Critical Reading Answers and Explanations
1. (C) This question is keyed to paragraph 1,
in which the second sentence gives you Anthony's declaration that
she "not only committed no crime, but ...simply exercised my
citizen's rights, guaranteed me ...by the National Constitution."
Her act, in other words, was legal according to her reading of
the Constitution. (C) is correct.
2. (E) Anthony points out here that no
subgroup was excluded by the wording of the Constitution's "We,
the people" preamble. That preamble refers "not to the half of
ourselves...but to...women as well as men." This makes (E) the
best answer. (D) may have appealed to you, but it's wrong since
it describes a claim that Anthony doesn't make until the
following paragraph.
3. (A) In the paragraph referred to, Anthony
says that any state prohibits women from voting violates federal
law—the Constitution. A state that does so becomes "an odious
aristocracy, a hateful oligarchy." In other words, a state that
denies women the vote can't legitimately call itself either a
democracy or a republic. (A) is the best restatement of this
rather subtle inference.
4. (C) "Hardihood" is a strange word, but its
meaning is clear in the sentence. Anthony says, essentially, that
her opponents wouldn't "have the hardihood" to claim that women
are not persons. These opponents wouldn't, in other words, have
the "nerve" to do so, choice (C).
5. (D) To "abridge" means to "curtail" or
"decrease" in some way, so Anthony is arguing here that, since
women are citizens, no state can curtail, decrease, or deprive
them of their rights. (D) is therefore the best answer.
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