Denise and Wilma were running for class president. Denise was the favorite to win. She was the most popular. She had won the year before. She knew every nook and cranny of the school.
Wilma, however, wasn't nearly as popular. She had a group of three close friends, and everyone else was a stranger or an acquaintance. Wilma knew the school though. She knew what the school needed to be great. She was concerned that the school library wasn't as good as it could be. She was worried that the study hall wasn't helping people—that it had become a place for people to get together and hang out instead of study.
The thing that worried her the most was that the school's athletic teams weren't equal. For instance, the school had four sports—soccer, track and field, basketball, and baseball. Each sport had one female team and one male team. The problem was that the girls' soccer team only got a little bit of the money that's given to the sports budget. In fact, the boys' teams used 70 percent of the budget, but the girls' teams only used 30 percent. While the boys' soccer team got new uniforms every year, it had been three years since the girls' soccer team had gotten new uniforms.
Denise didn't see anything wrong with how the money was being spent. She thought that since more people went to see the boys' teams, they should get more money than the girls' teams. Denise was more worried about the prom. She wanted to hold it at a different place this year. She thought if she did, it would make her more popular with the students since she thought all they cared about was the prom. Her other major problem was that the school only had two vending machines. She wanted more. Their rivals from Dalton-Smith High School had 20 vending machines at their school. Denise thought her school, Unger High, could do better, and the students at Dalton would be jealous of the students at Unger.
Election Day finally came. The halls were flooded with banners and bunting. Ribbons and streamers flowed from the ceiling in the cafeteria. The poll lines seemed to go on for miles. Denise thought she had the election in the bag. Many of the students voting wore a "Denise for President" button. Then, Wilma arrived, bringing with her the female student athletes and their votes.
Denise was shocked when she lost the election. She thought she knew what her fellow students wanted, but she only knew what she wanted.


How do the female athletes contribute to the plot?

A.

by deciding not to vote during the election

B.

by getting more money for their teams

C.

by making sure the students vote for Denise

D.

by casting all of their votes for Wilma