(ESA 2025 - CFGS 2026 – 27) - QUESTÃO

Choose the correct statement considering the underlined adjectives in the text and their correct degrees according to the context:

Drill Sergeant Mendonça barked orders to the Signal Corps students like a mad dog. Today's training was (demanding) than yesterday's, pushing the will-be NCO’s to their limits. The Signal Corps students are sure they are the (smart) bunch in academic disciplines, but they also needed to excel in their physical training. Mendonça, (mean) as a rattlesnake, kept reminding them of the consequences of failing the fitness test.

The obstacle course was the (bad) of all the exercises. They climbed walls, slogged through mud, and crawled under barbed wire, sweating like pigs. By lunchtime, they were exhausted and (hungry) than wolves. Sergeant Mendonça, however, would not let us rest. "This is not a picnic, gentlemen!" he yelled. The NCO academy is not for the faint of heart in fact, but the students are determined to make it.  

Ⓐ The correct form of “smart” is “the most smart”. 

Ⓑ “The worse” is the right form for “bad”. 

Ⓒ “Demanding” becomes “most demanding” in the context. 

Ⓓ “Hungryer” is the correct form for “hungry”. 

Ⓔ The correct form of the adjective “mean” is “as mean”. 

Let’s check the correct comparative and superlative forms required by the context.

1. “(demanding) than yesterday's”
   With “than” we need a comparative → more demanding.
   ❌ Option C (“most demanding”) is superlative, so it’s wrong.

2. “the (smart) bunch”
   With “the” referring to a group comparison → superlative → the smartest bunch.
   ❌ Option A (“the most smart”) is not the correct natural form.

3. “(mean) as a rattlesnake”
   The structure is the equality comparison: as + adjective + as →
   as mean as a rattlesnake.
   ✔ This matches the idea in Option E (“as mean”).

4. “the (bad) of all the exercises”
   With “of all” we need the superlative → the worst.
   ❌ Option B (“the worse”) is incorrect.

5. “(hungry) than wolves”
   Comparative of hungry → hungrier than wolves.
   ❌ Option D (“hungryer”) is misspelled.

- Correct answer: Ⓔ – The correct structure is “as mean (as)”.