The UK authorities
Read the text below and answer the following
question based on it.
Treating the UK’s loneliness epidemicOver a million people in the UK aged over 65 now
experience chronic loneliness. This figure will only rise as
our population ages. And research shows that severe
loneliness affects people across their life course, including
children and young people.
Chronic loneliness is as bad for our health as smoking 15
cigarettes a day and as damaging as obesity and physical
inactivity. It is linked with depression, dementia and high
blood pressure alongside a number of other conditions.
Loneliness impacts on our struggling health and social care
system, with evidence showing that those living with
loneliness are far more likely to visit their local doctor or
A&E. New research shows the health cost alone of
loneliness is equivalent to some £12,000 per person over 15
years.
National and local policymakers are now waking
up. Health and wellbeing boards across England are making
loneliness a priority and the Welsh and Scottish
governments have recently announced commitments to
develop national cross-governmental strategies to address
loneliness and social isolation.
We are calling on the UK government to follow suit and
commit to the development of a UK-wide strategy for
tackling loneliness and social isolation to help end this
growing crisis.
Adaptado de: <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/04/treating-ukloneliness-epidemic> Acessado em 4 de outubro de 2016.
Chronic loneliness is as bad for our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and as damaging as obesity and physical inactivity. It is linked with depression, dementia and high blood pressure alongside a number of other conditions. Loneliness impacts on our struggling health and social care system, with evidence showing that those living with loneliness are far more likely to visit their local doctor or A&E. New research shows the health cost alone of loneliness is equivalent to some £12,000 per person over 15 years.
National and local policymakers are now waking up. Health and wellbeing boards across England are making loneliness a priority and the Welsh and Scottish governments have recently announced commitments to develop national cross-governmental strategies to address loneliness and social isolation.
We are calling on the UK government to follow suit and commit to the development of a UK-wide strategy for tackling loneliness and social isolation to help end this growing crisis.
Gabarito comentado
Resposta correta: A
Tema central: trata-se de interpretar a posição dos órgãos públicos a partir de pistas do texto. A tarefa exige identificar a atitude das autoridades face ao problema (negligência, ação, intenção condicional etc.) lendo sinais lexicais e de tom.
Resumo teórico: em reading comprehension, priorize o gist (ideia geral) e evidências textuais. Procure verbos e advérbios que indiquem tempo e atitude (ex.: “now”, “are making”, “recently announced”, “calling on”). Frases que descrevem medidas ou compromissos sinalizam ação concreta.
Justificativa da alternativa A (“have finally started to pay attention to the problem and done something”): o texto informa que autoridades locais e nacionais “are making loneliness a priority” e que os governos do País de Gales e da Escócia “have recently announced commitments to develop national ... strategies”. Essas expressões mostram que já houve atenção e medidas iniciais — logo, A reflete corretamente o quadro apresentado.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
B — “have overlooked the problem despite the obvious need for action”: contradiz evidências do texto (ações e compromissos mencionados). Errada.
C — “have long ignored the problem and seem to want to keep it that way”: nenhuma frase indica permanência de ignorância ou intenção de manter o problema; pelo contrário, há sinais de mobilização. Errada.
D — “regard loneliness and social isolation as an unsolvable problem”: o texto mostra o oposto — formulação de estratégias e prioridades indica que consideram o problema tratável. Errada.
E — “intend to take action as long as the health system isn’t struggling”: o texto relaciona justamente a solidão ao desgaste do sistema de saúde; não há condição apresentada que adie ações enquanto o sistema “não estiver lutando”. Errada.
Dica estratégica: destaque no enunciado os marcadores temporais e de atitude (“now”, “making… a priority”, “recently announced”, “calling on”). Evite escolhas que exagerem (sempre, nunca, insuperável) quando o texto dá indícios de mudança ou ação.
Fontes que sustentam o contexto geral sobre solidão e saúde: relatórios do NHS e organizações como Campaign to End Loneliness documentam impactos e políticas públicas relacionadas.
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