Question

read the following text from a historical novel. this excerpt is about anne morrow lindbergh’s 1931 flight to china.

surrounded by reporters, photographers, and movietone men with their whirring cameras, we waited as two mechanics made a final check of the sirius. charles was asked by male reporters about the technical difficulties of the challenging flight. i was asked by female reporters how i intended to set up housekeeping in a plane, even as my fingers nervously tapped out practice messages in morse code i had been studying for weeks—engine failure. send help. location unknown. not once was i queried about my technical skills, even though i was to be the radio operator on this trip. . . .

“mrs. lindbergh, what clothes are you taking on the trip?”

from melanie benjamin, the aviator’s wife. copyright 2013 by melanie benjamin

the previous text suggested that lindbergh was disappointed in the questions reporters asked her. how does this historical novel build on or challenge that idea?

it shows that lindbergh preferred male reporters over female reporters.

it emphasizes that lindbergh was qualified to answer technical questions.

it suggests that lindbergh did not want to answer technical questions.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

1. Option 1: The text doesn’t show a preference for male reporters (she interacts with both, and the focus is on her technical skills/question, not reporter preference). Eliminate.
2. Option 2: The question is about her clothes for the trip, not technical questions. Her studying Morse code and being a radio operator implies she has technical skills, but the question here is about the historical novel’s take on her disappointment. Wait, no—wait, the question is “How does this historical novel build on or challenge that idea?” (the idea that she was disappointed in reporters’ questions). Wait, maybe I misread. Wait, the original idea from previous text: “Lindbergh was disappointed in the questions reporters asked her.” Now, the excerpt: she is asked about clothes (not technical), but she has technical skills (studied Morse, radio operator). So the novel shows she had technical skills (so maybe the previous idea was she lacked qualification? Wait, the options:

Wait, the options are:

• It shows that Lindbergh preferred male reporters over female reporters. (No, text has both, no preference shown.)
• It emphasizes that Lindbergh was qualified to answer technical questions. (She studied Morse, was a radio operator—so she had technical skills, meaning she was qualified. The reporters asked about clothes, not technical, but the novel includes her technical skills, emphasizing she could answer technical questions (challenging the idea she was disappointed because reporters asked non - technical? Or building on? Wait, the “that idea” is “Lindbergh was disappointed in the questions reporters asked her.” The excerpt shows she had technical skills (so maybe the reporters’ questions (about clothes) were not what she could answer (she could answer technical), so the novel emphasizes she was qualified to answer technical questions (implying reporters’ questions were not what she could offer, so she was disappointed). Wait, the second option: “It emphasizes that Lindbergh was qualified to answer technical questions.” Let's check: she “had been studying for weeks—Engine failure. Send help... I was to be the radio operator on this trip... technical skills”. So she had technical skills, meaning she was qualified to answer technical questions. The reporters asked about clothes, not technical. So the novel emphasizes her qualification for technical questions, which relates to her disappointment (if reporters asked non - technical, she was disappointed because she could answer technical). So this option makes sense.
• It suggests that Lindbergh did not want to answer technical questions. (No—she studied for technical tasks, was a radio operator, so she wanted to use technical skills, so she would want to answer technical questions. Eliminate.)

Answer:

It emphasizes that Lindbergh was qualified to answer technical questions.