Questões de Inglês - UFMG | Gabarito e resoluções

(UFMG -2004) Why is the South Pole colder than the North Pole? Robert Bindschadler, a senior fellow and glaciologist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, explains. Both polar regions of the earth are cold, primarily because they receive far less solar radiation than the tropics and mid-latitudes do. At either pole the sun never rises more than 23.5 degrees above the horizon and both locations experience six months of continuous darkness. Moreover, most of the sunlight that does shine on the polar regions is reflected by the bright white surface. What makes the South Pole so much colder than the North Pole is that it sits on top of a very thick ice sheet, which 1itself sits on a continent. The surface of the ice sheet at the South Pole is more than 9,000 feet in elevation - more than a mile and a half above sea level. Antarctica is by far the highest continent on the earth. In comparison, the North Pole rests in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, where the surface of floating ice rides only a foot or so above the surrounding sea. The Arctic Ocean also acts as an effective heat reservoir, warming the cold atmosphere in the winter and drawing heat from the atmosphere in the summer. http://www.sciam.com The word itself (ref. 1) refers to

(UFMG - 2004) TEXTO PARA A PRXIMA QUESTO: Dispatches from the Vanishing World 50 acres of tropical rainforest are said to be disappearing every minute. Millions of species of animals and plants around the world are going extinct at an ever-accelerating rate, many of them before they can even be identified or their existence is even known. (This particularly unfortunate type of extinction is known as Sentinelan extinction.) 2000 of the worlds 6000 remaining languages have less than 12 speakers and will be lost within this generation. The worlds cultural and biological diversity is under assault as never before in recorded history. What is the cause of the greatest extinction event in the last ten thousand years? Not a meteor strike or a volcanic eruption, or the advance or retraction of an ice sheet, but our very success as a species. Human population growth and the spread of modern culture are 1doing in the planet. Rapidly multiplying local people need land and its resources - wood for fuel, water, wild animals to eat, gold and diamonds and other minerals for income. Dispatches from the Vanishing World is a forum for documenting and raising consciousness about the worlds fast-disappearing biological and cultural diversity. It provides first-hand, in-depth reporting from the last relatively pristine places on earth, identifies who and what is destroying them, and who is engaged in the heroic and often life-threatening struggle to save them. It provides foundations involved in environmental or cultural preservation with two services: 1) a full, independent assessment of their program or cause, and 2) publicity by adapting the assessment for publication in one of the top American magazines or as a book. This is a readers website. The Dispatches will be long and thorough, because often these places where species and/or cultures are down to the wire are remote and hard to get to and dangerous to move around in, and this may be the only detailed treatment they get. http://www.dispatchesfromthevanishingworld.com/index.html The expression doing in (ref. 1) means

(UFMG - 2002) TEXTO PARA A PRXIMA QUESTO: T R E N D S After Some Sleepy Years, Yo-yos Are Back Up LIKE INFLUENZA, 1THE YO-YO rage seems 2to break out, inexplicably and virulently, every decade or so. 3The current craze began in Australia in 1995 before leaping to Japan (where 45,000 players competed in this years nationals). U.S. teachers have been confiscating them in record numbers since spring. In 4the latest incarnation, the junk-drawer toy has evolved into a giddily intricate machine. Industry leader Duncan will soon add a clutch model to match Yomegas popular Brain, which yanks itself up. Champs prefer the faster-spinning, longer sleeping transaxles. Got the bug bad? Try 5the SB-2, fashioned from aircraft aluminum in cool colors. Cost: $100 a pop. Newsweek, November 18, 1998. p. 4. GLOSSARY: Craze: modismo Rage: furor The expression TO BREAK OUT (ref. 2) means

(UFMG -2003) The Bug is Back Health authorities defeated dengue decades ago by vanquishing the mosquito that spreads 2it. Then why were half a million Brazilians sick this past summer? Its not a prettysight. The Ades aegypti mosquito, which spreads dengue and yellow fever, was eradicated decades ago. But the 1bugis back with a vengeance. It gave Brazil a dengue epidemic. Scientists now say the worst is yet to come. Why is nothing being done? Brazil is a case study of how badly things went awry. Twice the aggressive 4mosquitobattalions had freed Brazilian territory of Ades aegypti in 1955 and again in 1973. But these were the days of an ambitious military regime in Brazil, which had bigger things than bugs on its agenda. Instead of diligently tracking the disease, the generals poured money into highways, power plants and winning the Amazon frontier. When the dengue mosquito resurfaced, in 1976, Brasilia reacted swiftly to hush it up, under the cloak of national security. The generals are gone now, but the government continues to botch opportunities. There is no mystery, scientists say, to eradicating dengue: destroy the mosquito and 3its eggs, and the virus cannot prosper. Yet spraying is rarely done, except after an epidemic has hit. No one bothers with disease control until people start going to the hospital,says Hermann Schatzmayr, head of virology at Rios Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. Ades aegypti is now at home in 3,700 counties, including 60 percent of Brazil, and increasingly resistant to pesticides. Newsweek, June 17, 2002. p. 40-41. Which of the following words is NOT used to refer to Aedes aegypti??

(UFMG - 2003) Traveling To some extent, traveling entails fantasizing. We dream of finding someone interesting away from vigilant neighbors, from family control, from our own self-criticism. There is nothing necessarily [5] wrong with that fantasy nor with its realization. Now traveling is more rewarding, much more complex than that. It means coming out of hiding, getting out of the rut, looking around ourselves, seeing the world, [10] opening our minds to new dimensions of human existence. At a certain moment in our life, that may include an opening to new relationships, seen as rewarding experiences. On the other hand, traveling may develop our ability to stay alone, to face up to our fears, to meet the unknown head on, without turning to others for safety. It means being able to survive without old habits. While [15] traveling for pleasure, a workaholic may feel the same withdrawal symptoms that plague those who cease to take addictive drugs. Traveling tests and helps develop our independence. It makes us feel that the ground under our feet is within ourselves, not outside. Getting in touch with another culture also elicits fantasies involving [20] the stranger. Foreigners evoke many different emotions. One of them is the magic that surrounds someone from a distant, mysterious world. Only everyday-life can disentangle reality from magic. Yet, magic and enchantment do have a place in life. In a sense, traveling distinguishes us from reptiles. Alligators, for instance, [25] are intent exclusively on survival; they never leave their territory, they never relinquish safety and protection. Merely surviving is not enough for us humans. We want to live, and that sometimes entails going out to distant places in search of adventure. Traveling, like any other human experience, may provide an opportunity to prepare even for death. If we succeed in coming out of [30] hiding and living in different environments, perhaps we will be less disturbed when our body no longer is part of our luggage and only our essence departs for the great adventure. Traveling is being confident about the fact that our life can be lived wherever we are. Adapted from Traveling, sex, and fantasiesby Maria de Melo Azevedo, caro, n.189, May 2000. p. 20. *os nmeros entre colchetes indicam os nmeros das linhas do texto original. Now traveling is more rewarding... (line 6) To keep the same meaning, the word now could be replaced by

(UFMG - 2003) Traveling To some extent, traveling entails fantasizing. We dream of finding someone interesting away from vigilant neighbors, from family control, from our own self-criticism. There is nothing necessarily [5] wrong with that fantasy nor with its realization. Now traveling is more rewarding, much more complex than that. It means coming out of hiding, getting out of the rut, looking around ourselves, seeing the world, [10] opening our minds to new dimensions of human existence. At a certain moment in our life, that may include an opening to new relationships, seen as rewarding experiences. On the other hand, traveling may develop our ability to stay alone, to face up to our fears, to meet the unknown head on, without turning to others for safety. It means being able to survive without old habits. While [15] traveling for pleasure, a workaholic may feel the same withdrawal symptoms that plague those who cease to take addictive drugs. Traveling tests and helps develop our independence. It makes us feel that the ground under our feet is within ourselves, not outside. Getting in touch with another culture also elicits fantasies involving [20] the stranger. Foreigners evoke many different emotions. One of them is the magic that surrounds someone from a distant, mysterious world. Only everyday-life can disentangle reality from magic. Yet, magic and enchantment do have a place in life. In a sense, traveling distinguishes us from reptiles. Alligators, for instance, [25] are intent exclusively on survival; they never leave their territory, they never relinquish safety and protection. Merely surviving is not enough for us humans. We want to live, and that sometimes entails going out to distant places in search of adventure. Traveling, like any other human experience, may provide an opportunity to prepare even for death. If we succeed in coming out of [30] hiding and living in different environments, perhaps we will be less disturbed when our body no longer is part of our luggage and only our essence departs for the great adventure. Traveling is being confident about the fact that our life can be lived wherever we are. Adapted from Traveling, sex, and fantasiesby Maria de Melo Azevedo, caro, n.189, May 2000. p. 20. *os nmeros entre colchetes indicam os nmeros das linhas do texto original. According to the text, traveling does NOT mean

(UFMG 2003) Traveling         To some extent, traveling entails fantasizing.      We dream of finding someone interesting away      from vigilant neighbors, from family control, from      our own self-criticism. There is nothing necessarily5    wrong with that fantasy nor with its realization.      Now traveling is more rewarding, much more      complex than that.      It means coming out of hiding, getting out of      the rut, looking around ourselves, seeing the world,10  opening our minds to new dimensions of human existence. At a certain moment      in our life, that may include an opening to new relationships, seen as rewarding      experiences. On the other hand, traveling may develop our ability to stay      alone, to face up to our fears, to meet the unknown head on, without turning      to others for safety. It means being able to survive without old habits. While15  traveling for pleasure, a workaholic may feel the same withdrawal symptoms      that plague those who cease to take addictive drugs. Traveling tests and helps      develop our independence. It makes us feel that the ground under our feet is      within ourselves, not outside.      Getting in touch with another culture also elicits fantasies involving20   “the stranger”. Foreigners evoke many different emotions. One of them is      the magic that surrounds someone from a distant, mysterious world. Only      everyday-life can disentangle reality from magic. Yet, magic and enchantment      do have a place in life.      In a sense, traveling distinguishes us from reptiles. Alligators, for instance,25  are intent exclusively on survival; they never leave their territory, they never      relinquish safety and protection. Merely surviving is not enough for us humans.      We want to live, and that sometimes entails going out to distant places in      search of adventure. Traveling, like any other human experience, may provide      an opportunity to prepare even for death. If we succeed in coming out of30  hiding and living in different environments, perhaps we will be less disturbed      when our body no longer is part of our luggage and only our essence departs      for the great adventure. Traveling is being confident about the fact that our      life can be lived wherever we are. Adapted from “Traveling, sex, and fantasies” by Maria de Melo Azevedo,Ícaro, n.189, May 2000. p.20. The author distinguishes people from reptiles pointing out that people

(UFMG - 2003) Traveling To some extent, traveling entails fantasizing. We dream of finding someone interesting away from vigilant neighbors, from family control, from our own self-criticism. There is nothing necessarily [5] wrong with that fantasy nor with its realization. Now traveling is more rewarding, much more complex than that. It means coming out of hiding, getting out of the rut, looking around ourselves, seeing the world, [10] opening our minds to new dimensions of human existence. At a certain moment in our life, that may include an opening to new relationships, seen as rewarding experiences. On the other hand, traveling may develop our ability to stay alone, to face up to our fears, to meet the unknown head on, without turning to others for safety. It means being able to survive without old habits. While [15] traveling for pleasure, a workaholic may feel the same withdrawal symptoms that plague those who cease to take addictive drugs. Traveling tests and helps develop our independence. It makes us feel that the ground under our feet is within ourselves, not outside. Getting in touch with another culture also elicits fantasies involving [20] the stranger. Foreigners evoke many different emotions. One of them is the magic that surrounds someone from a distant, mysterious world. Only everyday-life can disentangle reality from magic. Yet, magic and enchantment do have a place in life. In a sense, traveling distinguishes us from reptiles. Alligators, for instance, [25] are intent exclusively on survival; they never leave their territory, they never relinquish safety and protection. Merely surviving is not enough for us humans. We want to live, and that sometimes entails going out to distant places in search of adventure. Traveling, like any other human experience, may provide an opportunity to prepare even for death. If we succeed in coming out of [30] hiding and living in different environments, perhaps we will be less disturbed when our body no longer is part of our luggage and only our essence departs for the great adventure. Traveling is being confident about the fact that our life can be lived wherever we are. Adapted from Traveling, sex, and fantasiesby Maria de Melo Azevedo, caro, n.189, May 2000. p. 20. *os nmeros entre colchetes indicam os nmeros das linhas do texto original. Traveling and death are similar experiences because both require us to

(UFMG - 2003) Traveling To some extent, traveling entails fantasizing. We dream of finding someone interesting away from vigilant neighbors, from family control, from our own self-criticism. There is nothing necessarily [5] wrong with that fantasy nor with its realization. Now traveling is more rewarding, much more complex than that. It means coming out of hiding, getting out of the rut, looking around ourselves, seeing the world, [10] opening our minds to new dimensions of human existence. At a certain moment in our life, that may include an opening to new relationships, seen as rewarding experiences. On the other hand, traveling may develop our ability to stay alone, to face up to our fears, to meet the unknown head on, without turning to others for safety. It means being able to survive without old habits. While [15] traveling for pleasure, a workaholic may feel the same withdrawal symptoms that plague those who cease to take addictive drugs. Traveling tests and helps develop our independence. It makes us feel that the ground under our feet is within ourselves, not outside. Getting in touch with another culture also elicits fantasies involving [20] the stranger. Foreigners evoke many different emotions. One of them is the magic that surrounds someone from a distant, mysterious world. Only everyday-life can disentangle reality from magic. Yet, magic and enchantment do have a place in life. In a sense, traveling distinguishes us from reptiles. Alligators, for instance, [25] are intent exclusively on survival; they never leave their territory, they never relinquish safety and protection. Merely surviving is not enough for us humans. We want to live, and that sometimes entails going out to distant places in search of adventure. Traveling, like any other human experience, may provide an opportunity to prepare even for death. If we succeed in coming out of [30] hiding and living in different environments, perhaps we will be less disturbed when our body no longer is part of our luggage and only our essence departs for the great adventure. Traveling is being confident about the fact that our life can be lived wherever we are. Adapted from Traveling, sex, and fantasiesby Maria de Melo Azevedo, caro, n. 189, May 2000. p. 20. *os nmeros entre colchetes indicam os nmeros das linhas do texto original. Another adequate title for this text could be

(UFMG 2002) AWARD-WINNING KANGAROO CARE Skin-to-skin contact creates gentle communication A touch. A feel. A heartbeat. A warm hug. (1)Whether a newborn is two pounds or eight pounds, skin-to-skin contact proves to be a nurturing strength between parent and baby in the first days of life. Similar to the way a kangaroo keeps its young close to its body, Kangaroo Care or K Care is the practice of (2)pouching an infant, diaper-clad and blanketed, against a parents bare chest. This special bonding between parent and newborn has been found to reduce parental stress, promotes confidence in the ability to care for the infant and improves infant health, especially in pre-term babies. In Mount Sinai Medical Centers Schwartz Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 15 neonates and their families have benefited from K Care. Patricia Messmer, director of nursing research at Mount Sinai, Joyce Wells-Gentry, nursing administrative supervisor, and Suzanne Rodriguez, along with a team of nurses and doctors, are studying the effects of K Care on preterm infants as well as parents attitudes toward their infants. Earlier studies have credited K Care with shorter hospital stays, greater confidence on the part of the mothers in their abilities to monitor their babies, less crying, longer sleep periods, greater weight gain, improved lactation and decreased oxygen requirements. Preliminary data analysis indicates a significant increase in sleep time during K Care for these infants as compared to the infants not receiving K Care, Rodriguez confirms. Results also indicate that during K Care, the infants experience fewer oxygen requirements and have fewer breathing difficulties. Many parents have commented that their infants are more relaxed during K Care, Messmer adds. Mothers and fathers are very positive about the experience. Adapted from Award-winning kangaroo care. Miami Herald Medical Reports, Jan. 1995. In the text, Whether a newborn is two pounds or eight pounds... (ref. 1) means

(UFMG 2002)  AWARD-WINNING KANGAROO CARESkin-to-skin contact creates gentle communication A touch. A feel. A heartbeat. A warm hug. (1)Whether a newborn is two pounds or eight pounds, skin-to-skin contact proves to be a nurturing strength between parent and baby in the first days of life. Similar to the way a kangaroo keeps its young close to its body, Kangaroo Care or K Care is the practice of (2)"pouching" an infant, diaper-clad and blanketed, against a parent's bare chest. This special bonding between parent and newborn has been found to reduce parental stress, promotes confidence in the ability to care for the infant and improves infant health, especially in pre-term babies. In Mount Sinai Medical Center's Schwartz Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 15 neonates and their families have benefited from K Care.Patricia Messmer, director of nursing research at Mount Sinai, Joyce Wells-Gentry, nursing administrative supervisor, and Suzanne Rodriguez, along with a team of nurses and doctors, are studying the effects of K Care on preterm infants as well as parents' attitudes toward their infants. Earlier studies have credited K Care with shorter hospital stays, greater confidence on the part of the mothers in their abilities to monitor their babies, less crying, longer sleep periods, greater weight gain, improved lactation and decreased oxygen requirements."Preliminary data analysis indicates a significant increase in sleep time during K Care for these infants as compared to the infants not receiving K Care," Rodriguez confirms. Results also indicate that during K Care, the infants experience fewer oxygen requirements and have fewer breathing difficulties."Many parents have commented that their infants are more relaxed during K Care," Messmer adds. "Mothers and fathers are very positive about the experience." Adapted from Award-winning kangaroo care. Miami Herald Medical Reports, Jan. 1995. According to the text, Kangaroo Care is a: 

(UFMG 2002) AWARD-WINNING KANGAROO CARESkin-to-skin contact creates gentle communication A touch. A feel. A heartbeat. A warm hug. (1) Whether a newborn is two pounds or eight pounds, skin-to-skin contact proves to be a nurturing strength between parent and baby in the first days of life. Similar to the way a kangaroo keeps its young close to its body, Kangaroo Care or K Care is the practice of ( 2)"pouching" an infant, diaper-clad and blanketed, against a parent's bare chest. This special bonding between parent and newborn has been found to reduce parental stress, promotes confidence in the ability to care for the infant and improves infant health, especially in pre-term babies. In Mount Sinai Medical Center's Schwartz Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 15 neonates and their families have benefited from K Care.Patricia Messmer, director of nursing research at Mount Sinai, Joyce Wells-Gentry, nursing administrative supervisor, and Suzanne Rodriguez, along with a team of nurses and doctors, are studying the effects of K Care on preterm infants as well as parents' attitudes toward their infants. Earlier studies have credited K Care with shorter hospital stays, greater confidence on the part of the mothers in their abilities to monitor their babies, less crying, longer sleep periods, greater weight gain, improved lactation and decreased oxygen requirements."Preliminary data analysis indicates a significant increase in sleep time during K Care for these infants as compared to the infants not receiving K Care," Rodriguez confirms. Results also indicate that during K Care, the infants experience fewer oxygen requirements and have fewer breathing difficulties."Many parents have commented that their infants are more relaxed during K Care," Messmer adds. "Mothers and fathers are very positive about the experience." Adapted from Award-winning kangaroo care. Miami Herald Medical Reports, Jan. 1995. The text says that pre-term babies who receive Kangaroo Care: 

(UFMG 2002)  AWARD-WINNING KANGAROO CARESkin-to-skin contact creates gentle communication A touch. A feel. A heartbeat. A warm hug. (1)Whether a newborn is two pounds or eight pounds, skin-to-skin contact proves to be a nurturing strength between parent and baby in the first days of life. Similar to the way a kangaroo keeps its young close to its body, Kangaroo Care or K Care is the practice of (2)"pouching" an infant, diaper-clad and blanketed, against a parent's bare chest. This special bonding between parent and newborn has been found to reduce parental stress, promotes confidence in the ability to care for the infant and improves infant health, especially in pre-term babies. In Mount Sinai Medical Center's Schwartz Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 15 neonates and their families have benefited from K Care.Patricia Messmer, director of nursing research at Mount Sinai, Joyce Wells-Gentry, nursing administrative supervisor, and Suzanne Rodriguez, along with a team of nurses and doctors, are studying the effects of K Care on preterm infants as well as parents' attitudes toward their infants. Earlier studies have credited K Care with shorter hospital stays, greater confidence on the part of the mothers in their abilities to monitor their babies, less crying, longer sleep periods, greater weight gain, improved lactation and decreased oxygen requirements."Preliminary data analysis indicates a significant increase in sleep time during K Care for these infants as compared to the infants not receiving K Care," Rodriguez confirms. Results also indicate that during K Care, the infants experience fewer oxygen requirements and have fewer breathing difficulties."Many parents have commented that their infants are more relaxed during K Care," Messmer adds. "Mothers and fathers are very positive about the experience." Adapted from Award-winning kangaroo care. Miami Herald Medical Reports, Jan. 1995. According to the text, the only advantage of Kangaroo Care that is NOT true is that it

(UFMG 2000) HOW ARE YOUR GENES? 1 Some 200,000 babies are born in the United States each year with deformed bodies, impaired minds and possibly fatal abnormalities in body chemistry - often because of defective genes or chromosomes. If a way could be found to test routinely the genes of prospective married couples - much as the couples now take Wassermann tests to detect syphilis - the toll might be reduced drastically. This is the goal of genetic counseling. And while it is still far off - testing is expensive and elaborate - genetic counseling centers in hospitals and clinics across the United States are already helping parents. Such centers help the parents of a defective child in their decision whether or not to have more children, and they advise couples with family histories of genetic diseases even before marriage. 2 The genes that help determine a persons individual characteristics - from the color of his eyes to the score he makes on an IQ test - are located on chromosomes within the cells of his body. Half of a persons chromosomes come from his father, half from his mother. Many diseases are the result of a single defective gene on one of the chromosomes. Achondroplastic dwarfism, for example, is caused by a dominant gene and any child who inherits it will have the disease. A genetic counselor confronted by a parent with such a disease could warn that half of his children risk the disease. More often, genetic diseases are caused by recessive genes. The most common is cystic fibrosis, a disorder that affects at least one in every 1,600 babies and causes their lungs and other body organs to become congested with mucus. A child who inherits only one of these recessive genes will not have the disease, but will be a carrier. If both parents are carriers, one in four of (2) their children will have cystic fibrosis, two will be carriers, and one will be normal. 3 Some diseases, (1) such as the blood clotting disorder, hemophilia, are sex-linked recessive defects carried on the female X chromosome. These genes generally produce disease only in male children when the X chromosome bearing the (3) faulty gene pairs with the fathers Y chromosome. Half the sons of a female hemophilia carrier risk the disease; half the daughters may be carriers. 4 Until recently, much of genetic counseling has relied on estimates based on the law of averages. But researchers have begun to develop lab tests for carriers. There are blood, urine and other tests which show promise in detecting more than 100 genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria (PKU), hemophilia and some forms of muscular dystrophy. As a result, a genetic counselor can tell the sister of a man with hemophilia with reasonable certainty whether she is a carrier. 5 Researchers are also detecting genetic defects even before a child is born. By amniocentesis, a process in which a needle is inserted through the mothers abdomen and into her uterus, researchers can withdraw samples of the fluid surrounding the fetus. By growing these fetal cells in tissue culture, researchers can detect chromosome defects or chemical abnormalities. Intra-uterine detection, notes Dr. Henry L. Nadler of Northwestern University Medical School, brings a new dimension to genetic counseling. The physician may now inform the parents that they will have either an affected or a normal child. HIRASAWA, L. MARKSTEIN, L. Developing reading skills. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, 1978. p. 76-79. (Adapted text) In the text, the word FAULTY (ref.3) means:

(UFMG - 2000) HOW ARE YOUR GENES? 1 Some 200,000 babies are born in the United States each year with deformed bodies, impaired minds and possibly fatal abnormalities in body chemistry - often because of defective genes or chromosomes. If a way could be found to test routinely the genes of prospective married couples - much as the couples now take Wassermann tests to detect syphilis - the toll might be reduced drastically. This is the goal of genetic counseling. And while it is still far off - testing is expensive and elaborate - genetic counseling centers in hospitals and clinics across the United States are already helping parents. Such centers help the parents of a defective child in their decision whether or not to have more children, and they advise couples with family histories of genetic diseases even before marriage. 2 The genes that help determine a persons individual characteristics - from the color of his eyes to the score he makes on an IQ test - are located on chromosomes within the cells of his body. Half of a persons chromosomes come from his father, half from his mother. Many diseases are the result of a single defective gene on one of the chromosomes. Achondroplastic dwarfism, for example, is caused by a dominant gene and any child who inherits it will have the disease. A genetic counselor confronted by a parent with such a disease could warn that half of his children risk the disease. More often, genetic diseases are caused by recessive genes. The most common is cystic fibrosis, a disorder that affects at least one in every 1,600 babies and causes their lungs and other body organs to become congested with mucus. A child who inherits only one of these recessive genes will not have the disease, but will be a carrier. If both parents are carriers, one in four of (2) their children will have cystic fibrosis, two will be carriers, and one will be normal. 3 Some diseases, (1) such as the blood clotting disorder, hemophilia, are sex-linked recessive defects carried on the female X chromosome. These genes generally produce disease only in male children when the X chromosome bearing the (3) faulty gene pairs with the fathers Y chromosome. Half the sons of a female hemophilia carrier risk the disease; half the daughters may be carriers. 4 Until recently, much of genetic counseling has relied on estimates based on the law of averages. But researchers have begun to develop lab tests for carriers. There are blood, urine and other tests which show promise in detecting more than 100 genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis, phenylketonuria (PKU), hemophilia and some forms of muscular dystrophy. As a result, a genetic counselor can tell the sister of a man with hemophilia with reasonable certainty whether she is a carrier. 5 Researchers are also detecting genetic defects even before a child is born. By amniocentesis, a process in which a needle is inserted through the mothers abdomen and into her uterus, researchers can withdraw samples of the fluid surrounding the fetus. By growing these fetal cells in tissue culture, researchers can detect chromosome defects or chemical abnormalities. Intra-uterine detection, notes Dr. Henry L. Nadler of Northwestern University Medical School, brings a new dimension to genetic counseling. The physician may now inform the parents that they will have either an affected or a normal child. HIRASAWA, L. MARKSTEIN, L. Developing reading skills. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, 1978. p. 76-79. (Adapted text) According to the text, the objective of an amniocentesis test is to: