1. According to the passage, the ideology of female benevolence was consistent with women taking part in each of the following spheres of activity
EXCEPT(A) organized philanthropy
women had to find ingenious legal ways to run and finance organized philanthropy(B) domestic life
(C) electoral politics
But clinging to this ideology also prevented these women from even attempting to gain true political power because it implied a moral purity that precluded participation in the messy world of partisan politics.(D) fund-raising for worthy causes
women had to find ingenious legal ways to run and finance organized philanthropy(E) social work
this ideology of female benevolence empowered women in the realm of social activism2. Information in the passage suggests that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements concerning the cult of female domesticity?
(A) The cult of female domesticity developed independently of the concept of female benevolence.
(B) The cult of female domesticity was incompatible with women's participation in social activism.
(C) The cult of female domesticity incorporated ideological elements that actually helped some women to escape from their traditional domestic roles.
this ideology of female benevolence empowered women in the realm of social activism, enabling them to escape the confines of their traditional domestic spheres and to enter prisons, hospitals, battlefields, and slums.(D) The original motivation behind the promotion of the cult of female domesticity was to exclude women from partisan politics.
(E) The growth of organized philanthropy in the nineteenth-century United States is ultimately attributable to the cult of female domesticity.
3. Which of the following best summarizes the main point of the passage?
(A) The identification of femininity with morality promoted the notion of women's moral purity while excluding women from positions of authority in their communities.
(B) The belief in women's innate moral superiority allowed women to exercise political power without participating in partisan politics.
(C) The cult of female domesticity helped some women to gain power and privilege but kept most women confined to the domestic sphere.
(D) The ideology of female benevolence empowered women in the realm of social activism but placed limits on their direct political power.
empowered women in the realm of social activism: escape the confines of their traditional domestic spheres and to enter prisons, hospitals, battlefields, and slums
limits on their direct political power: prevented these women from even attempting to gain true political power because it implied a moral purity that precluded participation in the messy world of partisan politics.(E) The idealization of female altruism enabled women to engage in philanthropic activities but prevented them from managing money and property.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about women’s relationship to politics in the nineteenth-century United States?
(A) social activism was
the best path to political power for women.
No information about what is the best way(B) had women wished to seek true political power they would have had to abandon the ideology of female benevolence.
But clinging to this ideology also prevented these women from even attempting to gain true political power(C) women’s desire for true political power was the
primary cause of their eventual abandonment of the ideology of female benevolence.
This ideology prevented women from gaining true political power.
(D)
only women in positions of authority in their communities exercised political influence indirectly through men.
No information
(E) most
men believed that they were protecting women by excluding them from politics.
No information