The daughter of a merchant and farmer, rebecca latimer graduated from madison female college in 1852. at her graduation, her future husband, a widowed state legislator and doctor named william felton, was the commencement speaker. the couple was married about a year after rebecca’s college graduation. then, she moved to william’s farm near cartersville. like rebecca’s father, william felton was, aside from his other careers, a georgian planter.

2in 1874, william felton ran for a us congressional seat. because he and rebecca were unhappy with the current democrats in power, william ran as an independent democrat. many other georgians must have shared his unhappiness with the state of georgia politics because he won that election as well as two more terms in the us congress. when he finished his three terms, he also served three terms in the state legislature.

3while most politicians’ wives of the time did not have much to do with their husbands' careers, rebecca her husband in many ways. she wrote his speeches and penned many articles to support his campaigns. rebecca worked so closely by her husband’s side that she even him draft bills. when the couple purchased a newspaper, rebecca ran the publication by herself while her husband continued to serve in government. though most people saw rebecca as a great asset to her husband, some of the feltons’ colleagues took cheap shots at rebecca’s expense.

4being involved with her husband’s work allowed rebecca to build a store of political contacts. she also learned the ropes of the us senate. when mr. felton retired from government service in the 1890s, rebecca continued to give speeches and write articles pointing out the injustices of the world. one of her main concerns was making sure that people, no matter how poor, had the right to an education in georgia. early in the twentieth century, rebecca turned her attention to the issue of women’s suffrage, and she became a star of the cause. a georgian writer named corra harris penned a novel titled the co-citizens, in which the main character is remarkably similar to rebecca felton.

5in the 1920s, a current georgian senator passed away, and the governor had to appoint a temporary senator until an election could be held. he chose the 87-year-old felton mostly because he wanted to make an impression on women voters who now had the right to cast their votes and could secure his next election. since this appointment was in between actual elections, rebecca did not get much of an opportunity to do any real work in the senate. her official term lasted only the 24 hours between others having the job. she did, however, secure her place in history as the first woman to serve in the us senate.

read the passage above to answer the following questions:

3)
in paragraph 4 the word suffrage means
a) voting rights.
b) working rights.
c) marriage rights.
d) education rights.

4)
based on information and context clues, what is the best definition of the word ropes as it is used in paragraph 4?
a) large cords of fiber
b) bindings or fastenings
c) special techniques or procedures
d) a string of things joined together