The plot of The Bostonians centers on the rivalry between Olive Chancellor, an active feminist, with her charming and cynical cousin. Basil Ransom, when they find themselves drawn to the same radiant young woman whose talent for public speaking has won her an ardent following.
The enumeration of the rivals requires the conjunction and . either the rivalry between x and y or the rivals x and y. Choices A and D wrongly substitute with for and in the first paradigm; choice B wrongly substitutes against for and in the second. Choice E does not clearly state that Chancellor is party to the rivalry. E also awkwardly pairs Chancellor and rivalry, not Chancellor and Ransom, as antecedents of they. Choice C, the best answer, correctly uses the between x and y paradigm and clearly and unequivocally identifies both parties in the rivalry.