The new school of political history that emerged in the 1960’s and 1970’s sought to go beyond the traditional focus of political historians on leaders and government institutions by examining directly the political practices of ordinary citizens. Like the old approach, however, this new approach excluded women. The very techniques these historians used to uncover mass political behavior in the nineteenth-century United State – quantitative analyses of election returns, for example – were useless in analyzing the political activities of women, who were denied the vote until 1920. By redefining “political activity,” historian Paula Baker has developed a political history that includes women. She concludes that among ordinary citizens, political activism by women in the nineteenth century prefigured trends in twentieth-century politics. Defining “politics” as “any action taken to affect the course of behavior of government or of the community,” Baker concludes that, while voting and holding office were restricted to men, women in the nineteenth century organized themselves into societies committed to social issues such as temperance and poverty. In other words, Baker contends, women activists were early practitioners of nonpartisan, issue-oriented politics and thus were more interested in enlisting lawmakers, regardless of their party affiliation, on behalf of certain issues than in ensuring that one party or another won an election. In the twentieth century, more men drew closer to women’s ideas about politics and took up modes of issue-oriented politics that Baker sees women as having pioneered.
134. According to the passage, Paula Baker and the new political historians of the 1960’s and 1970’s shared which of the following? (A) A commitment to interest-group politics (B) A idsregard for politica ltheory and ideology (C) An interest in the ways in which nineteenth-century politics prefigured contemporary politics (D) A reliance on such quatitiative techniques as the analysis of election returns (E) An emplasis on the political involvement of ordinary citizens
OG的解释：Choice A is incorrect because the passage implies that the new historians failed to examine interest groups. 这句在原文中的对应应该是第一句中的by examining directly the political practices of ordinary citizens 吧？但是我觉得这句并没有implies that the new historians failed to examine interest groups，而且我觉得也没有failed 的意思，还有，interest groups指的是什么？ 另外，OG解释中还说：Because the second paragraph emphasizes that Baker did not rely primarily on quantitative techniques such as the analysis of election returns, D is incorrect. 这句解释是不是指第二段中的In other words, Baker contends, women activists were early practitioners of nonpartisan, issue-oriented politics and thus were more interested in enlisting lawmakers, regardless of their party affiliation, on behalf of certain issues than in ensuring that one party or another won an election.和第一段中的第三句The very techniques these historians used to uncover mass political behavior in the nineteenth-century United State – quantitative analyses of election returns, for example – were useless in analyzing the political activities of women, who were denied the vote until 1920.对应？（我是指两个黑体部分相对应）还有，election returns是什么意思？ | 
