Read part of Adele’s song “Million years ago” and answer the Question.

I know I'm not the only one
Who regrets the things they've done
Sometimes I just feel it's only me
Who can't stand the reflection that they see
I wish I could live a little more
Look up to the sky not just the floor
I feel like my life is flashing by
And all I can do is watch and cry
I miss the air, I miss my friends
I miss my mother, I miss it when
Life was a party to be thrown
But that was a million years ago

Read and analyse the dialogue.

Julia: I guess that’s it Troy, I’m leaving for good.

Troy: I’m willing to get this straight. You are saying you’re not getting back?

Alcohol is more dangerous than heroin

A recent study in the UK has found out that alcohol is,surprisingly, more dangerous than heroin or crack. Scientists examined 20 drugs and their effects on people and society. While heroin and crack were considered to be very harmful to individuals, heroin, alcohol and cocaine are the worst for society. The study found out that alcohol had the worst overall effects. The study also said that tobacco was at least as harmful as cocaine. Ecstasy, LSD and marijuana were considered to be the drugs that cause the least damage. Substances were marked from 0 to 100 on a scale. Alcohol received 72, the highest rating, while heroin was rated at 55 and crack at 54.

Researchers looked at 16 factors in their study, including a drug’s effect on the brain and body, how it affects the crime rate as well as the costs for the economy. Although cocaine is more addictive, alcohol is the most harmful drug our society because it is most widely used. It does the most damage to the world around us.

Alcohol is drunken by a large part of the population as a social drink. It makes you happy and loosens you up. When it enters the brain it produces a chemical called dopamine. This makes you feel happy and without stress. However, too much alcohol consumption can lead to the destruction of almost all parts of your body. People who drink alcohol are more likely to drive in a drunken state or commit violent acts. The World Health Organization estimates that alcohol causes about 3 million deaths every year, including suicides, car accidents and heart and liver diseases.

Banning alcohol is not the same as forbidding LSD, cocaine or other drugs. It is part of our culture, but the report concludes that governments should do more to educate the population and point out the dangers of alcohol consumption. Especially younger people are at a high risk. They like to combine energy drinks with alcohol. These alcopops taste good but contain a lot of alcohol and are high on calories, which leads to obesity.

Yet for many regional health analysts, Abu Ara and several others at the Doctors Without Borders Special Hospital for Reconstructive Surgery in Amman are part of a terrifying new trend: the growing number of Syrians who have acquired bacterial infections that are immune to almost all antibiotics. The only way to treat them is to amputate their affected limbs and inject them with last-resort drugs. For those suffering from less peripheral wounds, the prognosis is even grimmer. “If the infection is in the chest or brain, it will be fatal,” says Rashid Fakhri, surgical coordinator for the organization in Amann. “There is no way out rather than amputate.”

[1] The ideas began with what seemed to be a minor difference of opinion between John and me on
[2] a matter of small importance: how much one should maintain one's own motorcycle. It seems natural
[3] and normal to me to make use of the small tool kits and instruction booklets supplied with each
[4] machine, and keep it tuned and adjusted myself. John demurs. He prefers to let a competent mechanic
[5] take care of these things so that they are done right. Neither viewpoint is unusual, and this minor
[6] difference would never have become magnified if we didn't spend so much time riding together and
[7] sitting in country roadhouses drinking beer and talking about whatever comes to mind. What comes to
[8] mind, usually, is whatever we've been thinking about in the half hour or forty-five minutes since we last
[9] talked to each other. When it's roads or weather or people or old memories or what's in the newpapers,
[10] the conversation just naturally builds pleasantly. But whenever the performance of the machines has been
[11] on my mind and gets into the conversation, the building stops. The conversation no longer moves
[12] forward. There is a silence and a break in the continuity. It is as though two old friends, a Catholic and
[13] Protestant, were sitting drinking beer, enjoying life, and the subject of birth control somehow came up.
[14] Big freeze-out.
[15] (…)
[16] When you're talking birth control, what blocks it and freezes it out is that it's not a matter of more
[17] or fewer babies being argued. That's just on the surface. What's underneath is a conflict of faith, of faith
[18] in empirical social planning versus faith in the authority of God as revealed by the teachings of the
[19] Catholic Church. You can prove the practicality of planned parenthood till you get tired of listening to
[20] yourself and it's going to go nowhere because your antagonist isn't buying the assumption that
[21] anything socially practical is good per se. Goodness for him has other sources which he values as
[22] much as or more than social practicality.

Women taking pill more likely to be treated for depression, study finds

Millions of women worldwide use hormonal contraceptives, and there have long been reports that they can affect mood. A research project was launched in Denmark to look at the scale of the problem, involving the medical records of more than a million women and adolescent girls.

It found that those on the combined pill were 23% more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant by their doctor, most commonly in the first six months after starting on the pill. Women on the progestin-only pills, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, were 34% more likely to take antidepressants or get a first diagnosis of depression than those not on hormonal contraception.

The study found that not only women taking pills but also those with implants, patches and intrauterine devices were affected.

Adolescent girls appeared to be at highest risk. Those taking combined pills were 80% more likely and those on progestin-only pills more than twice as likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than their peers who were not on the pill.

The researchers, Øjvind Lidegaard of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues, point out that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime as men, though rates are equal before puberty. The fluctuating levels of the two female sex hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, have been implicated. Studies have suggested raised progesterone levels in particular may lower mood.

The impact of low-dose hormonal contraception on mood and possibly depression has not been fully studied, the authors say. They used registry data in Denmark on more than a million women and adolescent girls aged between 15 and 34. They were followed up from 2000 until 2013 with an average follow-up of 6.4 years.

The authors call for more studies to investigate this possible side-effect of the pill.

South Africa told to end canned lion hunting

A motion to terminate the hunting and breeding of captive lions and other predators in South Africa has been approved by the IUCN World Conservation Congress currently underway in Hawaii.
The motion requests the prohibition of the hunting of captive-bred lions under any conditions and also states that breeding should only be allowed at “registered zoos or facilities that demonstrate a clear conservation benefit”.
The passing of this motion has come at a critical time as despite more than 20 years of campaigning by local and international activists and organizations to bring an end to these practices, the industry has shown steady growth over the last decade.
Currently there are more than 180 facilities holding approximately 7000 predators used for a variety of commercial purposes, including captive or ‘canned’ hunts.
Although basic legislation is in place to regulate the captive keeping and hunting of lions in South Africa, IUCN members have acknowledged that the SA government has had limited legal scope available to terminate “canned” hunting altogether and are hoping the guidelines set out in the motion will assist them to revise legislation.
“The Department (of Environmental Affairs) will consider the implications associated with the motion; engage the relevant IUCN members and then take appropriate actions, guided by its legal mandate,” says Albi Modise.
Adding to further implementation, amendments to TOPS (Threatened or Protected Species) Regulations will be published early next year which are expected to include prohibiting the introduction of wild lion to captive breeding facilities and the captive breeding of lion if no conservation benefit can be demonstrated.
While the passing of this motion is significant, it is only the first step of what could still be a tricky process.
Adaptado de: < http://www.bloodlions.org/sa-told-end-canned-lionhunting/>
Acessado em 10 de setembro de 2016.

Read the text below and answer the following questionbased on it.

The Healing Power of Music

What better “medicine” than a “treatment” that has only positive side effects and “therapy” that is actually enjoyable? Music is shown to have the ability to help organize the brain; especially vital to those who are afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
Studies have shown that the results of a musical therapy session last for several hours afterward. Positive results include elevated mood, increased socialization and appetite and reduction in agitation. These benefits are attributed to the stimulation the brain receives during a music therapy session, a sort of “cognitive workout”.
As speech, writing and traditional forms of communication are compromised, music provides an alternative means of maintaining a connection, thereby helping to normalize interaction between caregiver and patient. Music used therapeutically creates an environment where the patient can be nurtured and cared for in a way that is safe, gentle and appropriate. Music is central to maintaining human bonds when those with dementia have lost the ability to initiate communication or to respond verbally.

The powers of music when focused and used therapeutically are many. Critical to maintaining quality of life for those with Alzheimer’s is management of emotions and preserving the connection with others. Music is conducive to keeping those connections strong as long as possible while helping the participant to focus, increase awareness and orient to the environment. A number of research studies have looked at music therapy as an important adjunct to medical treatment and findings suggest a possible link between the use of music and slowing the progression of dementia.
Music is primal to life and expressed by each of us every day whether through dancing to a favorite tune, keeping rhythm with a pencil or remembering a special time when hearing a forgotten melody. It is central to our lives and is embedded in our culture, defining how we acknowledge milestones, rites of passage and celebrations as well as providing comfort, transformation and inspiration.
<http://www.caregiver.com/articles/print/healing_power_of_music.ht m> Acessado em 14 de abril de 2017. Adaptado