Dilatação temporal e contração espacial são conceitos que decorrem da
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Utilizados em diversas áreas de pesquisa, balões estratosféricos são lançados com seu invólucro impermeável parcialmente cheio de gás, para que possam suportar grande expansão à medida em que se elevam na atmosfera.
Um balão, lançado ao nível do mar, contém gás hélio à temperatura de 27 °C, ocupando um volume inicial Vi . O balão sobe e atinge uma altitude superior a 35 km, onde a pressão do ar é 0,005 vezes a pressão ao nível do mar e a temperatura é -23 °C.
Considerando que o gás hélio se comporte como um gás ideal, qual é, aproximadamente, a razão Vf /Vi , entre os volumes final Vf e inicial Vi ?
Consider the following propositions for rephrasing the fragment of sentence the south tower after burning for an hour and two minutes (l. 06-07).
I - the south tower after having been burning for an hour and two minutes
II - the south tower after it was burning for an hour and two minutes
III- the south tower after it had been burning for an hour and two minutes
If applied to the text, which ones would be correct and keep the literal meaning?
Um feixe de luz monocromática, propagando-se em um meio transparente com índice de refração n1, incide sobre a interface com um meio, também transparente, com índice de refração n2.
Considere ?1 e ?2, respectivamente, os ângulos de incidência e de refração do feixe luminoso.
Assinale a alternativa que preenche corretamente as lacunas do enunciado abaixo, na ordem em que aparecem.
Haverá reflexão total do feixe incidente se ........ e se o valor do ângulo de incidência for tal que ........ .
Instrução: A questão refere-se ao romance Diário da queda, de Michel Laub.
Assinale a alternativa correta sobre o romance.
Mark the statements below T (true) or F (false) according to the text.
( ) The semantic conflict between our inner and outer worlds frames the thesis of the text.
( ) Semantics provides undisputed evidence to the claim that 9/11 comprised two events.
( ) The author suggests that the amounts insured determine the importance of 9/11 as an event.
( ) The legal dispute ensuing 9/11 aimed to determine either the oneness or the twoness of the event.
The correct sequence of filling in the parentheses, from top to bottom, is
The complex linguistic universe of
Game of Thrones
1.Game of Thrones has garnered 38 Emmy
2.awards for its portrayal of a world of sex,
3.violence and politics so real that some viewers
4.could imagine moving there. Part of that detail
5.has been the creation of the richest linguistic
6.universe since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
7.In the field of language-creation for fictional
8.worlds, there is Tolkien, and there is everybody
9.else. But David Peterson, the language-smith
10.of Game of Thrones , comes a close second for
11.the amount of thought put into its two
12.languages, Dothraki and Valyrian. The interest
13.in these tongues is such that a textbook for
14.learning Dothraki has been published, while
15.Duolingo, a popular online language-learning
16.platform, now offers a course in High Valyrian.
17.Inspired by fictional languages such as those
18.in the Star Wars films and with a master’s
19.degree in linguistics, Peterson made Dothraki
20.and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.
21.Creating words is the easy part; anyone can
22.string together nonsense syllables. But
23.Peterson, like Tolkien, took the trouble to give
24his words etymologies and cousins, so that
25.the word for “feud” is related to the words
26.“blood” and “fight”. To make the languages
27.pronounceable but clearly foreign, he put
28.non-English sounds in high-frequency words
29.(like khaleesi , or queen), put the stress in
30.typically non-English places, and had words
31.begin with combinations of sounds that are
32.impossible in English, like hr .
33.Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic
34.sound changes, he gives his languages the
35kinds of irregularities and disorder that arise in
36.the real world: High Valyrian’s obar
37(“curve”) becomes Astapori Valyrian’s uvor .
38.Words’ meanings—as in real life—drift, too,
39.giving the system more realistic messiness.
40.Languages also play a prominent role in the
41.storyline. Dothraki is the guttural language of
42.a horse-borne warrior nation, but high-born
43.Daenerys Targaryen does not look down on it;
44.methodically learning it is key to her rise.
45.Tyrion Lannister is left to administer the city
46.of Mereen despite his ropy command of
47.Valyrian, leading to some comic moments.
48.And a prophecy of a future hero acquires new
49.meaning when an interpreter explains that the
50.word in question is ambiguous in Valyrian—it
51.could be “prince” or “princess”.
52.It might seem odd that a highly sexist society
53.like the one of Game of Thrones would have
54.languages where sex roles were not clearly
55.marked, but languages are not always perfect
56.vehicles for a culture. Random change can
57.leave them with too many words for one
58.concept, and not enough for another. In this
59.way, the flawed nature of language reflects
60.the foibles of flawed humans and the
61.imperfect worlds they strive to create.
Adaptado de:
<https://www.economist.com/news/books-andarts/
21725752-dothraki-and-valyrian-are-mostconvincing-
fictional-tongues-elvish>.
Acesso em: 21 nov. 2017.
De acordo com o texto, o realismo da série Game of Thrones pode ser atribuído
Consider the following propositions for rephrasing the clause It could be argued that the answer is one (l. 19).
I - One might argue that the answer is one.
II - You could say that the answer is one.
III- They should argue that the answer is one.
If applied to the text, which ones would be correct and keep the literal meaning?
........ September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a
hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower
of the World Trade Center in New York. At
9:03 A.M. a second plane crashed into the
south tower. The resulting infernos caused
the buildings to , the south tower
after burning for an hour and two minutes, the
north tower twenty-three minutes after
that. The attacks were masterminded by
Osama bin Laden in an attempt to intimidate
the United States and unite Muslims for a
restoration of the caliphate.
9/11, as the happenings of that day are now
called, has set off debates on a vast array of
topics. But I would like to explore a lesserknown
debate triggered by it. Exactly how
many events took place in New York on that
morning ........ September?
It could be argued that the answer is one.
The attacks on the two buildings were part of
a single plan conceived by one man in service
of a single agenda. They unfolded ........ a few
minutes and yards of each other, targeting
the parts of a complex with a single name,
design, and owner. And they launched a
single chain of military and political events in
their aftermath.
Or it could be argued that the answer is two.
The towers were distinct collections of glass
and steel separated by an expanse of space,
and they were hit at different times and went
out of existence at different times. The
amateur video that showed the second plane
closing in on the south tower as the north
tower billowed with smoke makes the twoness
unmistakable: while one event was frozen in
the past, the other loomed in the future.
The gravity of 9/11 would seem to make this
discussion frivolous to the point of impudence,
a matter of mere "semantics," as we say, with
its implication of splitting hairs. But the
relation of language to our inner and outer
worlds is a matter of intellectual fascination
and real-world importance.
______ "importance" is often hard to
quantify, ........ this case I can put an exact
value on it: 3,5 billion dollars. That was the
sum in a legal dispute for the insurance
payout to Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of
the World Trade Center site. Silverstein’s
insurance policies stipulated a maximum
reimbursement for each destructive "event."
If 9/11 comprised a single event, he stood to
receive 3,5 billion dollars; if two, he stood to
receive 7 billion. In the trials, the attorneys
disputed the applicable meaning of the term
event. The lawyers for the leaseholder defined
it in physical terms (two s); those for
the insurance companies defined it in mental
terms (one plot). There is nothing "mere"
about semantics!
Adapted from: PINKER, Steven. The Stuff of
Thought . New York: Penguin, 2007. p. 1-2.
Consider the following propositions for rephrasing the fragment of sentence the south tower after burning for an hour and two minutes (l. 06-07).
I - the south tower after having been burning for an hour and two minutes
II - the south tower after it was burning for an hour and two minutes
III- the south tower after it had been burning for an hour and two minutes
If applied to the text, which ones would be correct and keep the literal meaning?
The complex linguistic universe of
Game of Thrones
1.Game of Thrones has garnered 38 Emmy
2.awards for its portrayal of a world of sex,
3.violence and politics so real that some viewers
4.could imagine moving there. Part of that detail
5.has been the creation of the richest linguistic
6.universe since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
7.In the field of language-creation for fictional
8.worlds, there is Tolkien, and there is everybody
9.else. But David Peterson, the language-smith
10.of Game of Thrones , comes a close second for
11.the amount of thought put into its two
12.languages, Dothraki and Valyrian. The interest
13.in these tongues is such that a textbook for
14.learning Dothraki has been published, while
15.Duolingo, a popular online language-learning
16.platform, now offers a course in High Valyrian.
17.Inspired by fictional languages such as those
18.in the Star Wars films and with a master’s
19.degree in linguistics, Peterson made Dothraki
20.and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.
21.Creating words is the easy part; anyone can
22.string together nonsense syllables. But
23.Peterson, like Tolkien, took the trouble to give
24his words etymologies and cousins, so that
25.the word for “feud” is related to the words
26.“blood” and “fight”. To make the languages
27.pronounceable but clearly foreign, he put
28.non-English sounds in high-frequency words
29.(like khaleesi , or queen), put the stress in
30.typically non-English places, and had words
31.begin with combinations of sounds that are
32.impossible in English, like hr .
33.Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic
34.sound changes, he gives his languages the
35kinds of irregularities and disorder that arise in
36.the real world: High Valyrian’s obar
37(“curve”) becomes Astapori Valyrian’s uvor .
38.Words’ meanings—as in real life—drift, too,
39.giving the system more realistic messiness.
40.Languages also play a prominent role in the
41.storyline. Dothraki is the guttural language of
42.a horse-borne warrior nation, but high-born
43.Daenerys Targaryen does not look down on it;
44.methodically learning it is key to her rise.
45.Tyrion Lannister is left to administer the city
46.of Mereen despite his ropy command of
47.Valyrian, leading to some comic moments.
48.And a prophecy of a future hero acquires new
49.meaning when an interpreter explains that the
50.word in question is ambiguous in Valyrian—it
51.could be “prince” or “princess”.
52.It might seem odd that a highly sexist society
53.like the one of Game of Thrones would have
54.languages where sex roles were not clearly
55.marked, but languages are not always perfect
56.vehicles for a culture. Random change can
57.leave them with too many words for one
58.concept, and not enough for another. In this
59.way, the flawed nature of language reflects
60.the foibles of flawed humans and the
61.imperfect worlds they strive to create.
Adaptado de:
<="" span="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
21725752-dothraki-and-valyrian-are-mostconvincing-
fictional-tongues-elvish>.
Acesso em: 21 nov. 2017.
A palavra foibles (l. 60) pode ser substituída, sem prejuízo do sentido empregado no texto, por
Dilatação temporal e contração espacial são conceitos que decorrem da.
Em grandes aeroportos e shoppings, existem esteiras móveis horizontais para facilitar o deslocamento de pessoas.
Considere uma esteira com 48 m de comprimento e velocidade de 1,0 m/s.
Uma pessoa ingressa na esteira e segue caminhando sobre ela com velocidade constante no mesmo sentido de movimento da esteira. A pessoa atinge a outra extremidade 30 s após ter ingressado na esteira.
Com que velocidade, em m/s, a pessoa caminha sobre a esteira?
Existe uma possibilidade de mudar a frequência de uma onda eletromagnética por simples reflexão. Se a superfície refletora estiver em movimento de aproximação ou afastamento da fonte emissora, a onda refletida terá, respectivamente, frequência maior ou menor do que a onda original.
Esse fenômeno, utilizado pelos radares (RaDAR é uma sigla de origem inglesa: Radio Detection And Ranging), é conhecido como efeito
The complex linguistic universe of
Game of Thrones
1.Game of Thrones has garnered 38 Emmy
2.awards for its portrayal of a world of sex,
3.violence and politics so real that some viewers
4.could imagine moving there. Part of that detail
5.has been the creation of the richest linguistic
6.universe since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
7.In the field of language-creation for fictional
8.worlds, there is Tolkien, and there is everybody
9.else. But David Peterson, the language-smith
10.of Game of Thrones , comes a close second for
11.the amount of thought put into its two
12.languages, Dothraki and Valyrian. The interest
13.in these tongues is such that a textbook for
14.learning Dothraki has been published, while
15.Duolingo, a popular online language-learning
16.platform, now offers a course in High Valyrian.
17.Inspired by fictional languages such as those
18.in the Star Wars films and with a master’s
19.degree in linguistics, Peterson made Dothraki
20.and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.
21.Creating words is the easy part; anyone can
22.string together nonsense syllables. But
23.Peterson, like Tolkien, took the trouble to give
24his words etymologies and cousins, so that
25.the word for “feud” is related to the words
26.“blood” and “fight”. To make the languages
27.pronounceable but clearly foreign, he put
28.non-English sounds in high-frequency words
29.(like khaleesi , or queen), put the stress in
30.typically non-English places, and had words
31.begin with combinations of sounds that are
32.impossible in English, like hr .
33.Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic
34.sound changes, he gives his languages the
35kinds of irregularities and disorder that arise in
36.the real world: High Valyrian’s obar
37(“curve”) becomes Astapori Valyrian’s uvor .
38.Words’ meanings—as in real life—drift, too,
39.giving the system more realistic messiness.
40.Languages also play a prominent role in the
41.storyline. Dothraki is the guttural language of
42.a horse-borne warrior nation, but high-born
43.Daenerys Targaryen does not look down on it;
44.methodically learning it is key to her rise.
45.Tyrion Lannister is left to administer the city
46.of Mereen despite his ropy command of
47.Valyrian, leading to some comic moments.
48.And a prophecy of a future hero acquires new
49.meaning when an interpreter explains that the
50.word in question is ambiguous in Valyrian—it
51.could be “prince” or “princess”.
52.It might seem odd that a highly sexist society
53.like the one of Game of Thrones would have
54.languages where sex roles were not clearly
55.marked, but languages are not always perfect
56.vehicles for a culture. Random change can
57.leave them with too many words for one
58.concept, and not enough for another. In this
59.way, the flawed nature of language reflects
60.the foibles of flawed humans and the
61.imperfect worlds they strive to create.
Adaptado de:
<="" span="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
21725752-dothraki-and-valyrian-are-mostconvincing-
fictional-tongues-elvish>.
Acesso em: 21 nov. 2017.
A oração subordinada Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic sound changes (l. 33-34) refere-se
1......... September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a
2.hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower
3.of the World Trade Center in New York. At
4.9:03 A.M. a second plane crashed into the
5.south tower. The resulting infernos caused
6.the buildings to , the south tower
7.after burning for an hour and two minutes, the
8.north tower twenty-three minutes after
9.that. The attacks were masterminded by
10.Osama bin Laden in an attempt to intimidate
11.the United States and unite Muslims for a
12.restoration of the caliphate.
13.9/11, as the happenings of that day are now
14.called, has set off debates on a vast array of
15.topics. But I would like to explore a lesser-
16.known debate triggered by it. Exactly how
17.many events took place in New York on that
18.morning ........ September?
19.It could be argued that the answer is one.
20.The attacks on the two buildings were part of
21.a single plan conceived by one man in service
22.of a single agenda. They unfolded ........ a few
23.minutes and yards of each other, targeting
24.the parts of a complex with a single name,
25.design, and owner. And they launched a
26.single chain of military and political events in
27.their aftermath.
28.Or it could be argued that the answer is two.
29.The towers were distinct collections of glass
30.and steel separated by an expanse of space,
31.and they were hit at different times and went
32.out of existence at different times. The
33.amateur video that showed the second plane
34.closing in on the south tower as the north
35.tower billowed with smoke makes the twoness
36.unmistakable: while one event was frozen in
37.the past, the other loomed in the future.
38.The gravity of 9/11 would seem to make this
39.discussion frivolous to the point of impudence,
40.a matter of mere "semantics," as we say, with
41.its implication of splitting hairs. But the
42.relation of language to our inner and outer
43.worlds is a matter of intellectual fascination
44.and real-world importance.
45.______ "importance" is often hard to
46.quantify, ........ this case I can put an exact
47.value on it: 3,5 billion dollars. That was the
48.sum in a legal dispute for the insurance
49.payout to Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of
50.the World Trade Center site. Silverstein’s
51.insurance policies stipulated a maximum
52.reimbursement for each destructive "event."
53.If 9/11 comprised a single event, he stood to
54.receive 3,5 billion dollars; if two, he stood to
55.receive 7 billion. In the trials, the attorneys
56.disputed the applicable meaning of the term
57.event. The lawyers for the leaseholder defined
58.it in physical terms (two s); those for
59.the insurance companies defined it in mental
60.terms (one plot). There is nothing "mere"
61.about semantics!
Adapted from: PINKER, Steven. The Stuff of
Thought. New York: Penguin, 2007. p. 1-2.
Which of the alternatives below could replace the phrase closing in on (l. 34) as used in the text?
The complex linguistic universe of
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones has garnered 38 Emmy
awards for its portrayal of a world of sex,
violence and politics so real that some viewers
could imagine moving there. Part of that detail
has been the creation of the richest linguistic
universe since J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
In the field of language-creation for fictional
worlds, there is Tolkien, and there is everybody
else. But David Peterson, the language-smith
of Game of Thrones , comes a close second for
the amount of thought put into its two
languages, Dothraki and Valyrian. The interest
in these tongues is such that a textbook for
learning Dothraki has been published, while
Duolingo, a popular online language-learning
platform, now offers a course in High Valyrian.
Inspired by fictional languages such as those
in the Star Wars films and with a master’s
degree in linguistics, Peterson made Dothraki
and Valyrian as rich and realistic as possible.
Creating words is the easy part; anyone can
string together nonsense syllables. But
Peterson, like Tolkien, took the trouble to give
his words etymologies and cousins, so that
the word for “feud” is related to the words
“blood” and “fight”. To make the languages
pronounceable but clearly foreign, he put
non-English sounds in high-frequency words
(like khaleesi , or queen), put the stress in
typically non-English places, and had words
begin with combinations of sounds that are
impossible in English, like hr .
Armed with a knowledge of common linguistic
sound changes, he gives his languages the
kinds of irregularities and disorder that arise in
the real world: High Valyrian’s obar
(“curve”) becomes Astapori Valyrian’s uvor .
Words’ meanings—as in real life—drift, too,
giving the system more realistic messiness.
Languages also play a prominent role in the
storyline. Dothraki is the guttural language of
a horse-borne warrior nation, but high-born
Daenerys Targaryen does not look down on it;
methodically learning it is key to her rise.
Tyrion Lannister is left to administer the city
of Mereen despite his ropy command of
Valyrian, leading to some comic moments.
And a prophecy of a future hero acquires new
meaning when an interpreter explains that the
word in question is ambiguous in Valyrian—it
could be “prince” or “princess”.
It might seem odd that a highly sexist society
like the one of Game of Thrones would have
languages where sex roles were not clearly
marked, but languages are not always perfect
vehicles for a culture. Random change can
leave them with too many words for one
concept, and not enough for another. In this
way, the flawed nature of language reflects
the foibles of flawed humans and the
imperfect worlds they strive to create.
Adaptado de:
<https://www.economist.com/news/books-andarts/
21725752-dothraki-and-valyrian-are-mostconvincing-
fictional-tongues-elvish>.
Acesso em: 21 nov. 2017.
Assinale com V (verdadeiro) ou F (falso) as afirmações abaixo, acerca do texto.
( ) O autor considera Peterson tão talentoso quanto Tolkien em termos de criação de línguas ficcionais.
( ) As línguas criadas soam estrangeiras por contrariar padrões fonológicos da língua inglesa.
( ) A parte mais fácil da criação das línguas, segundo o autor, é dar conta da etimologia das palavras.
( ) O autor considera improvável que, em uma sociedade sexista como a de Game of Thrones, as línguas não delimitem claramente os papéis de gênero.
A sequência correta de preenchimento dos parênteses, de cima para baixo, é
No bloco superior abaixo, estão listados os movimentos literários brasileiros; no inferior, características desses movimentos.
Associe adequadamente o bloco inferior ao superior.
1 - Arcadismo
2 - Parnasianismo
3 - Simbolismo
( ) Representa um afastamento dos problemas sociais brasileiros, seguindo uma estética rígida.
( ) Surge na periferia intelectual brasileira: Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina e Rio Grande do Sul.
( ) Recupera o padrão estético clássico, fazendo ressurgir a epopeia.
( ) Busca transfigurar a condição humana, dando-lhe horizontes transcendentais.
A sequência correta de preenchimento dos parênteses, de cima para baixo, é
Assinale a alternativa que preenche corretamente as lacunas do enunciado abaixo,
na ordem em que aparecem. Quando um núcleo de urânio 238U92 absorve um nêutron, forma-se o núcleo 239U92, que é radioativo com meia-vida de 24 minutos.
Núcleos de urânio 239U92 emitem radiação ........ , transformando-se em núcleos de netúnio 239Np93. Esse isótopo de netúnio também é radioativo com meia-vida de 2,3 dias.
Ao emitirem radiação ........ , os núcleos de netúnio 239Np93 transformam-se em núcleos de plutônio 239Pu94, cuja meia-vida é cerca de 24.000 anos.
........ September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a
hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower
of the World Trade Center in New York. At
9:03 A.M. a second plane crashed into the
south tower. The resulting infernos caused
the buildings to , the south tower
after burning for an hour and two minutes, the
north tower twenty-three minutes after
that. The attacks were masterminded by
Osama bin Laden in an attempt to intimidate
the United States and unite Muslims for a
restoration of the caliphate.
9/11, as the happenings of that day are now
called, has set off debates on a vast array of
topics. But I would like to explore a lesserknown
debate triggered by it. Exactly how
many events took place in New York on that
morning ........ September?
It could be argued that the answer is one.
The attacks on the two buildings were part of
a single plan conceived by one man in service
of a single agenda. They unfolded ........ a few
minutes and yards of each other, targeting
the parts of a complex with a single name,
design, and owner. And they launched a
single chain of military and political events in
their aftermath.
Or it could be argued that the answer is two.
The towers were distinct collections of glass
and steel separated by an expanse of space,
and they were hit at different times and went
out of existence at different times. The
amateur video that showed the second plane
closing in on the south tower as the north
tower billowed with smoke makes the twoness
unmistakable: while one event was frozen in
the past, the other loomed in the future.
The gravity of 9/11 would seem to make this
discussion frivolous to the point of impudence,
a matter of mere "semantics," as we say, with
its implication of splitting hairs. But the
relation of language to our inner and outer
worlds is a matter of intellectual fascination
and real-world importance.
______ "importance" is often hard to
quantify, ........ this case I can put an exact
value on it: 3,5 billion dollars. That was the
sum in a legal dispute for the insurance
payout to Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of
the World Trade Center site. Silverstein’s
insurance policies stipulated a maximum
reimbursement for each destructive "event."
If 9/11 comprised a single event, he stood to
receive 3,5 billion dollars; if two, he stood to
receive 7 billion. In the trials, the attorneys
disputed the applicable meaning of the term
event. The lawyers for the leaseholder defined
it in physical terms (two s); those for
the insurance companies defined it in mental
terms (one plot). There is nothing "mere"
about semantics!
Adapted from: PINKER, Steven. The Stuff of
Thought . New York: Penguin, 2007. p. 1-2.
Consider the following propositions for rephrasing the sentence The attacks were masterminded by Osama bin Laden in an attempt to intimidate the United States and unite Muslims for a restoration of the caliphate (l. 09-12).
I - Attempting to intimidate the United States and unite Muslims for a restoration of the caliphate, Osama bin Laden has masterminded the attacks.
II - Osama bin Laden masterminded the attacks in an attempt to intimidate the United States and unite Muslims for a restoration of the caliphate.
III- In an attempt to intimidate the United States and unite Muslims for a restoration of the caliphate, the attacks have been masterminded by Osama bin Laden.
If applied to the text, which ones would be correct and keep the literal meaning?
........ September 11, 2001, at 8:46 A.M., a
hijacked airliner crashed into the north tower
of the World Trade Center in New York. At
9:03 A.M. a second plane crashed into the
south tower. The resulting infernos caused
the buildings to , the south tower
after burning for an hour and two minutes, the
north tower twenty-three minutes after
that. The attacks were masterminded by
Osama bin Laden in an attempt to intimidate
the United States and unite Muslims for a
restoration of the caliphate.
9/11, as the happenings of that day are now
called, has set off debates on a vast array of
topics. But I would like to explore a lesserknown
debate triggered by it. Exactly how
many events took place in New York on that
morning ........ September?
It could be argued that the answer is one.
The attacks on the two buildings were part of
a single plan conceived by one man in service
of a single agenda. They unfolded ........ a few
minutes and yards of each other, targeting
the parts of a complex with a single name,
design, and owner. And they launched a
single chain of military and political events in
their aftermath.
Or it could be argued that the answer is two.
The towers were distinct collections of glass
and steel separated by an expanse of space,
and they were hit at different times and went
out of existence at different times. The
amateur video that showed the second plane
closing in on the south tower as the north
tower billowed with smoke makes the twoness
unmistakable: while one event was frozen in
the past, the other loomed in the future.
The gravity of 9/11 would seem to make this
discussion frivolous to the point of impudence,
a matter of mere "semantics," as we say, with
its implication of splitting hairs. But the
relation of language to our inner and outer
worlds is a matter of intellectual fascination
and real-world importance.
______ "importance" is often hard to
quantify, ........ this case I can put an exact
value on it: 3,5 billion dollars. That was the
sum in a legal dispute for the insurance
payout to Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of
the World Trade Center site. Silverstein’s
insurance policies stipulated a maximum
reimbursement for each destructive "event."
If 9/11 comprised a single event, he stood to
receive 3,5 billion dollars; if two, he stood to
receive 7 billion. In the trials, the attorneys
disputed the applicable meaning of the term
event. The lawyers for the leaseholder defined
it in physical terms (two s); those for
the insurance companies defined it in mental
terms (one plot). There is nothing "mere"
about semantics!
Adapted from: PINKER, Steven. The Stuff of
Thought . New York: Penguin, 2007. p. 1-2.
Which of the alternatives below could replace the phrase closing in on (l. 34) as used in the text?
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