1. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the
idea mentioned in the highlighted text?
(A) It has been undermined by data found in time-use surveys conducted by home economists.
(B) It was based on a definition of housework that was explicitly rejected by Vanek and Cowan.
(C) It is more valid for the time period studied by Cowan than for the time period studied by Vanek.
(D) It is based on an underestimation of the time that married women spent on housework prior to the industrialization of the household.
(E) It inaccurately suggested that new household technologies would reduce the effort required to perform housework.
2. The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) analyzing a debate between two scholars
(B) challenging the evidence on which a new theory is based
(C) describing how certain scholars’ work countered a prevailing view
(D) presenting the research used to support a traditional theory
(E) evaluating the methodology used to study a particular issue
3. The passage suggests that Vanek and Cowan would agree that modernizing household technology did not
(A) reduce the workload of servants and other household helpers
(B) raise the standard of housework that women who were full-time home workers set for themselves
(C) decrease the effort required to perform household tasks
(D) reduce the time spent on housework by women who were full-time home workers
(E) result in a savings of money used for household maintenance
4. According to the passage, Cowan asserts which of the following about married women's helpers over the past two centuries ?
A) they were encouraged to participate more actively in the work of the household by the advent of modern conveniences.
B) the industrialization of the home affected the time spent on housework in the same way.
C) they spent more time on household tasks because of the more rigorous standards of housework promoted by the industrialization of the home.
D) they had less leisure time after the industrialization of the home than has been assumed by most historians.
E) they spent less time on housework with the advent of such devices as the coal stove and the water pump.
5. Which of the following best describes the function of the highlighted sentence :
In fact, time spent by these workers .............household technology. ?
A. It offers an alternative interpretation of a phenomenon described in the previous sentence.
B. It provides the specific evidence on which an argument described in the previous sentence is based.
C. It shifts the focus of the argument developed earlier in the passage.
D. It introduces evidence that has not been taken into account by Vanek and Cowan.
E. It introduces a topic for discussion that will be developed in the rest of the passage.