Question

the women, instead of tempering the animosities of the time, blew up the flame of discord. based on the use of \blew up\ as an antonym context clue, what can you infer the word tempering means in this passage? to build up to calm or lessen to intensify to make worse

Explanation:

The phrase "instead of" shows that "tempering" and "blew up" are antonyms. "Blew up the flame of discord" means to increase conflict. So "tempering" should mean the opposite, like calming or lessening animosities. "To build up", "To intensify", and "To make worse" are similar to "blew up" (increasing), so they are incorrect. "To calm or lessen" is the opposite of increasing, matching the antonym context.

Answer:

To calm or lessen