece’s mainstream politicians appear aware of
this. Lucas Papademos, the prime minister,
warned MPs that the country faced “catastrophe”
if it did not approve a sweeping austerity package
tied to the loan.
Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of
Greeks determined to remain in the eurozone
despite enduring two years of austerity and
economic contraction.
However, there is a minority – particularly on the
far left – that wants out. Their chief argument,
endorsed by some well-known foreign
economists, is that a devalued drachma would
lower wages and instantly make Greece more
competitive.
They tend to point to Argentina, which broke its
peg with the dollar more than a decade ago,
defaulted on its foreign debt and has since fared
far better than many expected.
Yet that comparison overlooks the fact that the
Greek economy – unlike Argentina’s – boasts a
small production base and few exporters. Most of
its companies rely on imports, which would rocket
in cost. Sceptical, too, are ordinary citizens. “We
are not Argentina,” Mr. Stournaras said. “We are
not even self-sufficient in agriculture.”
(Adapted from: Financial Times http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/76d064c6-5992-11e1- 8d36]00144feabdc0.html#axzz1mlF7WlTl)


The following definitions all apply to rebuke (line 28), EXCEPT

a) to express sharp disapproval.
b) to speak in an angry and critical way to someone.
c) to admonish.
d) to remonstrate.
e) to throw up, to vomit.

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Years ago students could be sent to prison if they skipped classes.

A resposta correta é:

Soda consumption increases risk of stroke

and vascular disease

By John Phillip



Americans drink more than 216 liters of carbonated
soft drinks each year, a number that continues to
increase at an alarming rate. Many people use lowcalorie
diet soda in a futile effort to lose weight. Yet
they find that these drinks have the opposite effect
leading them to be overweight or obese.

The high acid content in most carbonated
beverages removes calcium and other critical nutrients
from the bone and tissues, significantly increasing
disease risk over years of consumption.

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness
Institute and Harvard University have reported the
result of a study in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, the first to examine soda’s effect on stroke
risk and vascular diseases.

Past studies have linked sugar-sweetened
beverage consumption with weight gain, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gout and
coronary artery disease, but current research has
implicated diet soft drink consumption with increased
disease risk and weight gain due to depletion of
essential minerals.

Lead study author Dr Adam Bernstein noted
“Soda remains the largest source of added sugar in
the diet. What we’re beginning to understand is that
regular intake of these beverages sets off a chain
reaction in the body that can potentially lead to many
diseases, including stroke. Researchers analyzed
soda consumption among 43,371 men and 84,085
women over a time span of nearly thirty years. During
that time, 2,938 strokes were documented in women
while 1,416 strokes were documented in men.”

Despite the millions of dollars spent by soda
marketers to instill the virtues of drinking soda,
there is nothing healthy about consuming any type
of carbonated beverage. Moreover, the study did
note that drinking coffee was associated with a 10%
lower risk of stroke, compared to drinking sweetened
beverages.
Regarding low calorie drinks, researchers
concluded “older adults who drank diet soda daily
had a 43% increased risk of heart attacks or strokes
compared to those that never drank diet soda”.

The suggestion is to substitute carbonated
beverage consumption with an antioxidant packed
cup of green tea or coffee to significantly reduce risk
of strokes and vascular diseases.

Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections Magazine. May 12, 2012 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



According to Text, Dr. Adam Bernstein affirmed that

a) stroke cannot be linked to soda nor to food intake with elevated sugar levels.
b) soda has been researched not only by 43,371 men but also by 84,085 women.
c) soda intake is responsible for the largest source of sugar intake and for a detrimental chain reaction connected to the appearance of serious diseases.
d) researchers cannot pinpoint connections between soda intake and any serious diseases.
e) over the time span of thirty years of soda consumption more men have been affected by stroke than women.

A resposta correta é:

Arctic E&P activity heats up

By Jessica Tippee

Assistant Editor



Not Mexico, not Brazil. The next offshore frontier
is the Arctic, according to Andrew Reid, CEO of energy
analysts Douglas-Westwood Company. “More than
400 fields have been discovered to date in the Arctic,
providing reserves in excess of 240 Bboe (billions of
barrels of oil equivalent)” Reid said. He was a guest
speaker at a recent conference of the International
Association of Drilling Contractors ( IADC ), an agency
that has exclusively represented the worldwide oil and
gas drilling industry since 1940. Reid also affirmed
that “There is no doubt that further drilling activity in
this region could have a major impact on offshore
production in the foreseeable future.”

Meanwhile, Infield Systems Ltd. has identified
more than 130 Bboe in discovered oil, gas, and
condensate reserves throughout the offshore arctic
and sub-arctic regions. Around 114 Bboe are gas
reserves, and 16 Bbbl (billions of barrels) are oil.
Infield’s additional report on offshore arctic oil and gas
prospects through 2017 includes current and future
offshore oil and gas developments within the Arctic
Circle, and in the “sub-arctic” regions of Sakhalin
Island, the Jeanne d’Arc basin offshore eastern
Canada, and the Cook Inlet off Alaska.
Arctic capital expenditure should increase more
than $7 billion annually through 2017. Russia, with
its reserves, should largely drive this expenditure,
especially during 2013-2015, assuming the
Shtokman project goes ahead. This project includes
a comprehensive development of satellites in the
Barents Sea, and joint development of the
Prirazlomnoye and Dolginskoye oil fields in the
Pechora Sea.

Prirazlomnaya is the first offshore ice-resistant
stationary platform designed and built in Russia
measuring 126 m (413 ft) wide by 126 m long. With a
weight of 117,000 tons, the platform can accommodate
a crew of up to 200, and provide year-round operation.
The platform is designed to withstand temperatures
that can drop to -50º C (-58º F) during winter, and ice
formation – the location is typically free from ice for
110 days each year.

The platform will provide drilling, production, and oil
storage services, along with preparation and shipment
of final products from the Prirazlomnoye field. Gazprom
expects to drill up to 40 directional wells. Dutch
contractor Tideway has been dumping 100,000 metric
tons of stone (110,231 tons) as an erosion protection
system around the platform to secure it to the seabed.
The development is targeting annual production of
more than 6 million tons (43.8 MMbbl). Associated
produced gas will be used for the platform’s needs.
Production operations are scheduled to start this year.

Offshore Magazine. May 2, 2012 . Volume 72, Issue 5 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



In Text, the idea expressed by the word in boldface type is described in

a) frontier (line 1) - country
b) guest (line 6) - invited
c) doubt (line 11) - certainty
d) further (line 11) - within
e) major (line 12) - destructive

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Some lawyers have considered the possibility of sending parents to prison if they missed meetings with teachers.

A resposta correta é:

Athens rehearses the nightmare of default

By Joshua Chaffin in Athens


Constantine Michalos, president of the Athens
chamber of commerce, sat in his office – around
the corner from where protesters were hurling
chunks of marble at riot police – and
contemplated what was once unthinkable: that
Greece would default on its debt and then be
forced into a messy exit from the euro.
“All hell would break loose,” Mr Michalos said,
sketching a society that would quickly run short of
fuel, food, medicine and necessities. “You would
have social upheaval.”
Since the crisis began, it has been widely held that
a default would prove disastrous not only for
Greece but also for the entire European Union,
and that it was to be avoided at all costs.
That assumption is being questioned as never
before. Some officials argue that the blowback
from a Greek default might not be so debilitating,
after all.
“I am not advocating a Greek default, hard or soft
– but I’m not excluding the possibility of it if the
Greeks don’t get their acts together, Europe is
prepared... I think we’ve taken the necessary
measures.” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s Europe
minister, told the Financial Times.
That view is by no means unanimous among
Greece’s creditors. François Fillon, French prime
minister, on Friday had a stinging rebuke for those
who would consider it. “To put in play the default
of Greece is completely irresponsible,” he told
broadcaster RTL.
Stéphane Deo, European economist at UBS,
warned that a Greek default could wreak havoc
across the continent, including bank runs.
In rumour-prone Athens, business leaders,
politicians and economists are aghast at open
discussion of default. “It would be a nightmare,”
said Yannis Stournaras, head of the Foundation
for Economic and Industrial Research, an Athens
think-tank. “You would see serial defaults... Banks
would collapse completely. There would be no
banks.”
An important factor in any default would be the
reaction of the European Central Bank. It might be
possible to keep Greece in the eurozone and
contain the damage if the ECB were to provide a
lifeline to the country’s banks, some analysts
believe.
But it is also possible Frankfurt would decide it
could no longer accept Greek government bonds
as collateral. Without ECB liquidity – cut-off from
financial markets – Athens would have to print
drachmas to pay its bills.
The new currency would plunge in value against
the euro. That would trigger another wave of
defaults for businesses and citizens, unable to pay
outstanding debts in euros. Litigation, and even
deeper recession, would probably ensue.
Platon Monokroussos, research head at Eurobank
EFG, believes a Greek default might even cascade
into a full-]blown EU exit, because government
would probably try to impose capital controls,
close borders and take measures that violated EU
law.
Greece’s mainstream politicians appear aware of
this. Lucas Papademos, the prime minister,
warned MPs that the country faced “catastrophe”
if it did not approve a sweeping austerity package
tied to the loan.
Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of
Greeks determined to remain in the eurozone
despite enduring two years of austerity and
economic contraction.
However, there is a minority – particularly on the
far left – that wants out. Their chief argument,
endorsed by some well-known foreign
economists, is that a devalued drachma would
lower wages and instantly make Greece more
competitive.
They tend to point to Argentina, which broke its
peg with the dollar more than a decade ago,
defaulted on its foreign debt and has since fared
far better than many expected.
Yet that comparison overlooks the fact that the
Greek economy – unlike Argentina’s – boasts a
small production base and few exporters. Most of
its companies rely on imports, which would rocket
in cost. Sceptical, too, are ordinary citizens. “We
are not Argentina,” Mr. Stournaras said. “We are
not even self-sufficient in agriculture.”
(Adapted from: Financial Times http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/76d064c6-5992-11e1- 8d36]00144feabdc0.html#axzz1mlF7WlTl)


The expression wreak havoc (line 33) means

a) to cast ashore.
b) to reduce to a ruinous state by or as if by violence.
c) to bring about, or to cause a lot of trouble or damage.
d) to break down or wear out a person, physically or mentally.
e) an independent rock band from Chicago.

A resposta correta é:

In order for young people to do better in school, it helps if
they actually are in school. Schools basically have two options
when it comes to fighting chronic truancy. There’s the positive
approach, in which students are rewarded with iPads, sneakers, gift
cards, and other incentives merely for showing up at school. Then
there’s the flip side, in which students and parents are penalized for
unexcused absences. In the past, parents have been sentenced to jail
time for failing to get their children to school. Prosecutors have also
suggested jail time as a penalty for missing parent-teacher
conferences. Now there’s a school system in the news because its
superintendent plans on fining families $ 75 for each day a student
skips school.

In New Britain, Connecticut, a new superintendent of
schools named Kelt Cooper wants to end high truancy rates among
public school students, and he’s proposing monetary penalties to get
the job done. A plan to fine students $ 75 per skipped school day is
now being considered by New Britain council members.

The concept of fining kids for skipping school may come
as a shock, but it’s not new. In Ohio, the guardians responsible for
a student guilty of habitual truancy can be fined up to $ 500 and/or
be required to perform up to 70 hours of community service. Until
recently, students in Los Angeles could be hit with a $ 250 penalty
for each count of truancy; in early 2012 the law was amended and
the expensive fines were removed, though a $ 20 penalty may still
be handed out for the third offense.

Internet: (adapted).


Based on the text above, judge the following items.

Kelt Cooper"s proposal resulted in a debate about fining truancy in a city of the state of Connecticut.

A resposta correta é:

Soda consumption increases risk of stroke

and vascular disease

By John Phillip



Americans drink more than 216 liters of carbonated
soft drinks each year, a number that continues to
increase at an alarming rate. Many people use lowcalorie
diet soda in a futile effort to lose weight. Yet
they find that these drinks have the opposite effect
leading them to be overweight or obese.

The high acid content in most carbonated
beverages removes calcium and other critical nutrients
from the bone and tissues, significantly increasing
disease risk over years of consumption.

Researchers from Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness
Institute and Harvard University have reported the
result of a study in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, the first to examine soda’s effect on stroke
risk and vascular diseases.

Past studies have linked sugar-sweetened
beverage consumption with weight gain, diabetes,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, gout and
coronary artery disease, but current research has
implicated diet soft drink consumption with increased
disease risk and weight gain due to depletion of
essential minerals.

Lead study author Dr Adam Bernstein noted
“Soda remains the largest source of added sugar in
the diet. What we’re beginning to understand is that
regular intake of these beverages sets off a chain
reaction in the body that can potentially lead to many
diseases, including stroke. Researchers analyzed
soda consumption among 43,371 men and 84,085
women over a time span of nearly thirty years. During
that time, 2,938 strokes were documented in women
while 1,416 strokes were documented in men.”

Despite the millions of dollars spent by soda
marketers to instill the virtues of drinking soda,
there is nothing healthy about consuming any type
of carbonated beverage. Moreover, the study did
note that drinking coffee was associated with a 10%
lower risk of stroke, compared to drinking sweetened
beverages.
Regarding low calorie drinks, researchers
concluded “older adults who drank diet soda daily
had a 43% increased risk of heart attacks or strokes
compared to those that never drank diet soda”.

The suggestion is to substitute carbonated
beverage consumption with an antioxidant packed
cup of green tea or coffee to significantly reduce risk
of strokes and vascular diseases.

Alexander’s Gas & Oil Connections Magazine. May 12, 2012 Available at: . Retrieved on: 9 May 2012. Adapted.



In Text, the word those (line 43) refers to

a) stroke
b) drinks
c) adults
d) researchers
e) heart attacks

A resposta correta é: