Segundo o texto, a risada
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To Scientists, Laughter Is No Joke - It’s Serious
March 31, 2010.
So a scientist walks into a shopping mall to watch people laugh. There’s no punchline. Laughter is a serious scientific subject, one that researchers are still trying to figure out. Laughing is primal, our first way of communicating. Apes laugh. So do dogs and rats. Babies laugh long before they speak. No one teaches you how to laugh. You just do. And often you laugh involuntarily, in a specific rhythm and in certain spots in conversation.
You may laugh at a prank on April Fools’ Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke. “Laughter above all else is a social thing,’’ Provine said. “The requirement for laughter is another person.’’
Over the years, Provine, a professor with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has boiled laughter down to its basics. “All language groups laugh ‘ha-ha-ha’ basically the same way,’’ he said. “Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There’s a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound.’’
Each “ha’’ is about one-15th of a second, repeated every fifth of a second, he said. Laugh faster or slower than that and it sounds more like panting or something else. Deaf people laugh without hearing, and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, illustrating that laughter isn’t dependent on a single sense but on social interactions, said Provine, author of the book “Laughter: A Scientific Investigation.’’
“It’s joy, it’s positive engagement with life,’’ said Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University psychology professor. “It’s deeply social.’’ And it’s not just a people thing either. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them. By studying rats, Panksepp and other scientists can figure out what’s going on in the brain during laughter. And it holds promise for human ills.
Northwestern biomedical engineering professor Jeffrey Burgdorf has found that laughter in rats produces an insulin-like growth factor chemical that acts as an antidepressant and anxietyreducer. He thinks the same thing probably happens in humans, too. This would give doctors a new chemical target in the brain in their effort to develop drugs that fight depression and anxiety in people. Even so, laughter itself hasn’t been proven to be the best medicine, experts said.
(www.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)
To Scientists, Laughter Is No Joke - It’s Serious
March 31, 2010.
You may laugh at a prank on April Fools’ Day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke, said Baltimore neuroscientist Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke. “Laughter above all else is a social thing,’’ Provine said. “The requirement for laughter is another person.’’
Over the years, Provine, a professor with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has boiled laughter down to its basics. “All language groups laugh ‘ha-ha-ha’ basically the same way,’’ he said. “Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. ... There’s a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound.’’
Each “ha’’ is about one-15th of a second, repeated every fifth of a second, he said. Laugh faster or slower than that and it sounds more like panting or something else. Deaf people laugh without hearing, and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, illustrating that laughter isn’t dependent on a single sense but on social interactions, said Provine, author of the book “Laughter: A Scientific Investigation.’’
“It’s joy, it’s positive engagement with life,’’ said Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University psychology professor. “It’s deeply social.’’ And it’s not just a people thing either. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them. By studying rats, Panksepp and other scientists can figure out what’s going on in the brain during laughter. And it holds promise for human ills.
Northwestern biomedical engineering professor Jeffrey Burgdorf has found that laughter in rats produces an insulin-like growth factor chemical that acts as an antidepressant and anxietyreducer. He thinks the same thing probably happens in humans, too. This would give doctors a new chemical target in the brain in their effort to develop drugs that fight depression and anxiety in people. Even so, laughter itself hasn’t been proven to be the best medicine, experts said.
(www.nytimes.com. Adaptado.)
Gabarito comentado
Resposta correta: E
Tema central: interpretação de texto — identificar informação explícita no texto. Aqui é preciso reconhecer a ideia principal sobre a risada: seu caráter social e sua ocorrência em alguns animais.
Resumo teórico rápido: textos informativos costumam expressar ideias principais de forma clara. Procure afirmações diretas (ex.: “Laughter above all else is a social thing”, “Apes laugh. So do dogs and rats.”). Essas frases servem como evidência para responder alternativas que tratam de características gerais apresentadas pelo autor.
Justificativa da alternativa correta (E): o texto afirma explicitamente que a risada é “mostly about social responses” e que “the requirement for laughter is another person” — ou seja, é uma resposta social. Também cita que chimps, cães e ratos riem, indicando observação em animais. Logo, “é uma resposta social, que pode ser observada em alguns animais” sintetiza fielmente as informações do texto.
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A — “foi estudada pelos cientistas em locais com aglomeração de gente.” Errada: o texto começa com “a scientist walks into a shopping mall to watch people laugh”, mas isso é um exemplo ilustrativo; a conclusão do texto não afirma que todos os estudos ocorreram em locais de aglomeração.
B — “só é prontamente entendida entre falantes do mesmo grupo linguístico.” Errada: o texto diz o oposto: “All language groups laugh ‘ha-ha-ha’ basically the same way” — risada é entendida entre diferentes línguas.
C — “agrega diversos sentidos, como visão e audição, para ser comunicada.” Errada: o texto enfatiza que a risada não depende de um único sentido (p.ex., surdos riem sem ouvir), apontando que é baseada em interações sociais, não numa integração sensorial obrigatória.
D — “já foi estudada por cientistas das principais universidades do mundo.” Errada: o texto menciona pesquisadores e universidades (ex.: Provine, Panksepp, Burgdorf), mas não afirma que foi estudada por todas as principais universidades do mundo — é generalização não suportada pelo texto.
Dica de interpretação: procure no texto frases que expressem causas, definições ou exemplos diretos. Para alternativas gerais, verifique se o texto fornece evidência direta ou se a opção extrapola (atenção às generalizações).
Fontes citadas no texto: Robert Provine (“Laughter: A Scientific Investigation”), Jaak Panksepp, Jeffrey Burgdorf (notícias científicas adaptadas do NYTimes).
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