Reading Comprehension

ketkoag wrote:The fields of antebellum (pre-Civil
War) political history and women’s his-
tory use separate sources and focus
Line on separate issues. Political histori-
(5) ans, examining sources such as voting
records, newspapers, and politicians’
writings, focus on the emergence in the
1840’s of a new “American political
nation,” and since women were neither
(10) voters nor politicians, they receive little
discussion. Women’s historians, mean-
while, have shown little interest in the
subject of party politics, instead draw-
ing on personal papers, legal records
(15) such as wills, and records of female
associations to illuminate women’s
domestic lives, their moral reform
activities, and the emergence of the
woman’s rights movement.
(20) However, most historians have
underestimated the extent and signifi-
cance of women’s political allegiance
in the antebellum period. For example,
in the presidential election campaigns
(25) of the 1840’s, the Virginia Whig party
strove to win the allegiance of Virginia’s
women by inviting them to rallies and
speeches. According to Whig propa-
ganda, women who turned out at the
(30) party’s rallies gathered information
that enabled them to mold party-loyal
families, reminded men of moral values
that transcended party loyalty, and con-
ferred moral standing on the party.
(35) Virginia Democrats, in response,
began to make similar appeals to
women as well. By the mid-1850’s
the inclusion of women in the rituals of
party politics had become common-
(40) place, and the ideology that justified
such inclusion had been assimilated
by the Democrats.

Q According to the second paragraph of the passage (lines 20-42), Whig propaganda included the assertion that
A. women should enjoy more political rights than they did
B. women were the most important influences on political attitudes within a family
C. women’s reform activities reminded men of important moral values
D. women’s demonstrations at rallies would influence men’s voting behavior
E. women’s presence at rallies would enhance the moral standing of the party

My question is why not the answer of this question is C , why E is the correct answer coz in E it says 'enhance' but in the passage the word given is 'conferred' that means 'present' or 'have a conference with'. please explain.[/b]

Shridharvk wrote:Q According to the second paragraph of the passage (lines 20-42), Whig propaganda included the assertion that
A. women should enjoy more political rights than they did
B. women were the most important influences on political attitudes within a family
C. women's reform activities reminded men of important moral values
D. women's demonstrations at rallies would influence men's voting behavior
E. women's presence at rallies would enhance the moral standing of the party


Why not B?
Line 30 says - "party's rallies gathered information
that enabled them to mold party-loyal
families"

Shridharvk wrote:The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following
statements regarding most historians of the antebellum period?
A. They have failed to adequately contrast the differing roles that women played in
the Democratic and Whig parties in the 1850's.
B. They have failed to see that political propaganda advocating women's political
involvement did not reflect the reality of women's actual roles.
C. They have incorrectly assumed that women's party loyalty played a small role in
Whig and Democratic party politics.
--'Underestimated' can be rephrased as 'incorrectly assumed'. After mentioning 'underestimated', the author elaborated on this with the example of whig and democrats. So this is the perfect choice.
D. They have misinterpreted descriptions of women's involvement in party politics
in records of female associations and women's personal papers.
E. They have overlooked the role that women's political activities played in the
woman's rights movement.
 Overlook = fail to notice; underestimate = consider less important. In the first sentence of the 2nd para it is mentioned that both the historians underestimated........ . So, they in no way overlooked. Besides this in the passage, nothing is mentioned about "role that women's political activities played in the woman's rights movement"

Why is the answer C and not E