Questões para Concursos

TEXT I Why do birds sing so loudly in the morning in spring? It’s the ‘dawn chorus’ As spring begins, so does a fresh song at daybreak, unique to the season. Just before the sun rises, birds start singing their melodies, creating a chirpy symphony. This phenomenon is known as the dawn chorus, and it’s special for a number of reasons: There are more birds singing at this time of year, and they also sing more often. This energetic burst of birdsong is often louder than usual too. The dawn chorus’ early morning explosion of sounds has even inspired multiple poems and songs. “It's the epitome of spring,” says Jordan E. Rutter, an ornithologist at the American Bird Conservancy. After the long and cold winter, “all of a sudden you have this influx of so many beautiful birds coming back and singing.” This harmony of birdsong at dawn happens during a fundamental time of the year. The dawn chorus is, in fact, mostly composed of birds of both genders singing to find a mate so they can breed (though males may sing more). “There is such a large increase in quantity of song by individuals and the collective,” Rutter says. “These birds sing louder to literally be heard. They need to compete with each other as well, and the louder the better in regards to who is the most impressive mate.” During this time, males also sing to assert their dominance and claim their territory. “Those songs are how they communicate to other males of the same species, or even just other birds and predators in general, and say, ‘This is my home,’” says Rutter. In the United States and Canada, the dawn chorus can be heard roughly from March through May, when many bird species migrate there from their winter homes to breed. Peak dawn chorus times might depend on where you live, Rutter says. For example, April is peak for the southern U.S., but birds in Washington, D.C., will put on the best show in early May. (Alternatively, in the tropics, the dawn chorus can be heard almost any time of year, as many birds have a prolonged breeding season in those warmer climates.) Why is it a ‘dawn’ chorus? But why birds sing in the early morning is still “an open question,” says Mike Webster, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “There's a lot of debate, and I don't think there's any consensus on exactly why it is that everything happens at dawn." One hypothesis is that weather conditions at daybreak make it easier for birdsong to travel. “In general, sound travels farther when the air is cooler and more dense. Sound also transmits more clearly (and very slightly faster) when humidity is higher so that details of the song do not degrade as much over distance,” says Heather Williams, a professor at Williams College who has studied the neuroscience of birdsong. She notes that wind may also impede sound transmission. “At dawn, the cooler air results in decreased winds at ground level, so coupled with the higher humidity, sound carries farther and more clearly, with less distortion.” Extract from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/birds-dawn-chorus (Accessed on 14 April 2025.)

TEXT I Why do birds sing so loudly in the morning in spring? It’s the ‘dawn chorus’ As spring begins, so does a fresh song at daybreak, unique to the season. Just before the sun rises, birds start singing their melodies, creating a chirpy symphony. This phenomenon is known as the dawn chorus, and it’s special for a number of reasons: There are more birds singing at this time of year, and they also sing more often. This energetic burst of birdsong is often louder than usual too. The dawn chorus’ early morning explosion of sounds has even inspired multiple poems and songs. “It's the epitome of spring,” says Jordan E. Rutter, an ornithologist at the American Bird Conservancy. After the long and cold winter, “all of a sudden you have this influx of so many beautiful birds coming back and singing.” This harmony of birdsong at dawn happens during a fundamental time of the year. The dawn chorus is, in fact, mostly composed of birds of both genders singing to find a mate so they can breed (though males may sing more). “There is such a large increase in quantity of song by individuals and the collective,” Rutter says. “These birds sing louder to literally be heard. They need to compete with each other as well, and the louder the better in regards to who is the most impressive mate.” During this time, males also sing to assert their dominance and claim their territory. “Those songs are how they communicate to other males of the same species, or even just other birds and predators in general, and say, ‘This is my home,’” says Rutter. In the United States and Canada, the dawn chorus can be heard roughly from March through May, when many bird species migrate there from their winter homes to breed. Peak dawn chorus times might depend on where you live, Rutter says. For example, April is peak for the southern U.S., but birds in Washington, D.C., will put on the best show in early May. (Alternatively, in the tropics, the dawn chorus can be heard almost any time of year, as many birds have a prolonged breeding season in those warmer climates.) Why is it a ‘dawn’ chorus? But why birds sing in the early morning is still “an open question,” says Mike Webster, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “There's a lot of debate, and I don't think there's any consensus on exactly why it is that everything happens at dawn." One hypothesis is that weather conditions at daybreak make it easier for birdsong to travel. “In general, sound travels farther when the air is cooler and more dense. Sound also transmits more clearly (and very slightly faster) when humidity is higher so that details of the song do not degrade as much over distance,” says Heather Williams, a professor at Williams College who has studied the neuroscience of birdsong. She notes that wind may also impede sound transmission. “At dawn, the cooler air results in decreased winds at ground level, so coupled with the higher humidity, sound carries farther and more clearly, with less distortion.” Extract from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/birds-dawn-chorus (Accessed on 14 April 2025.)

TEXT I Why do birds sing so loudly in the morning in spring? It’s the ‘dawn chorus’ As spring begins, so does a fresh song at daybreak, unique to the season. Just before the sun rises, birds start singing their melodies, creating a chirpy symphony. This phenomenon is known as the dawn chorus, and it’s special for a number of reasons: There are more birds singing at this time of year, and they also sing more often. This energetic burst of birdsong is often louder than usual too. The dawn chorus’ early morning explosion of sounds has even inspired multiple poems and songs. “It's the epitome of spring,” says Jordan E. Rutter, an ornithologist at the American Bird Conservancy. After the long and cold winter, “all of a sudden you have this influx of so many beautiful birds coming back and singing.” This harmony of birdsong at dawn happens during a fundamental time of the year. The dawn chorus is, in fact, mostly composed of birds of both genders singing to find a mate so they can breed (though males may sing more). “There is such a large increase in quantity of song by individuals and the collective,” Rutter says. “These birds sing louder to literally be heard. They need to compete with each other as well, and the louder the better in regards to who is the most impressive mate.” During this time, males also sing to assert their dominance and claim their territory. “Those songs are how they communicate to other males of the same species, or even just other birds and predators in general, and say, ‘This is my home,’” says Rutter. In the United States and Canada, the dawn chorus can be heard roughly from March through May, when many bird species migrate there from their winter homes to breed. Peak dawn chorus times might depend on where you live, Rutter says. For example, April is peak for the southern U.S., but birds in Washington, D.C., will put on the best show in early May. (Alternatively, in the tropics, the dawn chorus can be heard almost any time of year, as many birds have a prolonged breeding season in those warmer climates.) Why is it a ‘dawn’ chorus? But why birds sing in the early morning is still “an open question,” says Mike Webster, an ornithologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. “There's a lot of debate, and I don't think there's any consensus on exactly why it is that everything happens at dawn." One hypothesis is that weather conditions at daybreak make it easier for birdsong to travel. “In general, sound travels farther when the air is cooler and more dense. Sound also transmits more clearly (and very slightly faster) when humidity is higher so that details of the song do not degrade as much over distance,” says Heather Williams, a professor at Williams College who has studied the neuroscience of birdsong. She notes that wind may also impede sound transmission. “At dawn, the cooler air results in decreased winds at ground level, so coupled with the higher humidity, sound carries farther and more clearly, with less distortion.” Extract from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/birds-dawn-chorus (Accessed on 14 April 2025.)

Text 19A4-I

It is a universal fact that cinema is a visual medium. Films have the power to overwhelm our senses as well as our minds, subjecting us to a variety of experiences that can range from the sublime to the devastating. Colours play a crucial role in this interesting phenomenon, forming an integral part of the composition of each frame and dictating how the viewer perceives the spectacle on the screen. Apart from the cinematic medium, colours have always been a part of our experience and how we make sense of the vastly nuanced world around us. Although science has definitively explained what colours are in terms of light, they have always mystified artists and philosophers like Arthur Schopenhauer and Ludwig Wittgenstein, who tried to understand their importance in anthropological frameworks.
More notably, the famous German poet and artist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published a seminal exploration of colours in his 1810 work Theory of Colours . In it, he examined how each colour corresponds to various psychological states in the minds of human beings. He wrote, “Light and darkness, brightness and obscurity, or if a more general expression is preferred, light and its absence, are necessary to the production of colour… Colour itself is a degree of darkness.” Goethe’s theories might seem baselessly romantic in the 21st century but the underlying ideas have been implemented by filmmakers and cinematographers to curate the voyeuristic experiences of their audiences. Famed cinematographer Vittorio Storaro has based his artistic vision on Goethe’s work, insisting that colours do have a direct connection to the mind of the viewer.

Internet: (adapted).

Text 18A3-I
The roar of a waterfall suggests the power of water. Rampaging floodwaters can uproot strong trees and twist railroad tracks. When the power of water is harnessed, however, it can do useful work for humans.
Since ancient times, people have put the energy in the flow of water to work. They first made water work for them with the waterwheel, a wheel with paddles around its rim. Flowing water rotated the waterwheel, which in turn ran machinery that was linked to it. Today, new kinds of waterwheels – turbines – spin generators that produce electricity. Electricity from waterturned generators is known as hydroelectricity.
By building a dam across a river, the natural upstream water level is elevated and a difference in head is created that can be used to drive turbines and generate electricity. A large upstream reservoir may balance seasonal water flow; rain or melted snow can be stored in the reservoir during the wet season to provide electricity during dry seasons.
Waterpower is distributed unevenly among the continents and nations of the world. Europe and North America have developed much of their waterpower. Asia, South America, and Africa have abundant waterpower potential, but while countries such as China and Brazil have become leading hydroelectric producers, much of the waterpower resource on those continents remains undeveloped.
Elizabeth Lachner. Hydroelectricity . Rosen Publishing Group, 2018 (adapted).

Read the text to answer question. No one who speaks English has any difficulty understanding the meaning of a sentence like ‘It’s warm in here’. We all recognise that it is a comment on the temperature in some place or other. But why it is being said, and what the speaker wishes to convey by saying it, depends entirely on two things: the context in which it is said and what the speaker wants people to understand (...) The meaning of language depends on where it occurs within a larger stretch of discourse, and thus the relationship that the different language elements have with what comes before and after them. In other words, speakers and writers have to be able to operate with more than just words and grammar; they have to be able to string utterances together. Our ability to function properly in conversation or writing depends not only on reacting to the context in which we are using the language, but also on the relationship between words and ideas in longer texts. Words can also mean more than one thing, for example, ‘book’ (= something to read, to reserve, a list of bets, etc.), ‘beat’ (= to win, to hit, to mix, e.g. an egg, the ‘pulse’ of music/a heart) and ‘can’ (= ability, permission, probability – and a container made of metal). Notice that, in these examples, not only can the same form have many meanings, but it can also be different parts of speech. With so many available meanings for words and grammatical forms, it is the context the word occurs in which determines which of these meanings is being referred to. If we say, ‘I beat him because I ran faster than he did’, ‘beat’ is likely to mean won rather than physically assaulted or mixed (though there is always the possibility of ambiguity, of course). (Harmer, 1998. Adaptado)