Prefeitura de Salto do Jacui 2019 — Questão 35 · Língua Inglesa - Compreensão e Interpretação de Texto

Instructions: answer the questions 31 to 40 based on the following text.

Is Ikigai The New Hygge? The Japanese Concept Of Finding Purpose In Our Lives

01$$ We’ve snuggled up in a comfortable knitted sweaters and filled our rooms with wood-scented

02 candles in the pursuit of hygge – the Danish concept of finding contentment in ________. When

03 that didn't work, we turned to the Swedish idea of lagom, or moderate living, and it turns out

04 we’re still not happy. So maybe it’s ikigai, the lifestyle concept from Japan, that will help us live

05 our best lives.

06$$ In some ways, Ikigai is the antithesis of hygge. Instead of encouraging us to slow down, it’s

07 about find striving to find purpose in life, or raison d’etre to use a French equivalent. As such, it

08 is a notion often adopted by those unhappy at work or who have retired. The word is composed

09 in Japanese using the characters iki, or life, and kai, meaning the result of a certain action,"

10 explains Hector Garcia, the co-author of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.

11$$ This all sounds rather fluffy. But studies show that losing one's purpose can have a detrimental

12 effect. For instance, those who lose their raison d'etre when they retire become more prone to

13 contracting _________. But Ikigai isn’t an individualistic concept either focused on self -

14 preservation. The social connections that we form are as important as any sense of inner peace,

15 according to Remedios, of the Hyper Japan cultural festival.

16$$ Now we're convinced to try it, how does one go about finding their ikigai? "Flow" is the first

17 step, says Garcia. "When we enter a state of 'flow' we lose the sense of time passing. Have you

18 ever been so absorbed in a task that you forget to drink and eat? What type of task was it?

19 Notice those moments when you enter flow, and your ikigai might be embeded in those

20 moments. If you increase the daily time at flow you will increase your connection with your ikigai.

21 "Your Ikigai is at the intersection of what you are good at and what you love doing."

22$$ Since incorporating the ideas of ikigai into his life, Garcia says he has become better at

23 appreciating and understanding what he finds joy in. “I stop several times through the day and

24 I ask myself: why am I doing this?”. Which, frankly, sounds exhausting. But Garcia stresses that

25 “noticing is only the first step.” The next is implementing changes - and this is where most of us

26 trip up.

27$$ Still, it's hard not to feel that ikigai – like hygge and lagom – Is another sticking plaster we've

28 reached for to help patch over the problems in our lives that run deeper than any buzzword word

29 can solve. “Although the words might be new, I think all the concepts are not really new," says

30 the spokesperson for HyperJapan.

31$$ "Just as humans have lusted after objects and money since the dawn of time, other humans

32 have felt dissatisfaction at the _________ pursuit of money and fame and have instead focused

33 on something bigger than their own material wealth. This has over the years been described

34 using many different words and practices, but always hearkening back to the central core of

35 meaningfulness in life.”

Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ikigai-hygge-lagom-swedish-danish-japanesescandinavian-lifestyle-happiness-meaning-of-life-a7956141.html

The expression 'hearkening back to', from the text, could be replaced by