In paragraph 2, the phrase “…turning what has been a seasonal annoyance into an existential threat” most likely refers to which of the following?
FLORIDA HURRICANES
1 Before Hurricane Sandy tore through New York and New Jersey, it stopped in Florida. Huge waves covered beaches, swept over Fort Lauderdale's concrete sea wall and spilled onto A1A, Florida's coastal highway. A month later another series of violent storms hit south Florida, severely eroding Fort Lauderdale's beaches and a section of A1A. Workers are building a new sea wall, mending the highway and adding a couple of pedestrian bridges. Beach erosion forced Fort Lauderdale to buy sand from an inland mine in central Florida; the mine's soft, white sand stands out against the darker, grittier native variety.
2 Hurricanes and storms are nothing new for Florida. But as the oceans warm, hurricanes are growing more intense. To make matters worse, this is happening against a backdrop of sharply rising sea levels, turning what has been a seasonal annoyance into an existential threat.
3 For around 2,000 years sea levels remained relatively constant. Between 1880 and 2011, however, they rose by an average of 0.07 inches (1.8mm) a year, and between 1993 and 2011 the average was between 0.11 and 0.13 inches a year. In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast that seas could rise by as much as 23 inches by 2100, though since then many scientists have called that forecast conservative. Seas are also expected to warm up, which may make hurricanes and tropical storms more intense.
4 Even as seas have risen over the past century, Americans have rushed to build homes near the beach. Storms that lash the modern American coastline cause more economic damage than their predecessors because there is more to destroy. The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, a Category 4 storm, caused $1 billion-worth of damage in current dollars. Were it to strike today the insured losses would be $125 billion, reckons Air Worldwide, a catastrophe-modelling firm. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, caused $23 billion in damage; today it would be twice that
5 Most Floridians live in coastal counties. Buildings cluster on low ground; more people than in any other state live on land less than four feet (1.2 metres) above the high-tide line. Florida's limestone bedrock makes it easy for salt water from surging seas to contaminate its freshwater aquifers. And it relies heavily on canals for flood control, which a sea-level rise of just six inches would devastate.
Adapted from The Economist, June 15th , 2013
1 Before Hurricane Sandy tore through New York and New Jersey, it stopped in Florida. Huge waves covered beaches, swept over Fort Lauderdale's concrete sea wall and spilled onto A1A, Florida's coastal highway. A month later another series of violent storms hit south Florida, severely eroding Fort Lauderdale's beaches and a section of A1A. Workers are building a new sea wall, mending the highway and adding a couple of pedestrian bridges. Beach erosion forced Fort Lauderdale to buy sand from an inland mine in central Florida; the mine's soft, white sand stands out against the darker, grittier native variety.
2 Hurricanes and storms are nothing new for Florida. But as the oceans warm, hurricanes are growing more intense. To make matters worse, this is happening against a backdrop of sharply rising sea levels, turning what has been a seasonal annoyance into an existential threat.
3 For around 2,000 years sea levels remained relatively constant. Between 1880 and 2011, however, they rose by an average of 0.07 inches (1.8mm) a year, and between 1993 and 2011 the average was between 0.11 and 0.13 inches a year. In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast that seas could rise by as much as 23 inches by 2100, though since then many scientists have called that forecast conservative. Seas are also expected to warm up, which may make hurricanes and tropical storms more intense.
4 Even as seas have risen over the past century, Americans have rushed to build homes near the beach. Storms that lash the modern American coastline cause more economic damage than their predecessors because there is more to destroy. The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, a Category 4 storm, caused $1 billion-worth of damage in current dollars. Were it to strike today the insured losses would be $125 billion, reckons Air Worldwide, a catastrophe-modelling firm. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm, caused $23 billion in damage; today it would be twice that
5 Most Floridians live in coastal counties. Buildings cluster on low ground; more people than in any other state live on land less than four feet (1.2 metres) above the high-tide line. Florida's limestone bedrock makes it easy for salt water from surging seas to contaminate its freshwater aquifers. And it relies heavily on canals for flood control, which a sea-level rise of just six inches would devastate.
Adapted from The Economist, June 15th , 2013
Gabarito comentado
Resposta: Alternativa B
Tema central: interpretação de texto — identificar consequência prevista pelo autor. A frase destacada expressa uma mudança de grau: algo que antes era apenas incômodo sazonal passa a representar risco existencial devido à combinação de aquecimento dos oceanos e elevação do nível do mar (contexto causal presente no parágrafo).
Resumo teórico rápido: em reading comprehension procure (1) o termo-chave no enunciado — aqui: "existential threat" —, (2) o contexto imediato que o explica (frase anterior e seguintes) e (3) o alcance semântico (se é possibilidade, consequência geral, ou exagero absoluto). Atenção a conectivos de causa: "But as..." indica causa/condição.
Justificativa da alternativa B (correta): o texto afirma que o aquecimento dos oceanos torna furacões mais intensos e que isso ocorre junto com a elevação do nível do mar. Juntas, essas mudanças aumentam a severidade dos eventos e o dano potencial, transformando um incômodo sazonal em uma ameaça capaz de afetar a própria existência/segurança das comunidades costeiras — exatamente a ideia de B: furacões podem tornar-se extremamente letais e destrutivos. Fontes científicas citadas no texto: IPCC e análises climáticas (ver relatórios do IPCC e artigos como The Economist, 2013).
Análise das alternativas incorretas:
A — fala de Sandy sendo mais destrutivo que previsto. O texto não afirma isso; menciona Sandy e danos, mas não discute previsões meteorológicas.
C — interpreta “existential threat” como tornar-se um problema diário em vez de sazonal. O texto enfatiza aumento de intensidade e impacto (ameaça existencial), não a frequência diária; não há evidência de troca de sazonalidade por diária.
D — sugere temporada anual contínua. O texto não afirma que a temporada passará a durar o ano inteiro; fala em aumento de intensidade e em elevação do risco, não em extensão temporal total.
E — afirma que "intensos furacões vão destruir a maior parte da costa". É uma extrapolação absoluta demais. O texto fala de ameaça grave e de maiores danos potenciais, não de destruição absoluta de "most of the coast".
Estratégias práticas para questões assim: leia a frase-chave no contexto; identifique termos que atenuam ou exageram (possibilidade vs certeza); descarte alternativas com extremos absolutos ou informações não sustentadas pelo texto; prefira respostas que reproduzam a ideia central sem acrescentar detalhes não presentes.
Gostou do comentário? Deixe sua avaliação aqui embaixo!
