In “which vehemently backed” (5th paragraph) the verb is similar
in meaning to:

Question

Text I
Shock of the old: Believe it or not, battery-powered vehicles
have been around since Victorian times.
   The history of the electric car is surprisingly enraging. If you
imagine early electric vehicles at all (full disclosure: I didn’t until
recently), it will probably be as the quixotic and possibly dangerous
dream of a few eccentrics, maybe in the 1920s or 1930s, when
domestic electrification became widespread. It’s easy to imagine
some stiff-collared proto-Musk getting bored of hunting and
affairs, eyeing his newly installed electric lights speculatively, then
wreaking untold havoc and mass electrocutions. The reality is
entirely different.
   By 1900, a third of all cars on the road in the US were electric;
we’re looking at the history of a cruelly missed opportunity, and it
started astonishingly early. The Scottish engineer Robert Anderson
had a go at an electric car of sorts way back in the 1830s, though
his invention was somewhat stymied by the fact rechargeable
batteries were not invented until 1859, making his crude carriage
something of a one-trick pony (and far less useful than an actual
pony).
   It’s debatable whether or not Scotland was ready for this brave
new world anyway: in 1842, Robert Davidson (another Scot, who
had, a few years earlier, also tried his hand at an electric vehicle)
saw his electric locomotive Galvani “broken by some malicious
hands almost beyond repair” in Perth. The contemporary
consensus was that it was attacked by railway workers fearful for
their jobs.   Despite this unpromising start, electric vehicles had entered
widespread commercial circulation by the start of the 20th
century, particularly in the US. Electric cabs crisscrossed
Manhattan, 1897’s bestselling US car was electric and, when he
was shot in 1901, President McKinley was taken to hospital in an
electric ambulance. London had Walter Bersey’s electric taxis, and
Berlin’s fire engines went electric in 1908; the future looked bright,
clean and silent.
   By the 1930s, however, the tide had definitively turned against
electric, cursed by range limitations and impractical charging times
while petrol gained the upper hand thanks partly – and ironically –
to the electric starter motor. The Horseless Age magazine, which
vehemently backed the petrol non-horse, would have been
delighted. There was a brief resurgence of interest in the late
1960s, when the US Congress passed a bill promoting electrical
vehicle development, but nothing much actually happened until
the Nissan Leaf sparked interest in 2009. Electric still isn’t quite
there yet, battling infrastructure and battery problems that might
have been familiar to Anderson and friends.
Adapted from The Guardian, Tuesday 24 October 2023, p. 6
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/shock-of-the-old/2023/oct/24/all In “which vehemently backed” (5th paragraph) the verb is similar
in meaning to: Alternativa A: supported. Ou Alternativa B: hindered. Ou Alternativa C: resisted. Ou Alternativa D: limited. Ou Alternativa E: defied.

Qconcursos · Accepted Answer

Alternativa [A] supported. Alternativa correta: A – supported.

Tema central: Sinônimos em contexto. A questão pede o significado do verbo “backed” no trecho “which vehemently backed…”, exigindo reconhecer sinônimos e usar pistas de contexto para confirmar o sentido.

Resumo teórico: “Back” como verbo significa “apoiar”, “sustentar”, “dar suporte/endorso” (ex.: to back a candidate). O advérbio “vehemently” intensifica a ação: “de forma enfática, enérgica, com grande intensidade”. Logo, “vehemently backed” = “apoiou fortemente”. Fontes: Cambridge Dictionary (back: support), Merriam‑Webster (back: support; endorse), Oxford Languages (vehemently: in a forceful, passionate way).

Justificativa da correta (A – supported): No contexto, a revista citada defendia com força os carros a gasolina (“petrol non-horse”). A frase seguinte (“would have been delighted”) reforça o tom positivo, compatível com support. Assim, “backed” = “supported”.

Análise das incorretas:
B – hindered: significa “dificultar/obstruir”. É o oposto de apoiar; não condiz com “vehemently” + “delighted”.
C – resisted: “resistir, opor-se”. Também é oposição, incompatível com o apoio enfático indicado.
D – limited: “limitar, restringir”. Não há ideia de impor limites; o contexto fala em defesa do “petrol non-horse”.
E – defied: “desafiar, afrontar”. Traz conotação de confronto, não de endosso; contraria o sentido positivo do trecho.

Estratégias de prova:
- Observe colocações: “to back” frequentemente aparece com sentido de apoiar/respaldar (ex.: back a policy).
- Use pistas semânticas ao redor: expressões como “would have been delighted” sugerem avaliação positiva, logo escolha sinônimos de apoio.
- Cuidado com a pegadinha de “vehemently”: o tom “intenso” pode soar agressivo, mas aqui apenas intensifica o apoio; não muda o sentido de “backed”.

Exemplo prático: “The magazine vehemently backed the reform” = “A revista apoiou fortemente a reforma.” Sinônimos próximos: supported, endorsed, championed.

Fontes de referência: Cambridge Dictionary (back/support), Merriam-Webster (back), Oxford Languages (vehemently).

Conclusão: “which vehemently backed” significa “que apoiava fortemente”, logo a resposta é A – supported.

Gostou do comentário? Deixe sua avaliação aqui embaixo!

🚀 Quer mais performance?

🚀 Quer mais performance?

In “which vehemently backed” (5th paragraph) the verb is sim...

Gabarito comentado

Clique para visualizar este gabarito

Resumos relacionados

Advérbios e conjunções em inglês para concursos públicos

Artigos (Articles) em inglês: uso em concursos públicos

Questões de assuntos semelhantes

Provas relacionadas