Let me give you some points:
1) This passage should be read in under 2 minutes. What you need to capture is that there has been a difference in the way we thought about how women's rule changed with capitalism. There is an example and the author refutes it.
2) I don't see how you got the tone as neutral. The author does seem to have an opinion (that Pinchbeck was wrong). Pay attention to the following sentences:
Though Pinchbeck portrayed precapitalist, preindustrial conditions as superior to what followed,
recent scholarship has seriously questioned the notion of a golden age for women in precapitalist society.
By focusing on somewhat peripheral operations, moreover,
Pinchbeck missed a substantial element of continuity in women’s participation
3) For both the questions, I would proceed using only elimination:
102. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present recently discovered evidence that supports a conventional interpretation of a historical period
>> Wrong not because of "recent discovery" as you've said (there is a mention in the 2nd para to "recent scholarships") but because it does not SUPPORT the interpretation. So eliminate.
(B) describe how reinterpretations of available evidence have reinvigorated a once-discredited scholarly position
>> Again they go against it - not support it. So eliminate.
(C) explain why some historians have tended to emphasize change rather than continuity in discussing a particular period
>> Your reasoning for using tone is incorrect - the bigger problem is there is nothing that says change > continuity in the passage. So eliminate.
(D) explore how changes in a particular occupation serve to counter the prevailing view of a historical period
>> Changes in a particular occupation (cheese making in the UK) is a fact. The author is talking about the opinion (Pinchbeck v/s others) on why/how those changes occurred. So eliminate.
(E) examine a particular area of historical research in order to exemplify a general scholarly trend
>> Gives an example of Pinchbeck (the passage itself is not a critique of her idea but to show a larger point about women's role) to show how new research is showing things in a different light.
General Tip: Focus on the 1st or the last sentence to understand big-picture questions.
In current historiography, the picture of a consistent, unequivocal decline in women’s status with the advent of capitalism and industrialization is giving way to an analysis that not only emphasizes both change (whether improvement or decline) and continuity but also accounts for geographical and occupational variation.
104. The passage describes the work of Pinchbeck primarily in order to
>> In other words, the question is asking WHY did the author give the example of Pinchbeck. WHY and not WHAT.
(A) demonstrate that some of the conclusions reached by recent historians were anticipated in earlier scholarship
>> No both are different
(B) provide an instance of the viewpoint that, according to the passage’s author, is being superseded
>> Shows that the viewpoint was different - hold.
(C) illustrate the ways in which recent historians have built on the work of their predecessors
>> No both are different
(D) provide a point of reference for subsequent scholarship on women’s work during the agricultural revolution
>> This might be the case had we had a 4th paragraph. But this can't be said. Right now we only know that is saying that new research is going against what Pinchbeck said.
(E) show the effect that the specialization introduced in the agricultural and industrial revolutions had on women’s work
>> But the point is he disagrees with what she says - so cannot be the intent of using her as an example.
Leaves me with B.
Let me know if this makes sense
General tip: Look at WHAT the question is asking - a classic trap on "in order to" type of question is giving answers that might be factually correct but may not convey why the author used that example