There is nothing inevitable about choices that are environmentally destructive. In 1800, there were indeed 550 steam engines in Europe but there were over 500,000 water mills. Coal was more expensive than hydro power and many industrialists were not persuaded of its added value. It was the economic recession of 1825–1848 with increasing agitation by textile workers over salaries and conditions which made the use of coal-powered, steam-driven spinning machines a much more attractive proposition. More machines meant fewer workers and fewer workers meant fewer demands, notably for wage rises. Therefore, the substantial increase in CO2 emissions in Britain in the first half of the nineteenth century, which through economic competition, war and imperial domination would start a worldwide trend, was not the blind outcome of the machinery of ‘progress’ but the cumulative consequence of a set of very specific decisions taken by identifiable socio-economic actors.
Similarly, the notion that ecological awareness is only a very recent phenomenon where “humanity” finally woke up to the environmental consequences of its economic activities does not stand up to scrutiny. In the period from the beginnings of the industrial revolution to the decade when the movement towards fossil fuels use becomes more marked, awareness of the relationships between humans and their environment or the “natural world” was widespread. Environmental risks have been clearly and repeatedly signalled from the time of the industrial revolution onwards. The notion of an unthinking humanity bringing destruction upon itself does not bear up to examination.
🔗 Texto adaptado de: Cronin, M. Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene. New York: Routledge, 2017, p. 11–12.
140. In the first paragraph, the author states that what increased the use of steam-driven spinning machines was the living conditions of textile workers.
🔎 Gabarito: ERRADO
🧭 1️⃣ Leitura orientada do item
O item afirma que o texto atribui o aumento do uso de máquinas a vapor às condições de vida dos trabalhadores têxteis.
A leitura deve se concentrar na explicação causal apresentada no primeiro parágrafo.
📝 2️⃣ Análise técnica do item
O texto afirma que foi a recessão econômica de 1825–1848, associada à agitação dos trabalhadores por salários e condições, que tornou o uso das máquinas a carvão mais atrativo para os industriais.
A lógica apresentada é econômica e estratégica: mais máquinas significavam menos trabalhadores, e menos trabalhadores significavam menos reivindicações.
Portanto, não foram as condições de vida dos trabalhadores que impulsionaram o uso das máquinas, mas o interesse dos empregadores em reduzir a dependência da mão de obra diante dos conflitos sociais.
O item inverte a relação causal ao atribuir o aumento das máquinas a um fator humanitário inexistente no texto.
⚠️ 3️⃣ Armadilhas clássicas da banca
• Confundir “agitation over salaries and conditions” com melhoria das condições de vida.
• Inverter causa (decisão dos industriais) e consequência (impacto sobre trabalhadores).
• Ler motivação social onde o texto descreve motivação econômica.
🧠 4️⃣ Resumo B3GE™ Master
✖ O texto não atribui o aumento das máquinas às condições de vida dos trabalhadores.
✔ O fator decisivo foi a recessão e a pressão sindical.
✔ A decisão foi econômica e estratégica.
Gabarito confirmado: ERRADO.