Question

For a long time I thought the story of Newton and the apple was just another fable. I thought it was a made-up story, like Washington chopping down the cherry tree. It is not.

Cambridge University closed down in the summer of 1665 when the plague broke out. Newton, a student there, went home to Lincolnshire. He stayed home for two years while the disease ran its course in the area around London.

The 23-year-old Newton spent that time studying and laying the foundations for his greatest work, the Principia. One day, while he was sitting in his garden, he saw an apple fall. Then, he realized. The direction the apple fell, along with every other object on this round earth, was always toward Earth’s center.

It wasn’t just that the apple fell, but that it tried to go to Earth’s center. That was Newton’s Eureka Moment. He realized that Earth had drawn the apple to it. He realized that every object in the universe draws every other object — probably in proportion to its mass.

Newton didn’t publish his Principia until 20 years later. But he formulated the Law of Universal Gravitation there in his Lincolnshire garden. He showed us that what was true of apples and the earth was true of planets and moons as well.

If you’ve ever done anything creative, you’ll recognize the plausibility of the apple story. You’ll remember your own moment when some small and commonplace event revealed a great truth to you. That’s the way creativity works. It’s almost always the recognition of a great truth out of context.

Why did I so mistrust the apple story when I first heard it? No doubt it was simply too pat. For that apple of knowledge in Newton’s garden of Eden changed our science — and it changed our very lives.



Chop down: cortar, abater.
Cherry: cereja.
Realize: perceber, compreender.
Draw: atrair.
Pat: simplista, superficial.

According to the text:





A
the story of Newton and the apple is nothing but a fable.


B
the story of Washington chopping down the cherry tree is actually a fable.


C
an apple fell on Newton while he was sitting under an apple tree.


D
Washington cut down a cherry tree with his hatchet.

Answer 1

Resposta:

Letter A, a história da maçã de Newton é falsa.