Questão 741321

Text 5 for questions from 41 to 44.

1 _____ In the pre-dawn of June 16th , a lone voice broke the

stillness. The mullahs summoned the men to prayers; for two

hours the priests called and the men responded in a gathering

4 rhythmic crescendo to psych them up to fight and die.

The defenders crouched behind their makeshift barricades,

listening to the eerie chants rising and falling in the darkness

7 beyond. La Vallete had sent reinforcements across and the

defenders, if already weary, were well ordered. Each man had

his duty and his post. They were grouped in threes: one

10 arquebusier to two pikemen. Large quantities of fire weapons

had been stock piled, rocks gathered, and quantities of bread

soaked in wine. Barrels of water stood behind the parapets into

13 which men torched by adhesive fire could hurl themselves.

_____ As the sun rose, there was a searching barrage of fire

‘so that the earth and the air shook’, and then Mustapha

16 signalled the advance along a huge crescent. Suleiman’s

imperial standard was unfurled; a turban was hoisted on a

spear, farther down the line there was an answering puff of

19 smoke. An extraordinary array of banners and shields were

visible surging forward, ‘painted with extraordinary designs;

some with devices of different birds, some with scorpions and

22 with Arab lettering’. In the front rank men ran wildly towards

the walls, calling out the name of Allah in a crescendo of

shouts. From the battlements came the Christian countercalls:

25 Jesus, Mary, St Michael, St James and St George — ‘according

to the devotion of each man’. There was a furious push towards

the bridge; scaling ladders were put to the walls and battle was

28 joined. The whole front was a struggling mass of humanity

fighting hand to hand.

Roger Crowley. Empires of the Sea, The Final Battle for the

Mediterranean, 1521-1580, Faber and Faber, 2008, p. 1-2.

Decide if the statements about the following sentence are right (C) or wrong (E): “Barrels of water stood behind the parapets into which men torched by adhesive fire could hurl themselves” (R.12-13).

Soldiers needed this water to quench their thirst since this battle probably took place in a dry place.