West Africa Ebola Outbreak

Ebola virus disease (EVD)is a disease of humans and other mammals caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus. Ebola deaths in Africa up to 8 October, 2014 sum 4,032 people.

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa. These countries are Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. There were a small number of cases reported in Nigeria and a single case reported in Senegal; however, these cases are considered to be contained, with no further spread in these countries. Despite the efforts of health officials, 2,316 people died in Liberia, 778 in Guinea and 930 in Sierra Leone. Only eight people died in Nigeria.

My brother the star, my mother the earth my father the sun, my sister the moon, to my life give beauty, to my body give strength, to my corn give goodness, to my house give peace, to my spirit give truth, to my elders give wisdom.

Disponível em: www.blackhawkproductions.com. Acesso em: 8 ago. 2012.

TEXTO:

You can fool some of the people all of the time,

and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot

fool all of the people all of the time

Read the text below and answer following four questionaccording to it.

Why bilinguals are smarter
SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age.
This view of bilingualism is remarkably different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century. Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interference, cognitively speaking, that hindered a child’s academic and intellectual development.
They were not wrong about the interference: there is ample evidence that in a bilingual’s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system obstructs the other. But this interference, researchers are finding out, isn’t so much a handicap as a blessing in disguise. It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles.

The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind — like remembering a sequence of directions while driving.

The bilingual experience appears to influence the brain from infancy to old age. Nobody ever doubted the power of language. But who would have imagined that the words we hear and the sentences we speak might be leaving such a deep imprint?
Adaptado de: <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-ofbilingualism. html?WT.mc_id=D-NYT-MKTG-MOD-31048-0502- HD&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c= > Acessado em 25 de abril de 2015.

Mark the alternative that DOESN’T complete the sentence below.

Man With Severed Spinal Cord Walks Again After Cell Transplant

A man paralyzed for two years is now walking again, albeit with a frame, after a transplant to his spine.

In 2010, Darek Fidyka was repeatedly stabbed, rendering him paralyzed from the chest down. Fortunately, however, his nose was unscathed.

Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEGs) surround olfactory axons, the nerve fibers that conduct electrical charges from the nose to the brain to allow us to smell. What makes them of interest to spinal patients is that OEGs maintain their capacity to promote new neurons into adulthood.

This capacity for regrowth has inspired spinal researchers frustrated by the fact that the mammalian central nervous system does not regenerate axons. The idea is that if OEGs are transplanted into the spinal cord at the point of injury, damaged axons will start to restore themselves.

After the attack Fidyka was put on an intensive exercise and physiotherapy program, without success. After two years, he was selected as the subject for the OEG transplant trial. Cells from one of his olfactory bulbs were cultured for two weeks before being transplanted through 100 microinjections around the scar site.

BBC TV program Panorama was invited to film his response to the treatment. At first, despite five hours of exercise, five times a week, Fidyka showed no response, but at the three month mark he noticed that his left thigh was putting on muscle. After six months he was able to take faltering steps with the assistance of leg braces and parallel bars.

As the program prepares to go to air, Fidyka is able to walk on his own with the help of a walking frame. Some bladder, bowel and sexual function has also returned. Progress continues, and Fidyka told the BBC, "I think it's realistic that one day I will become independent."