Question

Read the passage and answer the following question(s).

Josephine Silone Yates
Chemist, Poet, Advocate
(1) From chemistry to literature to women’s advocate, Josephine Silone Yates was a significant African-American leader. (2) Follow the course of her life’s work and witness how one woman’s journey touched many lives.

(3) Yates was born in 1859 in New York into a home where education was encouraged. (4) Her writings were submitted for publication by her at the age of nine. (5) She later published under the name R. K. Potter. (6) She graduated from high school a year early and went on to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

(7) Yates became the first African-American certified teacher in Rhode Island. (8) In 1883 she left the Northeast to take a teaching job at Lincoln Institute in Jefferson City, Missouri. (9) At Lincoln, Yates taught public speaking, chemistry, and literature. (10) Soon she was appointed head of the natural sciences department, becoming the only African-American woman to both teach college chemistry and run a college department.

(11) After Yates married William Ward Yates in 1889, she had two children and stayed devoted to learning and literature. (12) She studied German and French, tutored students in the public schools, and published her poems. (13) Another passion that helped her shape the lives of others was her commitment to clubs dedicated to women and African Americans.

(14) Yates was the president and treasurer of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs. (15) She also joined clubs designed to help single working women, African Americans, and poor families. (16) She spoke and wrote about the struggles that the African-American people faced in their transition from slavery to freedom, emphasizing that a freed slave would benefit from “making him more provident and painstaking; . . . teaching him the value of time, of money, and the intimate relationship of the two.”

(17) Yates returned to Lincoln Institute as the head of the English and history department in 1902. (18) Despite boutes with illness in 1908, she stayed with the Lincoln Institute as an adviser to women students. (19) She shared her bredth of knowledge with her students until she died in 1912. (20) If Yates was alive today, she would excel in humanitarian efforts.




Read sentence 11.

After Yates married William Ward Yates in 1889, she had two children and stayed devoted to learning and literature.

How is the underlined gerund used in this sentence?

A.
as the object of a prepositional phrase

B.
as an adjective modifying literature

C.
as the verb in an infinitive phrase with to

D.
as the main verb in the sentence

Answer 1

A. as the object of a prepositional phrase

"Learning" is a gerund (noun form of a verb) serving as the object of the preposition "to" in the phrase "devoted to learning and literature," which modifies "stayed devoted."