V30-08

Question

With the outbreak of the civil war which ran through 1861-65, women and men alike eagerly volunteered to fight for the cause. In the Northern states, women organized ladies' aid societies to supply the Union troops with everything they needed, from food (they baked and canned and planted fruit and vegetable gardens for the soldiers) to clothing (they sewed and laundered uniforms, knitted socks and gloves, mended blankets and embroidered quilts and pillowcases) to cash (they organized door-to-door fundraising campaigns, county fairs and performances of all kinds to raise money for medical supplies and other necessities).

But many women wanted to take a more active role in the war effort. Inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale and her fellow nurses in the Crimean War, they tried to find a way to work on the front lines, caring for sick and injured soldiers and keeping the rest of the Union troops healthy and safe. In June 1861, they succeeded: The federal government agreed to create "a preventive hygienic and sanitary service for the benefit of the army" called the United States Sanitary Commission. The Sanitary Commission's primary objective was to combat preventable diseases and infections by improving conditions (particularly "bad cookery" and bad hygiene) in army camps and hospitals. It also worked to provide relief to sick and wounded soldiers. By war's end, the Sanitary Commission had provided almost $15 million in supplies-the vast majority of which had been collected by women-to the Union Army.

Nearly 20,000 women worked more directly for the Union war effort. Working-class white women and free and enslaved African-American women worked as laundresses, cooks and "matrons," and some 3,000 middle-class white women worked as nurses. The activist Dorothea Dix, the superintendent of Army nurses, put out a call for responsible, maternal volunteers who would not distract the troops or behave in unseemly or unfeminine ways: Dix insisted that her nurses be "past 30 years of age, healthy, plain almost to repulsion in dress and devoid of personal attractions." (One of the most famous of these Union nurses was the writer Louisa May Alcott.) Army nurses traveled from hospital to hospital, providing "humane and efficient care for wounded, sick and dying soldiers." They also acted as mothers and housekeepers-"havens in a heartless world"-for the soldiers under their care.

All of the following were contributions of women, according to the passage, in the war EXCEPT

A. Organizing fundraisers to raise cash for medical supplies and other provisions of the army
B. Nurse tended to wounded and infected soldiers and play the roles of mothers and housekeepers
C. Take a more active role in the war and fight alongside men in the war in the Northern States
D. Work as laundresses, cooks and matrons for the army
E. Travel continuously among hospitals to provide humane care for dying soldiers

souvik101990 · Answer

Official Solution:

With the outbreak of the civil war which ran through 1861-65, women and men alike eagerly volunteered to fight for the cause. In the Northern states, women organized ladies' aid societies to supply the Union troops with everything they needed, from food (they baked and canned and planted fruit and vegetable gardens for the soldiers) to clothing (they sewed and laundered uniforms, knitted socks and gloves, mended blankets and embroidered quilts and pillowcases) to cash (they organized door-to-door fundraising campaigns, county fairs and performances of all kinds to raise money for medical supplies and other necessities).

But many women wanted to take a more active role in the war effort. Inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale and her fellow nurses in the Crimean War, they tried to find a way to work on the front lines, caring for sick and injured soldiers and keeping the rest of the Union troops healthy and safe. In June 1861, they succeeded: The federal government agreed to create "a preventive hygienic and sanitary service for the benefit of the army" called the United States Sanitary Commission. The Sanitary Commission's primary objective was to combat preventable diseases and infections by improving conditions (particularly "bad cookery" and bad hygiene) in army camps and hospitals. It also worked to provide relief to sick and wounded soldiers. By war's end, the Sanitary Commission had provided almost $15 million in supplies-the vast majority of which had been collected by women-to the Union Army.

Nearly 20,000 women worked more directly for the Union war effort. Working-class white women and free and enslaved African-American women worked as laundresses, cooks and "matrons," and some 3,000 middle-class white women worked as nurses. The activist Dorothea Dix, the superintendent of Army nurses, put out a call for responsible, maternal volunteers who would not distract the troops or behave in unseemly or unfeminine ways: Dix insisted that her nurses be "past 30 years of age, healthy, plain almost to repulsion in dress and devoid of personal attractions." (One of the most famous of these Union nurses was the writer Louisa May Alcott.) Army nurses traveled from hospital to hospital, providing "humane and efficient care for wounded, sick and dying soldiers." They also acted as mothers and housekeepers-"havens in a heartless world"-for the soldiers under their care.

All of the following were contributions of women, according to the passage, in the war EXCEPT

A. Organizing fundraisers to raise cash for medical supplies and other provisions of the army
B. Nurse tended to wounded and infected soldiers and play the roles of mothers and housekeepers
C. Take a more active role in the war and fight alongside men in the war in the Northern States
D. Work as laundresses, cooks and matrons for the army
E. Travel continuously among hospitals to provide humane care for dying soldiers

Take a more active role in the war and fight alongside men in the war in the Northern States

Option C is correct because there is no mention of women fighting in the army alongside men in the civil war.

Answer: C

anushree01 · Answer

To the last Question :-
A is correct as mentioned here in passage : 
In the North, women formed ladies’ aid societies that baked, canned, and planted gardens for soldiers; sewed and laundered uniforms, knitted socks and gloves, and mended blankets; and raised  cash  through door‐to‐door campaigns, county fairs, and benefit performances.

bb · Answer

Thank you. This question asks for EXCEPT, so all of the below are correct EXCEPT

kabirgandhi · Answer

I eliminated A) here because it says that the women raised cash for the  medical supplies  and other provisions of the army.

Paragraph 1 mentions that cash is raised by women, but  medical supplies  are not mentioned as the reason for it. I thought this is a classic "half right/speculative" choice.

Even though "other provisions" does widen the scope of the fundraising,  medical supplies are not mentioned as a direct reason.

Could you help me understand where I went wrong?

bb   Bunuel

miag · Answer

Hi,

This is the relevant part of the passage you should refer to for that bit (last sentence of the first para):
....c ounty fairs and performances of all kinds to raise money for medical supplies and other necessities. (clearly states raising money for medical supplies). You are right to eliminate it as it was indeed one of the contributions by women based on the passage.

C) - is the correct answer (since this is an except question), and there is no mention anywhere in the passage of women fighting alongside men in the war.

You can take either of 2 approaches: either by POE, fairly straightforward to eliminate all choices except C) or if you feel you have identified the main point of each para well then you can directly come to option C) as it is not mentioned in the passage.

Hope this helps!

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