Activity of interpretation, addressed to eighth grade students, of the text Blackout. In it, the writer Paula Pepper reflects on electricity, taking as a starting point a question made by his classical guitar teacher, during a lengthy blackout in a class… The author compares the lives of people in a time without light with the lives of people who use electricity… Let's go reflect? Then, she reads the text and then immerses herself in its content, answering the various interpretative questions!
This Portuguese language activity is available for download in an editable Word template, ready to print in PDF and also the completed activity.
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SCHOOL: DATE:
PROF: CLASS:
NAME:
Read:
"Did you know that electricity in Brazil has only been around for 100 years?" That was the question my classical guitar teacher asked me in the middle of a long blackout – the fault of a generator burned by lightning – which caused the class to take another pace, totally improvised, but no less profitable.
Do not. I had never thought about it. Just as kids in the 21st century don't know what it's like to live without a computer, I was also born depending on electric light for everything I do. I can't imagine without the hot bath, the cold soda, the computer, the lamp and so many other comfort vices that we don't even realize they only exist because of electricity.
It is true that, in times of rationing, we remember all the time to reduce its consumption, but never to be totally without it. I doubt that any fanatical fan does not follow Brasileirão on radio or television. I also doubt that in the cold morning anyone dares to take a cold shower. And I, I confess, don't stop turning on my hair dryer or using the internet, and I refuse to go out with my clothes wrinkled… Electricity, really, is essential.
But in addition to the benefits of light, my teacher's question made me think about how people 100 years ago lived. I bet that what seems impossible for us they took it literally. The patience and time were much longer. And romanticism too.
To send a letter, you had to write it by hand, take it to the post, wait, wait, wait until the recipient receive, resolve to respond, go to the mail, wait as long and, then yes, find out what he thought of what you wanted to say. Nowadays, the subject would be out of date after all this waiting. And lack of patience and excessive anxiety no longer allow this luxury. Now everything is done by email, and as soon as it's sent, we want to receive the response.
To see at night, it was necessary to use candles and lamps. People retired earlier, talked more and walked under the moonlight, without fear of violence, which must have been born in the same period of electricity.
To listen to music, only if it was live. Serenades, soirees, bands in the square… Maybe that's why people in the past had more musical aptitude. From an early age, they were encouraged to “manufacture the music”, unlike today, when we find it ready in any radio station.
Everything is customary. Until a few years ago, I lived perfectly without a computer and cell phone. Now, if I go a day without, I feel that way. People started using it and forgot the tranquility of a really dark night.
When the light finally came back on, my class was already over. Getting used to the light was much more difficult than adapting to the lack of it. The eyes burned, people stopped being spontaneous, the romanticism of the candles disappeared.
Perhaps those 100 years of night light were not so little, as they were enough to make us forget the good that its absence does. It is best to use the excuse of rationing, turn off all the lights and change the pace of life, before a stronger glare irreversibly dazzles our vision. And make us forget that the improvisation of a candle can light up much more...
(PEPPER, Paula. “Passionate about words”. Belo Horizonte: Ed. Gutenberg, 2015.)
Question 1 - The text above is of the genre:
the news
b) chronic
c) short story
d) opinion article
Question 2 - Whoever narrates the text is also a character in the story. Identify the passage that proves this:
a) "And I, I confess, do not stop turning on my hair dryer or using the internet [...]"
b) “To send a letter, you had to write it by hand […]”
c) “People started using it and forgot the tranquility of one night […]”
d) "The eyes burned, people stopped being spontaneous, the romanticism of the candles disappeared."
Question 3 - Point out the fact that motivated the narrative:
a) the question asked by the classical guitar teacher about electricity.
b) the long blackout in music class.
c) the convenience provided by electricity.
d) the return of light in the music class.
Question 4 – The author of the text presents an opinion in the fragment:
a) “[…] fault of a generator burned by some lightning […]”
b) “Just as children of the 21st century do not know what it is to live without a computer […]”
c) "Electric energy is really essential."
d) "To see at night, it was necessary to use candles and lamps."
Question 5 - "Maybe that's why people in the old days had more musical aptitude." What does the author of the text refer to?
A.
Question 6 – In the excerpt “[…] but, to be totally without her, never.”, the pronoun “she” replaces:
a) "the electricity"
b) "the television"
c) "the internet"
d) "wrinkled clothes"
Question 7 – Underline the verbs that make up this segment:
“People retired earlier, talked more and walked under the moonlight […]”
In the context above, they indicate:
a) rare facts in people's lives in a time without electricity.
b) hypothetical facts in people's lives in a time without electricity.
c) probable facts in people's lives in a time without electricity.
d) continuous facts in people's lives in a time without electricity.
Question 8 – Check the sentence in which the highlighted phrase expresses the idea of time:
The) "As 21st century children don't know what it's like to live without a computer […]”
b) “[…] that only exist because of the electricity."
c) “Now everything is done by email, and, as soon as he is sent […]"
d) “[…] it wasn't so little, given that were enough to make us forget the good […]"
Question 9 – In the initial fragment, the quotation marks highlight:
a) the question that motivated the writing of the text.
b) the most important part of the text.
c) a speech that does not belong to the narrator of the text.
d) a question made by the narrator of the text.
Question 10 – It can be concluded that the author wrote the text above to:
a) criticize the reader.
b) inform the reader.
c) thrill the reader.
d) make the reader reflect.
By Denyse Lage Fonseca – Graduated in Languages and specialist in distance education.
At answers are in the link above the header.
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