(Mackenzie - 2005)
SNORING - Half of men over 50 do it, but the real danger comes from apnea
Marcel Ascue used to snore so loudly that his 5- year-old son Nathan made a joke of ZZZing whenever he came near. Tired of being a punch line (and just plain tired), Ascue, 44, finally went to the doctor and found he had sleep apnea. Last month he started sleeping with a mask, hooked to an air pressurizer, that covers his nose and forces a steady stream of air down his throat. The jokes haven't stopped yet - now his wife quips that she's sleeping with Darth Vader - but at least the snoring has.
Ascue's story might amuse people who don't snore or have bed partners who do. But that's not many people. By 50, half of men and a quarter of women snore; 10 to 20 percent of Americans seek treatment for snoring each year. The numbers are expected to jump as baby boomers age, since snoring is a side effect of growing old, gaining weight and losing muscle tone. During the day the brain keeps the throat muscles taut and the airway open. When sleep descends, the muscles relax and vibrate as air rushes by.
Mary Carmichael, NEWSWEEK (adapted)
The same verb tense used in "The jokes haven't stopped yet" is appropriately used in:
The books have been read last week.
They"ve done that before.
The noise has stopped when I went to bed.
The film has started at 6:00 p.m. before long.
We"ve seen each other the night before.
Gabarito:
They"ve done that before.
A sentença do enunciado respeita a estrutura do Present Perfect, um tempo que diz respeito sobre ações que ocorrem em um tempo indefinido e que podem, ainda, estar em continuação até o momento da fala.
Se analisarmos bem a frase em negrito no enunciado, enxergamos isso, estrutura de present perfect (Have+Particípio do verbo principal) e este sentido de tempo indefinido, e também o de perduração da ação. A única alternativa que pode ser colocada neste sentido é a letra B, pois, não tem marcação de tempo exatamente definida e nem marcadores de tempos precisos como as outras alternativas.
A- The book have been read last week (Se a ação já acabou na semana passada)
B- (Resposta correta explicada no início da resolução)
C-The noise has stopped when I went to bed. (A ação, aqui, também já está acabada)
D- The film has started at 6:00 p.m. before long.(Aqui também há marcação de tempo e já acabada)
E-We've seen each other the night before. (marcação de tempo, assim como as outras)
O mais correto para usar nesses exemplos, que têm ação terminada com marcação precisa de tempo, é o simples past, não o Present Perfect.