Supported. The word “helped” is causal language indicating that the Freedom Rides caused the civil rights movement to advance. How did they do that? By showing the “harsh realities of the segregation system.” And, how do we know that the Freedom Rides induced the “U.S. government” to address segregation? This is implied by the statement that the U.S. government’s use of force to protect Freedom Riders was the “first government action” taken explicitly in support of the cause of desegregation outside public schools. That suggests after the Freedom Rides, there were additional actions by the U.S. government to help address segregation.

The author never suggests the Freedom Rides were the “final” contribution of student activists. There may have been additional actions taken by student activists after the Freedom Rides that helped the civil rights movement.

Anti-supported. The Freedom Rides were a form of sit-in. They were not an “entirely new technique.”

Anti-supported. The Freedom Rides helped advance the civil rights movement in part because the U.S. government had to defend the protestors against violence.

The author doesn’t suggest that the Freedom Rides “transformed … uncoordinated local student protests.” If you liked this answer, you might have thought – incorrectly – that the Freedom Rides were an outgrowth of the SNCC. The passage never makes that connection. Instead, Freedom Rides are discussed as a separate consequence of the original sit-ins; the SNCC was the first consequence.