Questões de Inglês - Interpretação de texto | Reading comprehension para Concurso

Instruction: answer questions 31 to 40 based on the following text. The highlights throughout the text are cited in the questions.

Carnival

1. ______ Carnival is ____ festival celebrated in _____countries of Catholic tradition, often
2. with public parades of playful, imaginative wagons typically called "floats, masking, jokes and
3. feasts”.
4. Etymology
5. The word carnival comes from the Latin "carnem levare" (=eliminate meat) and
6. originally indicated the banquet that was held on the last day of Carnival (Mardi Gras),
7. immediately before Lent, the period of fasting and abstinence when Christians would abstain
8. _____ meat. The first evidence of the use of the word "carnevale" (or "carnevalo") are the texts
9. of minstrel Matazone da Caligano of the late 13th century and writer Giovanni Sercambi around
10. 1400.
11. Carnival period
12. In Catholic countries, traditionally Carnival begins on the Septuagesima Sunday (70
13. days to Easter, it was the first of the nine Sundays before the Holy Week in the Gregorian
14. calendar), and in the Roman rite ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the
15. beginning of Lent. The climax is usually from Thursday until Tuesday, the last day of Carnival.
16. Being connected with Easter which is a moveable feast, the final dates of Carnival vary each
17. year, though in some places it may begin already on 17^th January. Since Catholic Easter is on
18. the Sunday after the 17first full moon of spring, therefore from 22 March to 25 April, and since
19. there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, then in non-leap years the last day of
20. Carnival, Mardi Gras, can fall any time within February 3 to March 9.
21. In the Ambrosian rite, which is followed in the Archdiocese of Milan and in some
22. neighboring dioceses, Lent begins with the first Sunday of Lent, therefore the last day of
23. Carnival is on Saturday, four days later than the Mardi Gras in other areas of Italy.
24. Carnival in antiquity
25. Although present in the Catholic tradition, Carnival has its origins in much older
26. celebrations, such as the Greek Dionysian festivals ("Anthesteria") or the Roman "Saturnalia".
27. During these ancient rites a temporary dissolution of the social obligations and hierarchies took
28. place in favor of chaos, jokes and even debauchery. From a historical and religious point of
29. view Carnival represented, therefore, a period of renewal, when chaos replaced the established
30. order, but once festive period was over, a new or the old order re-emerged for another cycle
31. until the next carnival.
32. In Babylon, shortly after the vernal equinox the process of the foundation of the cosmos
33. was re-enacted, described with the myth of the struggle of Marduk, the savior-god with Tiamat
34. the dragon, which ended with the victory of the former. During these ceremonies a procession
35. was held in which the forces of chaos were allegorically represented fighting the recreation of
36. the universe, that is the myth of the death and resurrection of Marduk, the savior. In the parade
37. there was a ship on wheels where the deities Moon and Sun were carried along a large avenue
38. - a symbol of the Zodiac - to the sanctuary of Babylon, symbol of the earth. This period was
39. accompanied by an unbridled freedom and a reversal of social order and morality.
40. In the Roman world the feast in honor of the Egyptian goddess Isis involved the presence
41. of masked groups, as told by Lucius Apuleius in the Metamorphoses (Book XI). Among the
42. Romans the end of the old year was represented by a man covered with goat skins, carried in
43. procession, hit with sticks and called Mamurius Veturius.
44. Carnival is therefore a moment in a mythic cycle, it is the movement of spirits between
45. heaven, earth and the underworld. In the spring, when the earth begins to show its power,
46. Carnival opens a passage between the earth and the underworld, whose souls must be honored
47. and for a short period the living lend them their bodies wearing masks. Masks therefore have
48. often an apotropaic meaning, as the wearer takes on the features of the spirit represented.
49. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Medici in Florence organized large masked carts
50. called "Trionfi" accompanied by carnival songs and dances one, the "Trionfo di Bacco e Arianna"
51. also written by Lorenzo the Magnificent. In Rome under the Popes horse races took place and
52. a called the "race of moccoletti" where runners bearing lit candles tried to blow out each other's
53. candles.

(Available at: http://www.italyheritage.com/traditions/carnival/2023/04/14/ – text especially adapted for this test).

How were the first 'voice mails' sent? In envelopes

“Hello Mother, Dad, and Blanche,” a quiet voice says above the cracks and pops of an old vinyl record, which has clearly been played many times over. “How’s everything at home? I’m recording this from Dallas…from this very little place where there are pinball machines and many other things like that…”

The disc is small, seven inches across, dated ___________ 1954. The faded green label shows that the speaker’s name is “Gene,” the recording addressed to “Folks.” Gene suggests in his minute-long message that he is traveling—“seeing America”—and tells his family not to worry about him.

“I should complete my trip sometime around Thanksgiving. I hope you received my letter and I, in turn, hope to receive some of the letters that you sent me.”

This largely forgotten sound is one of the world’s early “voice mails.” During the first half of the 20th century, these audio letters and other messages were recorded largely in booths, pressed onto metal discs and vinyl records, and mailed in places all over the world. Best known today for playing music at home, record players were then being used as a means of _____________ over long distances.

The idea of transporting a person’s voice had _________ large in the human imagination for some three centuries before it was finally achieved with the invention of the phonograph in the late 19th century. Historical documents from the Qing Dynasty in 16th-century China suggest the existence of a mysterious device called the “thousand-mile speaker,” a wooden cylinder that could be spoken into and sealed, such that the recipient could still hear the reverberations when opening it back up.

(Fonte: National Geographic - adaptado.)

O texto seguinte servirá de base para responder às questões de 21 a 25.

PUCKER UP I'm a dermatologist - you've been using lip balm all wrong - here's why your pout is still chapped

(1º§)YOU might be reaching for your lip balm more and more through these winter months. But are your lips still sore and chapped, no matter how much of the stuff you slather on? According to dermatology experts, the type of balm you put on your pout might be more important than the amount.

(2º§)Dr. Mona Gohara, an associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Brendan Camp, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology in New York, told TODAY why some lip balms could do more harm than good.

(3º§)To start with, they discussed why your lips might be chapped in the first place. The cold weather can wreak havoc on them as the skin is very thin, so they're more likely to dry out, Dr Gohara said. Meanwhile, Dr Camp noted that the delicate skin of your pout can easily be irritated by ingredients in skincare or food, yeast or bacteria, and even enzymes in saliva.

(4º§)You might also not be giving them enough love: lot's of people forget about their lips when they're moisturising their face. But if your lips are dry and chapped not long after you apply your balm, you just might be using the wrong kind.

(5º§)Four things to avoid in a lip balm:

1.Tingly balms

2. Fragrances

3. Flavouring agents

4. Dyes

(6º§)Dr Camp said these might cause allergic contact dermatitis, a type of eczema triggered by contact with a particular substance. And if your lips are dry, cracked, red, scaly and itchy, you might have developed a sensitivity to an ingredient in your lip balm, he added. Moral of the story, check your lip balm ingredients.

(7º§)Since you're doing that, there are a few ingredients that will help hydrate your pout. Dr Camp said you want to look for ingredients that will help trap water in the skin while keeping it moisturized for a long period of time. "Ingredients like beeswax, olive oil, castor oil, coconut oil, and shea butter are often used for this purpose," he said.

(8º§)You should also be wearing a salve with SPF to protect your lips from the sun. Meanwhile, Dr Gohara said that your ideal balm will have a combination of humectants (like hyaluronic acid and glycerin), which draw moisture into the skin, and occlusives (such as shea butter and mineral oil), which lock moisture in.

(9º§)The NHS recommended you use one containing petroleum jelly or beeswax. It said: "Try a few different lip balms if one is not working for you - some people may be sensitive to some fragrances, dyes or cosmetic ingredients."

(10º§)As long as you're using the right type of balm, Dr Gohara said you can apply it multiple times a day. According to Dr Camp, it's best to put on lip balm once in the morning and once before bed. There are other ways of preventing dry lips too.

(11º§)Lisa Borg, skin specialist and nutritionist at the Pulse Light Clinc, said the best thing you can do is drink plenty of fluids throughout the day. Preferably quality water as opposed to dehydrating coffee and fizzy drinks, she noted.

(12º§)Lisa also recommended eating foods that simulate saliva production, such as apples, cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes, watermelon, lemons, and crunchy fibrous vegetables like carrots and celery. Meanwhile, the NHS said you should wash your hands before applying lip balm and cover your lips with a scarf when you're outside in cold weather. If you're outdoors, use a balm with SPF 15 or more every two hours, it added.

(13º§)Common causes of dry lips: cold weather, dry air or wind; damage from the sun; dehydration; a lip injury; allergies; and lack of vitamins and minerals. If you have sore or dry lips, you should avoid: picking or biting any flaky skin on your lips - this can slow down healing; licking dry or cracked lips - this can make them sore; and sharing lip balms with other people - this can spread germs.

(adapted) -wwrongg-pu--chappeed .uk/health/21661055/dermatologist-using-lip-balm-wrong-pout-chapped/