Questões sobre Interpretação de texto | Reading comprehension

September 7, 1991

Dear friend,

       I do not like high school. The cafeteria is called the "Nutrition Center," which is strange. There is this one girl in my advanced English class named Susan. In middle school, Susan was very fun to be around. She liked movies, and her brother Frank made her tapes of this great music that she shared with us. But over the summer she had her braces taken off, and she got a little (1) taller and prettier and grew breasts. Now, she acts a lot dumber in the hallways, especially when boys are around. And I think it's sad because Susan doesn't look as happy. To tell you the truth, she doesn't like to admit she's in the advanced English class, and she doesn't like to say "hi" to me in the hall anymore.

      When Susan was at the guidance counselor meeting about Michael, she said that Michael once told her that she was the (2) prettiest girl in the whole world, braces and all. Then, he asked her to "go with him," which was a big deal at any school. They call it "going out" in high school. And they kissed and talked about movies, and she missed him terribly because he was her best friend.

      It's funny, too, because boys and girls normally weren't best friends around my school. But Michael and Susan were. Kind of like my Aunt Helen and me. I'm sorry. "My Aunt Helen and I." That's one thing I learned this week. That and more consistent punctuation. I keep quiet most of the time, and only one kid named Sean really seemed to notice me. He waited for me after gym class and said really immature things like how he was going to give me a "swirlie," which is where someone sticks your head in the toilet and flushes to make your hair swirl around. He seemed pretty unhappy as well, and I told him so. Then, he got mad and started hitting me, and I just did the things my brother taught me to do. My brother is a very good fighter.

Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Stephen Chbosky.

        Agriculture and fisheries are closely linked to climate, making them vulnerable to changes in temperature, CO2 levels, and extreme weather. While increased temperature and CO2 can enhance some crop yields, this depends on factors like nutrient levels, soil moisture, and water availability. More frequent droughts and floods could challenge food production and safety, while warming waters may shift fish habitats, disrupting ecosystems. Overall, climate change may complicate traditional methods of farming, livestock raising, and fishing.

        Crop responses to temperature changes depend on each crop's optimal growth temperature. Warmer conditions might benefit certain crops or enable the cultivation of new ones, but yields decline if temperatures exceed a crop's threshold. Increased CO2 can enhance plant growth under controlled conditions but may be offset by water, nutrient, and temperature constraints. Additionally, elevated CO2 reduces the protein and nitrogen content in crops like soybeans and alfalfa, lowering their quality and diminishing the forage value for livestock.

        Extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, can harm crops and reduce yields. For example, high nighttime temperatures in 2010 and 2012 lowered U.S. corn yields, while premature budding caused $ 220 million in losses for Michigan cherries in 2012. Rising summer temperatures may also dry soils, complicating drought management. Increased irrigation could help, but reduced water availability might limit its feasibility.

        Climate change also favors weeds, pests, and fungi, which thrive in warmer, wetter conditions with higher CO2 levels. This could expose crops to new threats and increase farming costs. U.S. farmers already spend over $ 11 billion annually on weed control, and these challenges are likely to grow as weed and pest ranges expand.

        While rising CO2 stimulates plant growth, it also lowers the nutritional value of major crops like wheat, rice, and soybeans by reducing their protein and mineral content. This poses a potential risk to human health. Additionally, increased pest pressure may lead to higher pesticide use, further impacting health and reducing pesticide effectiveness. Climate change, therefore, presents multifaceted challenges to food production, nutrition, and ecosystems.

Internet:<climatechange.chicago.gov> (adapted). 

        Grain poisoning, also known as grain overload or lactic acidosis, is usually the result of stock consuming large quantities of grain or pellets to which they are unaccustomed. Pasture-fed cows or feedlot cattle not yet adapted to grain may become acutely ill or die after eating only moderate amounts of grain, whereas stock accustomed to diets high in grain content may consume large amounts of grain with little or no effect. Some circumstances under which grain poisoning can occur include: accidental access to grain stores; stock access to stubble paddocks containing excess grain after harvest; stock access to standing crops; cattle and sheep on feedlot rations without proper introduction; and grain feeding during drought without proper introduction.

         How is it caused? Grain and finely ground carbohydrate (such as found in pellets) is rapidly fermented by bacteria in the rumen, producing large quantities of lactic acid, which lowers the pH in the rumen. The build-up of acid has effects on the animal such as: there is a decrease in the numbers of useful bacteria in the rumen and an increase in the amount of acid-producing bacteria (causing further build-up of acid in the rumen), rumen contractions cease, lactic acid draws fluid into the rumen from the tissues and blood, resulting in dehydration, and, in severe cases, the blood may become more acid, resulting in heart failure, kidney failure and or even death.

         Grains with a higher fibre content, such as oats and sorghum, are safer to feed than, for example, wheat and barley, since the fibre slows the rate of digestion. Cracking grain increases the rate of digestion of the starch and consequently may increase the risk of grain poisoning. Any factor that causes variation in the intake of grain, or variation in the availability of carbohydrate, may lead to grain poisoning problems. For example, an unpalatable additive or inclement weather may put cattle off their feed on one day, but then they gorge the next day. The effects of grain poisoning may be worsened if the animal is also suffering from cold stress. It is a wise precaution to increase the proportion of roughage fed during particularly cold weather. Other sources of carbohydrates, such as apples, grapes, bread, baker’s dough and incompletely fermented brewer’s grain, can also cause poisoning if eaten in excess.

Internet:<dpi.nsw.gov.au>(adapted).

Leia o texto para responder à questão.

    Practice often receives an unfair treatment in the field of applied linguistics. Most laypeople simply assume that practice is a necessary condition for language learning without giving the concept much further thought, but many applied linguists deliberately avoid the term practice. For some, the word conjures up images of repetitive drills in the factories of foreign language learning, while for others it means fun and games to entertain students on Friday afternoons.

    Practice is by no means a dirty word in other domains of human endeavor, however. Parents dutifully take their kids to soccer practice, and professional athletes dutifully show up for team practice, sometimes even with recent injuries. Parents make their kids practice their piano skills at home, and the world’s most famous performers of classical music often practice for many hours a day, even if it makes their fingers hurt. If even idolized, spoiled, and highly paid celebrities are willing to put up with practice, why not language learners, teachers, or researchers?

(DEKEYSER, Robert. Practice in a second language. Perspectives from Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology. Cambridge, 2007. Adaptado)