The text refers to "illiterate day laborers" and "skilled and
unskilled workers," emphasizing class distinctions and
occupational hierarchies. From the perspective of the
noun phrase structure, these expressions combine
adjectives that serve both descriptive and classificatory
functions. How do such structures contribute to the
socio-historical meaning of the text?

Question

O texto seguinte servirá de base para responder às
questão.ItaliansThe peak period of Italian immigration to the United
States occurred between 1880 and 1921, when
approximately 4.2 million Italians came to America. The
vast majority of these immigrants, about 80 percent,
hailed from the Mezzogiorno in southern Italy, a region in
the midst of great tumult and hardship. Having only been
officially unified in 1860, political tension between the
government in the north and the rural peasants in the
south increased in the 1870s, when the government
placed an onerous tax on wheat and salt, which were
necessities for southern farmers and fishermen. In the
1880s, disease ravaged both staple and cash crops;
malaria and other epidemics also devastated southern
Italy during this period. Additionally, a series of
earthquakes and the eruptions of Mount Etna and Mount
Vesuvius in the early 1900s destroyed cities and killed
tens of thousands of people.Conditions in the United States during this era appeared
 to be very favorable to many in southern Italy. Wages for
both skilled and unskilled laborers in the industrialized US
could be three times greater than wages for the same
work in the depressed Italian economy. Even illiterate day
laborers could find better paying jobs with better working
conditions in cities like Boston. In the late nineteenth
century, Italian immigrants were often referred to as
"birds of passage"−young men who migrated alone,
earning money to buy land and support their families at
home and eventually returning to Italy. After World War I,
however, immigration patterns changed and more Italian
immigrants began to bring their families over and put
down permanent roots in the region.Patterns of SettlementBoston's North End neighborhood became the locus of
Italian settlement in eastern New England. Once the
home of English colonists and revolutionaries like Paul
Revere, Irish and Jewish immigrants settled in the North
End before the wave of Italian immigration in the late
1800s. By the early 20th century, the North End was
densely filled with tenements, in which tens of thousands
 of Italians lived. Much of the appeal of the North End for
immigrant groups was its proximity to work opportunities
on the waterfront and in downtown Boston. By 1920, over
50 percent of Italian immigrants in Boston lived in the
North End. Those who could afford more spacious
dwellings moved across the harbor to East Boston, which
by the mid-twentieth century became the city's largest
Italian-American community. Others moved to nearby
suburbs such as Somerville, Revere and Saugus,
especially after World War II. But even as immigrants and
their children moved to these areas, many Italian small
businesses and restaurants remained in the North End, and it is still an important center of Italian culture in New
England.
Workforce ParticipationMost Italian immigrants in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries worked menial, unskilled jobs upon
their arrival in Boston, as day laborers, dockworkers, or
fruit sellers. Others opened shops and small businesses,
and some skilled workers (like tailors) found
higher-paying jobs. In neighborhoods like the North End
and East Boston, immigrants operated Italian restaurants
that attracted a growing clientele from across the city. For
the earlier "birds of passage," though, assimilating into
the wider American culture was not a priority; for more
permanent Italian settlers, cultural obstacles such as the
language barrier and lower levels of education made
upward mobility difficult. Within a few generations,
however, Italian Americans in Boston became better
educated and were able to move into middle-class and
professional occupations, including some of the highest
echelons of business and politics.https://globalboston.bc.edu/index.php/home/ethnic-groups/italians/  The text refers to "illiterate day laborers" and "skilled and
unskilled workers," emphasizing class distinctions and
occupational hierarchies. From the perspective of the
noun phrase structure, these expressions combine
adjectives that serve both descriptive and classificatory
functions. How do such structures contribute to the
socio-historical meaning of the text? Alternativa A: They indicate ellipsis of the head noun for stylistic
economy.  Ou Alternativa B: They blur the class boundaries by merging opposite
lexical items in one clause. Ou Alternativa C: They reinforce social differentiation through adjective
stacking that encodes economic contrast. Ou Alternativa D: They provide morphological evidence of adverbial
modification within a gerund phrase.

Qconcursos · Accepted Answer

Alternativa [C] They reinforce social differentiation through adjective
stacking that encodes economic contrast. Gabarito: CFundamento decisivo: A resolução decorre da leitura estrutural dos sintagmas nominais destacados: "illiterate day laborers" e "skilled and unskilled workers" apresentam adjetivos antepostos a núcleos nominais expressos, sem elipse do head noun e sem gerúndio, o que afasta as demais alternativas.Tema central: Função dos adjetivosAnálise das alternativasAErradaEstá errada porque não há elipse do núcleo nominal nas expressões citadas. Os substantivos "laborers" e "workers" estão expressamente presentes, de modo que a estrutura não autoriza a conclusão de omissão do head noun.BErradaEstá errada porque a oposição entre "skilled" e "unskilled" não apaga fronteiras de classe. Ao contrário, ela explicita a diferença de qualificação e reforça a distinção socioeconômica e ocupacional presente no texto.CCertaA alternativa C é a única compatível com o mecanismo linguístico do texto. Os adjetivos em "illiterate day laborers" e em "skilled and unskilled workers" não apenas qualificam os substantivos, mas estabelecem oposição de status e de qualificação laboral. Isso sustenta a leitura de contraste social e ocupacional no contexto histórico da imigração italiana, em vez de neutralizar diferenças ou apontar outra estrutura gramatical.DErradaEstá errada porque as expressões destacadas não formam gerund phrase e não contêm modificação adverbial. A alternativa usa uma categoria gramatical incompatível com a estrutura efetivamente apresentada no texto.Pegadinha da questãoA banca explorou a confusão entre contraste classificatório e apagamento de diferenças: a presença de termos opostos pode sugerir neutralização, mas aqui a estrutura adjetival reforça distinções sociais e ocupacionais. Também induz erro ao oferecer categorias gramaticais que não correspondem à forma real das expressões.Dica para questões semelhantesVerifique primeiro se o núcleo do sintagma nominal está expresso; se estiver, descarte teses de elipse do head noun.Em pares adjetivais opositivos, examine se o efeito é de contraste classificatório ou de neutralização; aqui, a oposição reforça a distinção.Não aceite terminologia gramatical técnica sem apoio na estrutura real da expressão; sem gerúndio, não há gerund phrase nem modificação adverbial.Quando o enunciado pedir efeito de sentido, relacione a função do adjetivo ao contexto discursivo do texto, especialmente se houver marcação de classe, trabalho ou hierarquia.

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