Questão de Língua Inglesa

Execução: Fundatec 822_CE_36_NS_DM 13/12/202312:30:30 Scientists study the world’s oldest person 01 After being bewildered by the “super grandmother’s” great health at 116 years old, 02 scientists are studying Maria Branyas, the world’s oldest person, in an attempt to unearth the 03 secret to a long life. Mr. Branyas was born __ San Francisco __ 1907, and __ the age of eight, 04 she moved __ Catalonia, Spain, where her family was originally from. Ms. Branyas, known to her 05 X followers as the “Super Catalan Grandma”, has lived in the region ever since and has resided 06 in the same nursing home, Residència Santa María del Tura, for the last 22 years. 07 She has agreed to undergo scientific testing, which researchers hope will further their 08 understanding of certain illnesses associated with old age, such as neurodegenerative or 09 cardiovascular diseases. Despite her age, Ms. Branyas has no health complications other than 10 mobility issues and hearing (she suffered permanent hearing loss when she was a child). She also 11 still has a great memory: “She has a completely lucid head,” scientist Manel Esteller told ABC, a 12 Spanish outlet. “She remembers with impressive clarity episodes of her when she was only four 13 years old, and she does not present any cardiovascular disease, common in elderly people.” 14 Esteller, who studies genetics and how it applies to health conditions, became curious about how 15 Ms. Branyas’ genetic makeup might affect her aging. After a long talk with Ms. Branyas, Mr. 16 Esteller believes there must be more to her longevity than meets the eye. 17 The remarkable woman has not had an easy life; she survived an earthquake while she 18 was in the US, a major fire, both world wars, the Spanish Civil War, the Spanish Flu pandemic, 19 and more recently, COVID-19 in 2020. Despite the various pandemics, wars, and family losses 20 she has endured, her longevity has made scientists question what her secret could be. “We know 21 Maria’s chronological age, 116 years, but we must determine her biological age,” Esteller said to 22 ABC, believing that “she is much younger” physically. The scientist has taken biological samples 23 of saliva, blood, and urine from Ms. Branyas, which are thought to be the “longest-lived” biological 24 samples and have great scientific value, Josep Carreras, the head of a leukemia research institute, 25 said to ABC. The samples will be compared with the 116-year-old’s middle daughter, who is 79 26 years old. 27 Ms. Branyas often has been asked what her secret is to her long life, and she uses her X 28 account to post her advice for others. She attributed her longevity to “order, tranquillity, good 29 connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no 30 regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people”. However, she also credits a great 31 amount of luck. “It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members 32 of her family who are over 90 years old,” said Esteller. The rare biological samples will assess her 33 genes, which will hopefully advance the research of drugs that could help diseases associated 34 with age and cancer. As for Ms. Branyas, she said on her X account that she is “very happy she 35 can be useful for research and progress”. (Available in: https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/lifestyle/maria-branyas-oldest-person-alive-spain- b2436228.html – text especially adapted for this test).