In mid-February 1917 a women's movement independent of political affiliation erupted in New York City, the stronghold of the Socialist party in the United states. Protesting against the high cost of living, thousands of women refused to buy chickens, fish, and vegetables. The boycott shut. down much of the City's foodstuffs marketing for two weeks, riveting public attention on the issue of food prices, which had increased partly as a result of increased exports of food to Europe that had been occurring since the outbreak of the First World War. By early 1917 the Socialist party had established itself as a major political presence in New York City. New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests designed to direct the women's movement toward Socialist goals. Underneath the Socialists' brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living. For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.
Although New York's Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best ,secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand, the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue. A shared experience of swiftly declining living standards caused by rising food prices drove these women to protest. Consumer organizing spoke directly to their daily lives and concerns; they saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself. Food price protests were these women's way of organizing at their own workplace, as workers whose occupation was shopping and preparing food for their families.
The author suggests which of the following about the New York Socialists' commitment to the cost-of-living movement?
Underneath the Socialists\' BRIEF commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism
brief是短暂的，简短的。
所以正确答案是A。
B错在stronger，作者没有做这两者的比较，只是说cost-of-living是led women into struggle
C错在predated，文章说他们（本来是搞选举和organizing的）抓住了机会，组织了这个movement，所谓抓住机会是先出现机会换句话说是在前文的抗争出现后
D错在bring more women into organizing。文章说的是 cost-of-living or organizing led women into struggle，并没有说要让more women 去organizing
E错在explained the popularity ，文章说New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing，人家老本行是搞选举和organizing，其中大部分人对这个活动是漠视的lay a basic indifference to the issue itself
加入收藏
在线答疑
