Prévia do material em texto

<p>PROVA DE SUFICIÊNCIA EM LÍNGUA INGLESA</p><p>EDITAL 1/2024</p><p>TEXTO</p><p>How to Prepare for a Solar Flare Hitting Earth (Because It’s Probably Going to Happen)</p><p>In the Tom Hanks movie Finch, a massive solar flare destroys the ozone layer, annihilating</p><p>almost all life on Earth (and leading to the invention of annoying robots). While a mass coronal ejection</p><p>really could hit Earth at any time, the good news is that even the worst solar storm probably wouldn’t be</p><p>as terrible as Finch is (as a movie). The bad news: While it wouldn’t be “building annoying robots” bad,</p><p>a coronal ejection could still be pretty awful. Short of destroying the sun, there’s nothing humans can</p><p>do to prevent solar flares—but you can still know what to expect, and prepare accordingly.</p><p>What is a solar flare?</p><p>According to NASA, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), or solar flares, are “giant explosions on</p><p>the sun that send energy, light and high-speed particles into space.” If the Earth happens to be in the</p><p>path of one of these ejections, and the ejection is powerful enough, things could get very crazy, very</p><p>quickly. The charged particles from the sun entering Earth’s magnetic field would cause geomagnetic</p><p>storms, lighting up the sky with a brilliant aurora borealis that would be visible all over the Earth.</p><p>Beautiful,for sure. But massively disruptive to our power system.</p><p>How bad is it when a solar flare hits earth?</p><p>Solar flares hit earth all the time, and it’s usually no big deal. Sometimes they cause relatively</p><p>minor issues, like the one that hit in August 2023 and disrupted radio and navigation signals across</p><p>North America. You probably didn’t notice—things returned to normal quickly—but a larger one could</p><p>be catastrophic.</p><p>In 1859, the biggest geomagnetic storm ever recorded hit Earth. The Carrington Event lit up the</p><p>sky so brightly that people thought dawn had come. The “Northern Lights” were visible as far south as</p><p>Cuba, and the nascent telegraph system went down, with telegraph operators reporting being shocked</p><p>by their machines, or being able to send messages, even though their power supplies were</p><p>disconnected. It ultimately wasn’t disastrous in 1859, but in the present day, when everything relies on</p><p>power and data, a massive outage and the loss of internet (undersea data cables are particularly</p><p>vulnerable) would throw the world into considerable chaos.</p><p>The power grid would likely go down, as long-distance power lines would be overwhelmed with</p><p>electrical currents, leading to transformers exploding. GPS systems would be useless, as satellites</p><p>would be shorted out. Planes might crash into one another, as they’re essentially flying blind. The</p><p>internet could be down for months, and estimated financial losses would likely be in the trillions.</p><p>A disruptive solar flare event will probably happen in your lifetime. The sun sloughs off material</p><p>regularly, but it usually doesn’t hit Earth, just by chance. Our luck has to run out eventually, however.</p><p>Scientists estimate there’s around a 12 percent chance of a massively disruptive coronal mass ejection</p><p>hitting Earth every 10 years. That’s about the same likelihood as a massive earthquake hitting</p><p>California.</p><p>While there’s nothing we mere humans can do to prevent solar flares, they don’t hurt humans</p><p>directly, and the damage to our infrastructure can be mitigated. There are at least 27 separate federal</p><p>programs aimed at preventing a worst-case-scenario outcome of a solar flare, and private power</p><p>companies are developing and employing technology to counter massive power surges too. On the</p><p>other hand, taking steps to prevent a foreseeable worldwide catastrophe isn’t something we’re exactly</p><p>great at (See: Pandemic, the).</p><p>How should you prepare for a massive solar storm?</p><p>On an individual level, preparing for a massive solar flare striking our planet is refreshingly</p><p>doable—this isn’t a zombie apocalypse or a nuclear war we’re talking about. First, remember that the</p><p>storm won’t hurt you, so the worse result is that your power and your ability to communicate with others</p><p>would be fried for a bit. Maybe for a few days. Maybe for a month. (Also: Your 401(k) would probably</p><p>tank as the economy reels.)</p><p>How to protect your household electrical system from power surges from solar flares</p><p>You can’t do anything about transformers exploding from magnetic storms, but you can protect</p><p>your household electrical system. Make sure your home is surge-protected with both a whole-house</p><p>surge protector and run-of- the-mill power-strip surge protectors. This is a good idea for both</p><p>massive, worldwide magnetic catastrophes and everyday power surges.</p><p>Like making sure your house is surge-protected, putting together a basic disaster kit is a good</p><p>idea even if a solar flare never hits—loss of power could come with earthquakes, hurricanes,</p><p>tornadoes, and some drunk guy driving into the pole across the street, so you want to be prepared.</p><p>There’s no way of knowing how long the power would be out due to a magnetic storm, so exactly how</p><p>much you should prepare is a personal decision. The basic survival kit guidelines laid out by the</p><p>government seem like a good place to start. You should not overlook having some cash on hand,</p><p>though. If international communication systems fail, you likely won’t be able to use the ATM, and hard</p><p>currency could prove very useful, especially if the outage persists over time.</p><p>I’m sure many disaster preppers think the government’s list is crazily inadequate, but I’m an</p><p>optimist. I don’t think a massive worldwide power outage would plunge the world into chaos—I’m more</p><p>in the short-term disruption camp. There's no real way of knowing, however.</p><p>Unlike earthquakes and nuclear attacks, we will likely have warning of a coming magnetic</p><p>storm—the 1859 Carrington Event was observed 19 hours before it hit Earth—so you should have at</p><p>least half a day to brace yourself for the coming unpleasantness. Even if you didn’t prepare ahead of</p><p>time at all (lazy!), you’ll still be able to fill containers with water, hit the grocery stores for non-</p><p>perishables, and otherwise mentally prepare for a week or so without being able to play Apex:</p><p>Legends. This is the time to charge all batteries and contact your family and make sure everyone else</p><p>is prepared (even though they will probably think you are crazy.) If the systems fail, you won’t be able</p><p>to get in contact with anyone, and you definitely don’t want to travel while this mess is going on. The</p><p>final step: Unplug everything and wait for the lights in the sky.</p><p>While disaster movies might suggest chaos and a run on all stores once the coming disaster is</p><p>announced, judging from how unusual the threat is, and the “whatever” attitude everyone had in the</p><p>days leading up to the pandemic taking hold in the United States, I’d put my money on the masses not</p><p>freaking out until the night sky lights up like noon and TikTok goes down.</p><p>Adapted from https://lifehacker.com/how-to-prepare-for-a-solar-flare-hitting-earth-because-1848076402</p><p>Questões</p><p>Questão 1: O que não acontece se houver uma explosão solar? (1,0)</p><p>a) O sol manda energia, luz e partículas em alta velocidade para o espaço.</p><p>b) A explosão solar causa tempestades geomagnéticas na terra.</p><p>c) Pessoas são atingidas pela radiação solar.</p><p>d) A aurora boreal pode ser vista em várias partes do planeta.</p><p>Questão 2: Com que frequência as tempestades solares atingem a terra? (1,0)</p><p>a) A cada dez anos.</p><p>b) Uma vez a cada 100 anos.</p><p>c) Não há uma frequência determinada.</p><p>d) O tempo todo.</p><p>Questão 3: Qual a tradução para a expressão “run-of-the-mill power-strip surge protectors” no 9º</p><p>parágrafo? (1,0)</p><p>a) Carretel ou fita de força protetora para surtos de energia.</p><p>b) Protetor comum para sobretensão.</p><p>c) Esteira ou faixa de força para sobretensão.</p><p>d) Protetor comum para sobrecargas de energia.</p><p>Questão 4: Qual a opção incorreta sobre o evento Carrington? (1,0)</p><p>a) Ele ocorreu há mais de um século.</p><p>b) Os operadores de telégrafo não puderam enviar mensagens.</p><p>c) A noite pareceu dia.</p><p>d) Sinais do evento foram observados quase um dia antes.</p><p>Questão 5: O que o verbo frasal “to slough off” no 6º parágrafo significa? (1,0)</p><p>a) Descartar.</p><p>b) Desprender.</p><p>c) Soltar.</p><p>d) Jogar.</p><p>Questão 6: O que a tempestade solar não causa? (1,0)</p><p>a) Danos à rede elétrica.</p><p>b) Interrupção dos serviços de telecomunicação.</p><p>c) Destruição da camada de ozônio.</p><p>d) Danos aos sistemas de navegação e localização.</p><p>Questão 7: Mesmo que não ocorram tempestades solares, quais as situações mencionadas no</p><p>texto para o uso de kits básicos para desastres? (1,0)</p><p>a) Interrupção do fornecimento de energia, ataques nucleares e tempestades.</p><p>b) Furacões, tornados, bêbados colidindo no poste e terremotos.</p><p>c) Bêbados batendo no poste, furacões, tornados, tempestades e queda de energia.</p><p>d) Terremotos, tornados, colisões no poste e deslizamentos.</p><p>Questão 8: As ações sugeridas para se preparar para os impactos da tempestade solar são: (1,0)</p><p>a) Checar equipamentos, suprimentos, falar com parentes, preparar-se mentalmente e jogar Apex:</p><p>Legends.</p><p>b) Guardar dinheiro, comprar alimentos não perecíveis, fazer contatos e desligar equipamentos.</p><p>c) Carregar baterias, deligar equipamentos, contatar pessoas, fazer saques e estocar suprimentos.</p><p>d) Encher contêineres de água, comprar alimentos não perecíveis, preparar-se mentalmente e desligar</p><p>equipamentos.</p><p>Questão 9: Que desastres mencionados não estão ligados às explosões solares? (1,0)</p><p>a) Colisão de aviões e danos ao sistema de navegação.</p><p>b) Apagão nas comunicações e quebra do sistema financeiro.</p><p>c) explosão de transformadores e danos à malha energética.</p><p>d) Terremotos e ataques nucleares.</p><p>Questão 10: Que informação abaixo não é verdadeira em relação às medidas preventivas</p><p>mencionadas no texto? (1,0)</p><p>a) Pessoas já demonstraram saber como seguir medidas em catástrofes globais.</p><p>b) Companhias elétricas estão desenvolvendo tecnologias para prevenir o colapso da malha</p><p>energética.</p><p>c) Programas federais estão sendo planejados para prevenir tragédias.</p><p>d) Preparação para uma tempestade massiva é facilmente factível no nível individual.</p>