Questão nº 135
Questão de Língua Inglesa · CEBRASPE IRBR 2025 (nº 135)
They couldn’t even tell the time — this uncountable army of believers.
The warriors of God pushed on to the gates of the imperial city of Constantinople, their arrival heralded by a plague of locusts that destroyed the vines but left the wheat untouched. Their leader, an implacable cleric who had appeared from nowhere to great popular acclaim, exhorted his charges to holy war against the infidel with promises of a home in paradise. Disease and malnutrition were rife. Medical care often involved exorcism of the amputation of injured limbs. Torture and other ordeals settled criminal cases.
Few had any learning at all. What education there was back home consisted of memorizing outdated texts under the watchful eyes of hidebound doctors of religion. They had no understanding of basic technology, science, or mathematics. They could not date their most important holy days, nor chart the regular movements of the sun, the moon, and the planets. They knew nothing of papermaking or the use of lenses and mirrors, and they had no inkling of the prince of contemporary scientific instruments — the astrolabe. Natural phenomena, such as an eclipse of the moon or a sudden change in weather, terrified them. They though it was black magic.
The arrival of this fanatical army horrified the locals. Who were these pale-skinned, blue-eyed barbarians, marching under the sign of the cross, and what did they want on Arab shores at the dawn of the twelfth Christian century?
Based on the preceding text, judge the following items.
According to the last paragraph of the text, the local population of the Arab shores was greatly frightened by the presence of the newcomers because nobody knew what their purpose was.
Resposta comentada
Inferência é concluir algo que o texto autoriza a partir do que está escrito — não basta "soar razoável". Aqui o item diz que os locais ficaram apavorados porque ninguém sabia o propósito dos recém-chegados. O texto, porém, mostra que o motivo do horror é outro: a própria chegada de um exército fanático ("fanatical army") já os horrorizou, e a pergunta retórica sobre quem eram e o que queriam é um recurso de estilo (indignação/espanto), não a causa do medo.
- Correta: Errado. O item troca a causa do pavor: o texto diz "The arrival of this fanatical army horrified the locals" — o horror vem da chegada do exército fanático, não de "nobody knew what their purpose was". A pergunta "what did they want" é retórica, não a razão declarada do medo.
Como ficaria certo: According to the last paragraph, the local population was horrified by the arrival of a fanatical army marching under the sign of the cross.
Fonte: CEBRASPE IRBR 2025 Diplomata (Terceiro Secretário). Reproduzida para fins de estudo.