I'm not used to passar with this meaning yet, so I peeked to see what passaram could mean and was told it was "they spread" or "they have spread." This has little to do with the sentence; I had to spend a heart to learn what the word actually means in this context.
I'm not sure I understand the translation of passaram here. Passar means 'to pass', can it also mean 'to start'? The hints don't indicate that, neither do other resources.
As well as in English when a word can have more than one meaning ;) Passar has many meanings in Portuguese: to stop(by), to pass(by/on), to iron, to spend, to get through.
it can be taken literally (take something to somewhere) or symbolic (take an action "ele passaram a levar vida dupla"?- they began to live double lives).
Another false clue. I looked it up in my dictionary and there is no mention that the "passar" can have the meaning of "begin or start". This is not a good way to teach idiomatic phrases.
Why it is as transaltion (passaram"-"spread"- it is most confusing.....
And as I can see- others have also had the same trouble. Could not it be changed?