Questões de Concursos Inglês

As the Olympics Approaches, a Lesson in Overcoming Adversity

Bert R. Mandelbaum, MD

July 20, 2016

I've known a lot of athletes who qualified for the Olympic Games ,______injuries. But I know of only one who qualified because of an injury.

Cliff Meidl’s story captures the spirit of the Olympics.

In November 1986, Cliff, a 20-year-old plumber's apprentice, hit three buried high-voltage electrical cables with a jackhammer. An estimated 30,000 volts surged through his body, exploding bone and cartilage from the inside ail the way up to his head. To put that into perspective, electric chairs use only 1500-2000 volts for executions. So it's safe to say that Cliff should have died.

And he nearly did. His heart stopped. Paramedics were able to get it going again, but they had to resuscitate him on the way to the hospital.

As part of a team with renowned plastic surgeon Malcolm Lesavoy, MD, and others, I got to work reconstructing Cliffs legs. Our best hope was to avoid amputation.

But very quickly, we noticed something else going on - something that had nothing to do with our expertise. Through every step of his painful rehabilitation, Cliff grew more and more determined. He never complained. He just asked, "What's next?"

Before he had even finished the rehabilitation, Cliff started paddling various watercrafts. The days spent on crutches had already strengthened his upper body, and he took naturally to the sport. The same year in which he was injured, he began competing in canoe and kayak events, and in 1996 he qualified for the Olympics - not the Paralympic Games, the Olympic Games.

Four years later, in Sydney, Australia, I was overseeing the sports medicine team at the Olympic soccer tournament. I was sitting in the stands during the opening ceremonies when Cliff walked into the Olympic Stadium carrying the Stars and Stripes.

It's a long-standing tradition for delegations of athletes to select one among their number to bear the flag, and the choice often symbolizes some extraordinary accomplishment. I had no idea that Cliff would be selected. So when he strode into the stadium with a normal gait, I nearly broke down.

Moments like that reinforce what I have always believed: that sport can bring out the best in us all.

The Olympic Games (...) are devoted to celebrating the human capacity to improve body, mind, and soul.

They are about taking part - not necessarily about winning. Cliffs peers in the US delegation of 2000 recognized that when they elected him to bear the nation's colors. He never won a medal at the games, but the spirit with which he overcame adversity inspired all of them.

The Olympic motto - faster, higher, stronger - can help our patients realize that the real victory is the "win within." The Win Within: Capturing Your Victorious Spirit is the name of the book I wrote to show people that coming back from adversity is part of our heritage - that we as humanbeings are more adapted to adversity than we are to success.

Adversity is the engine of unimagined opportunity. It can unleash our energy and stimulate our will. It moves us to succeed. If I don’t have food, I have to go get some. If I’m cold, I have to build a shelter.

I remind patients who don't participate in sports that they have the heritage of athletes. We all have the genes of pursuit-hunters who survived by running down their prey and running away from their predators. That's why even now, in 2016, when we go out and take a run, we feel good. We get an endorphin surge and our lipids go down. Our hearts and brains become clear.

The life of sport and sport of life are interlinked. Exercise is our birthright; it's our legacy; it's why we are here.

We no longer have to fear saber-toothed tigers or cave bears. But when you look today at how people can be successful in 2016, it's by avoiding the predators in our urban life: overeating, inactivity, and smoking. And it's by rising to meet adversity.

(Adapted from http ://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/866279)

Reading skill will help you to improve your understanding of the language and build your vocabulary.

Social Media Across Generations

Today’s grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations’ online habits couldn’t be more different. In the UK the over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55-64and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It’s a much better way to see what they’re doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That’s how we did it when I was a child, but I think I’m lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.

Ironically, Sheila’s grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are leaving the site – only 2.2 million users are under 17 – but they’re not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. It’s my alarm clock so I have to she says. I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.

Unlike her grandmother’s generation, Chloe’s age group is spending so much time.......... their phones.......... home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn’t heard...................40years. We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country, she says. It’s changed my social lifecompletely.

Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early adopters of the smartphone.Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. I was always connected and I felt like I was always working, he says. How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself? So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. I’m not completely cut off from the world in case of emergencies, but the important thing is I’m setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.

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HVAC Contractors Need to Adapt to Repair Market

Repair or replace is a question homeowners often need to answer, and it greatly impacts an HVAC contractor's business. During COVID, the residential HVAC industry saw a replacement market boom. But in 2023 and now the beginning of 2024, there has been a shift to a repair market that HVAC contractors need to be aware of as they run their businesses.

According to numbers from the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), shipments of unitary air conditioners and heat pumps were down 16.7% in 2023, compared to 2022. Gas furnaces were down 23%.

"The replacement market is performing worse when you strip out new construction," said industry leader Matt Michel. "Housing starts were down around 5%, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, so the replacement market for unitary air conditioners and heat pumps was down in the low 20s."

Distributors are seeing similar numbers, according to the Heating, Air-conditioning, & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI).

"We definitely are seeing a shift here. And that shift has actually been visible for some time," said Tim Fisher, HARDI director of market intelligence.

HARDI receives data from FieldEdge on the invoice and quote trends exhibited by their users. Invoices reflect work that has been completed, whereas quotes reflect potential future work and are most often provided for new system installations. HARDI has found that, over time, the ratio of new invoices to new quotes is a useful indicator of whether a market is trending more toward repair than replace and vice versa.

The numbers show the annual growth rate bottomed out in the spring of 2022 but remained negative through most of the year, indicating that replacement trends were broadly higher in 2022 than in 2021. That figure increased through 2023, peaking in May but generally remaining positive for most of the year. While the three-month growth rate has slowed in recent months — an encouraging sign — they don't expect much of a negative drift in 2024, meaning that repair versus replace trends will broadly remain similar to where they were in 2023.

So why is this change happening? It can't be attributed to any single factor but rather a combination of items. Certainly, higher costs of both HVAC systems and housing in general play a role.

"Adapting to the economy is something contractors need to do. We can't just assume people are going to reach into their pocket and replace," said ACCA CEO Bart James. "Contractors need to help customers get through the current need. People are slowing down on theirspending. People are worried about what is coming and how they are preparing for it. Wages and other things are not keeping up with how fast prices are going up."

James said reading the numbers shows there is a shift in the home improvement market.

"Just look at the Walmart and Home Depot quarterly projections. Walmart did well with more visits but had smaller purchases, while Home Depot did not hit their numbers. That tells you that people are handling investments into housing differently. That will catch up with HVAC, too. "Contractors need to prepare by making investments in their team to meet the needs of the customer. And that need is not always a replacement option but also can be a repair option," James continued.

The sluggish home resale market is another reason for the shift towards a repair market. "Home improvement spending, in aggregate, tends to follow existing home sales totals nationally," Fisher said. "People invest more in their homes prior to selling to boost its value, and new homeowners spend more in their first year of moving than homeowners who stay put. This has major implications for HVAC replacement demand, which, historically, peaks when existing home sales are at their highest and falls off when existing home sales decline.

"Both the 3-month and 12-month growth rates bottomed out earlier in 2023, and while still negative, have slowed significantly," he continued. "We believe that home sale totals are at or nearing their trough, and over the duration of 2024 should steadily improve and finish at or ahead of 2023 totals."

The final reason is the cyclical nature of HVAC. It reflects the shipment cliff from 15 years ago, when the industry contracted 40% after peak shipments in 2005. Contractors cannot replace what was never installed.

How do HVAC contractors deal with this shift? Michel believes they should embrace the repair market.

"The money is better in replacements," he said. "It always has been and always will be. However, margins are better in service. For the next couple of years, anyway, contractors should focus on building up their service business and making money on it."

Since service involves more labor, and labor carries more overhead than equipment and material, keeping a close watch on overhead expenses is a must.

"Contractors need to build the service base, watch your marketing expenses drop, and down the road, the replacement margins and close rates to a satisfied service base will rise," Michel said. "Once we get past the shipment cliff, the replacement market will begin a decade-long run with every year being better than the year before it. We know this because it's what happened in the past, and when it comes to replacements, the past truly is a prologue."

Contractors in most parts of the country are already feeling the pinch of a slower market, and their experiences in 2024 are unlikely to be much different from their experiences in 2023 though rebounds from themilder temperatures we saw during peak months last year would go a long way in improving demand in 2024.

HARDI advises contractors should consider the following six tactics in '24:

• 
  
• •Offer financing options: Any homeowner considering a new system is likely going to feel some sticker shock if it's been a few years since they
• last bought a system. Financing a new system helps to alleviate that shock, making the big sticker prices much more palatable monthly payments.
• •Protect margins: Work to ensure that your pricing for jobs is consistent with market trends, and attempt to pass through as much of the higher system costs as possible. Likewise, now is a critical time to manage operating expenses closely. Together, good cost  management and smart pricing can help protect business margins in 2024.
• •Educate homeowners: Many homeowners may not fully understand the long-term benefits of replacing their HVAC system versus frequent repairs. Offer educational materials, such as blog posts, videos, or pamphlets, explaining the advantages of a new system 
• in terms of energy efficiency, lower maintenance costs, and improved IAQ. Also, be sure to make clear to your customers which incentives they may qualify for through IRA or other state-level rebate/incentive programs. 
• •Focus on value proposition: Emphasize the value proposition of a new HVAC system, highlighting its reliability, longevity, and performance. Help homeowners understand that investing in a replacement now can save  them money and hassle in the long run.
• •Offer maintenance packages: Create maintenance packages that bundle regular servicing with discounts on repairs or replacements. This can encourage homeowners to invest in preventive maintenance and build a long-term relationship with your company. 
• •Diversify services: Explore diversifying your services beyond just HVAC installations and repairs. For example, you could offer IAQ assessments, smart thermostat installations, or energy audits to provide additional value to homeowners and generate new revenue streams.

https://www.achrnews.com/articles/154324-hvac-contractors-need-to-ad apt-to-repair-market

Text: “Why do people collect?”

Petra Engels owns 19,571 erasers, Carol Vaughn has 1,221 bars of soap, and Ralf Shrőder has a collection of 14,502 packets of sugar. Many people love to collect things, but why? Psychologists and collectors have different opinions.

The psychologist Carl Jung believed that collecting is part of our ancient human history. Thousands of years ago, humans collected nuts and berries. They kept them carefully and ate them when there was no food. The best collectors survived long cold winters or seasons without rain. Their genes passed to future generations. Nowadays, we still have a collecting instinct.

Historian Philipp Bloom has a different opinion. He thinks collectors want to make something that will remain after their death. By bringing many similar items together, the collector gains historical importance. Sometimes their collections become museums or libraries, for example, Henry Huntington, who founded a library in Los Angeles to house his collection of books.

Author Steve Roach thinks that people collect things to remember their childhood. Many children collect things, but few have enough money to buy the things they really want, and they lose interest. In later life, they remember their collections fondly. Now, they have enough money and opportunity to find special items, and they start collecting again. This way, they can re-live and enjoy their childhood years.

Art collector, Werner Muensterberger, agrees that collecting is linked to childhood. But he believes we collect in order to feel safe and secure. While babies hold blankets or toys to feel safe when their mother isn’t there, adults collect things to stop feeling lonely or anxious.

Autograph collector Mark Baker agrees that collecting is emotional, but he doesn’t collect to reduce anxiety. “For me, it’s the excitement,” he says. “I love trying to get a famous person’s autograph. Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail. Also, by collecting autographs, I feel connected to famous people. I don’t just watch them on television. I actually meet them.”

These are just a few reasons for collecting. Do you know any people with collections? Why do they collect?

Questions related to the text above