The Internet, as anyone who works deep in its trenches will tell you, is not a smooth, well-oiled machine. It’s a messy patchwork that has been assembled over decades, and it is held together with the digital equivalent of duct tape and bubble gum. Much of it relies on open-source software that is thanklessly maintained by a small army of volunteer programmers who fix the bugs. Internet: <www.nytimes.com> (adapted). Considering the previous text and its linguistic aspects, judge the following item. The author suggests that the Internet is, metaphorically speaking, a malfunctioning machine.
CCerto
EErrado
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GabaritoC — Certo
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Reading comprehension: inferring the author's tone
✅ CERTO. The author does suggest, metaphorically, that the Internet is a malfunctioning machine. The text explicitly describes it as "not a smooth, well-oiled machine" and as a "messy patchwork" held together with "the digital equivalent of duct tape and bubble gum" — all metaphors that convey the idea of something imperfect, fragile, and prone to breakdown. This is a classic inference question: the item asks you to recognize the author's figurative language and its implied meaning.
The key to this item is understanding that the author is using metaphor — comparing the Internet to a machine that is not working properly. Let's break down the evidence from the text:
"not a smooth, well-oiled machine" — directly compares the Internet to a machine, but one that lacks smoothness and proper lubrication, i.e., not functioning optimally.
"messy patchwork" — suggests something assembled haphazardly, without a clean design.
"held together with the digital equivalent of duct tape and bubble gum" — this is the strongest metaphor: duct tape and bubble gum are temporary, makeshift fixes, implying the Internet is fragile and barely holding together.
These expressions all point to the idea of a machine that is malfunctioning or at least not working as smoothly as it should. The author is not saying the Internet is completely broken, but rather that it is imperfect, improvised, and maintained by volunteer efforts — which reinforces the idea of a system that is not perfectly engineered.
The item asks whether the author suggests this — and indeed, the author does so through metaphor. This is a matter of inference (reading between the lines), not of literal statement. The word "suggests" is important: it signals that you should look for implied meaning, not just explicit statements.
Item — ✅ CERTO
The statement is correct. The author uses metaphorical language to describe the Internet as a malfunctioning machine. The phrase "not a smooth, well-oiled machine" is a direct metaphor, and the "duct tape and bubble gum" image reinforces the idea of a system held together by makeshift means — all of which suggest malfunction or imperfection. The author's tone is not neutral; it is critical and humorous, emphasizing the Internet's fragility and improvised nature.
PEGA ESSA DICA!
In reading comprehension questions, pay attention to figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification). When the item says "the author suggests," it is asking for an inference — you must read between the lines. Look for words that create images (like "duct tape and bubble gum") and ask yourself: what idea is the author conveying through this image? Here, the image clearly conveys the idea of something that is not working perfectly — a malfunctioning machine.