Read this excerpt from "A Four-Hundred-Year-Old Woman" and answer the question.

The nuns at school, on the other hand, insinuated that India had long outlived its glories, and that if we wanted to be educated, modern women, we’d better hit the trail westward.

Why does the author most likely use the phrase "hit the trail westward" in this excerpt?

A. To allow readers a clear visual image of the direction her life would take.

B. To help readers locate America in relation to Calcutta

C. To allude to the idea of the America Dream

D. To contrast the idea of modern with the old west