Magna Concursos
1809234 Ano: 2019
Disciplina: Inglês (Língua Inglesa)
Banca: IDECAN
Orgão: IF-PB
Provas:

Questions 32-33 are based on the following passage:

Why 'Run' Is The Most Complex Word in the English Language

BY EMILY PETSKO

English can be hard for other language speakers to learn. To

use just one example, there are at least eight different ways of

expressing events in the future, and conditional tenses are another

matter entirely. For evidence of the many nuances and inconsistencies

of the English tongue, look no further than this tricky poem penned in

1920. (For a sample: “Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to

give up!”)

As author Simon Winchester wrote for The New York Times,

there’s one English word in particular that’s deceptively simple: run. As

a verb, it boasts a record-setting 645 definitions. Peter Gilliver, a

lexicographer and associate editor of the Oxford English Dictionary,

spent nine months sussing out its many shades of meaning.

“You might think this word simply means ‘to go with quick

steps on alternate feet, never having both or (in the case of many

animals) all feet on the ground at the same time,’” Winchester writes.

“But no such luck: that is merely sense, and there are miles to go before

the reader of this particular entry may sleep.”

This wasn’t always the case, though. When the first edition of

the Oxford English Dictionary was published in 1928, the word with the

most definitions was set. However, the word put later outpaced it, and

run eventually overtook them both as the English language's most

complex word. Winchester thinks this evolution is partly due to

advancements in technology (for instance, “a train runs on tracks” and

“an iPad runs apps”).

He believes the widespread use of run—and its intricate web

of meanings—is also a reflection of our times. “It is a feature of our more

sort of energetic and frantic times that set and put seem, in a peculiar

way, sort of rather stodgy, rather conservative,” Gilliver told NPR in an

interview.

So the next time you tell your boss you "want to run an idea"

by them, know that you’re unconsciously expressing your enthusiasm—

as well as all the other subtleties wrapped up in run that previous words

like set failed to capture.

(Available in: http://mentalfloss.com/article/582820/run-most-complex-word-inenglish-

language. Accessed on May 17th, 2019. Adapted.)

What can be stated about the passage?

 

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