Read the excerpt from Loom and Spindle. The working-hours of all the girls extended from five o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, with one-half hour for breakfast and for dinner. Even the doffers were forced to be on duty nearly fourteen hours a day, and this was the greatest hardship in the lives of these children. What inference can be drawn about factory work of the time period of the excerpt? Working hours could be adjusted based on workers' ages. Breaks were designed to allow families time to share meals. Children were incapable of heavy labor, so production suffered. Laws did not protect children from the demands of factory work.

Laws did not protect children from the demands of factory work.

Explanation:

In the excerpt from "Loom and Spindle," the author Harriet Hanson Robinson makes reference to the lengthy working hours that girls were forced to do at the Lowell Factory. In that respect, she later mentions that the working hours of children under twelve years old were restricted by the law to ten in 1842, much later than when she worked in the factory. Actually, the law that protected the doffers (the younger girls) took longer to pass.

What inference can be drawn about factory work of the time period of the excerpt?  

Working hours could be adjusted based on workers’ ages.

Breaks were designed to allow families time to share meals.

Children were incapable of heavy labor, so production suffered.

Laws did not protect children from the demands of factory work. CORRECT

is it "means of nourishment"