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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 31 Dec 2020, 15:36
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Question 2


sssanskaar
For Q#2, can someone explain his/her thought process on how to eliminate option C. It looks dangerously close to the correct answer.
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Quote:
2. It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of the boycotting women was the
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The purposes and goals of the boycotting women are mentioned in the final paragraph of the passage. It states that the boycotters “joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue.”

With that in mind, let’s consider (C):

Quote:
(C) concentration of a widespread consumer protest on the more narrow issue of food prices.
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The boycotting women were definitely concerned with the issue of food prices. But (C) indicates that the women were attempting to CONCENTRATE a widespread consumer protest on the issue of food prices. The problem is that that women did not CONCENTRATE any protest. In fact, it’s unclear on the basis of the passage whether we could really say that a widespread consumer protest existed, and the passage certainly doesn’t indicate that boycotting women attempted to redirect an existing protest. Rather, they joined the price protest movement because they were committed to the same cost-of-living issue that the movement was committed to and the movement focused on food prices.

Because boycotting women do not try to concentrate a wider protest, we can eliminate (C).

I hope that helps!
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 02 Jan 2021, 23:27
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Hi AG95,

Let me know if this helps.

Consider the lines: "the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue. A shared experience of swiftly declining living standards caused by rising food prices drove these women to protest."

The above lines imply that the goal of the boycotting women was to stop the declining living standards caused by rising food prices as this was the only urgent and primary reason of the protests.


AG95
hi GMATNinja and @VERITASPREP ,
could you explain question 2 here. Why option D is wrong.
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Quote:
(D) development of one among a number of different approaches that the women wished to employ in combating the high cost of price.
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D is clearly incorrect as no such goal of the boycotting women can be inferred from the passage. The different approaches mentioned in the passage are from the Socialists point of view and not the protesting women.



Thanks.
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 01 Feb 2021, 22:20
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Please Explain why E is incorrect in Q4
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 02 Feb 2021, 12:18
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Please Explain why E is incorrect in Q4
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Hi bangmachiv,

Quote:
(E) It served as an effective complement to union organizing.
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What's mentioned in the passage is: "Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living."

The last lines mentioned above imply that Socialists who cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest thought that union organizing was the best method to fight the high cost of living. We cannot infer option E from anywhere in the passage.


Hope This Helps.
Thanks.
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 06 Feb 2021, 07:25
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souvikgmat1990
Can somebody explain why in Q4 E is incorrect?
In the passage it states:
While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.

Doesn't that mean they thought it was a good complement to Union organization? I don't see understand how "furthering goals" as mentioned in option B is correct?
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Same question here, I picked E because the passage somehow mentioned that it is somehow moving socialism forward.

Detail explanation will be much appreciated!!
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 07 Feb 2021, 10:11
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souvikgmat1990
Can somebody explain why in Q4 E is incorrect?
In the passage it states:
While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.

Doesn't that mean they thought it was a good complement to Union organization? I don't see understand how "furthering goals" as mentioned in option B is correct?

Same question here, I picked E because the passage somehow mentioned that it is somehow moving socialism forward.

Detail explanation will be much appreciated!!
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Hi wushingling,

Let me know my previous reply to the Question helps:

https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-mid-february-1917-a-women-s-movement-independent-of-political-35650-20.html#p2717281

Thanks.
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 08 Feb 2021, 00:35
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AG95
hi GMATNinja and @VERITASPREP ,
could you explain question 2 here. Why option D is wrong.
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Quote:
(D) development of one among a number of different approaches that the women wished to employ in combating the high cost of price.
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To begin with, the passage doesn't mention the "multiple" approaches that women had in mind. They only used one approach: Protest! Moreover, that the women wished to employ The passage does not state the "wish/preference" that women had in the "hypothetical" multiple approaches towards the issue.

At the heart of the paragraph we have an issue: Cost of living. And to combat this issue, women implement one solution: Boycott/protests!

(D) Talks about information, a number of different approaches and women wished to employ, that isn't even mentioned in the passage
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 17 Aug 2021, 21:09
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political affiliation erupted in New York City, the stronghold of the Socialist Party in the United States. Protesting against the high cost of living, thousands of women refused to buy chickens, fish, and vegetables. The boycott shut down much of the City’s foodstuffs marketing for two weeks, riveting public attention on the issue of food prices, which had increased partly as a result of increased exports of food to Europe that had been occurring since the outbreak of the First World War.

By early 1917 the Socialist party had established itself as a major political presence in New York City. New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests designed to direct the women’s movement toward Socialist goals. Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living. For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.

Although New York’s Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand, the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue. A shared experience of swiftly declining living standards caused by rising food prices drove these women to protest. Consumer organizing spoke directly to their daily lives and concerns; they saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself. Food price protests were these women’s way of organizing at their own workplace, as workers whose occupation was shopping and preparing food for their families.

Show Spoiler
A
1. The author suggests which of the following about New York Socialists' commitment to the cost-of-living movement?

(A) It lasted for a relatively short period of time

(B) It was stronger than their commitment to the suffrage struggle.

(C) It predated the cost-of-living protest that erupted in 1917.

(D) It coincided with their attempts to bring more women into union organizing.

(E) It explained the popularity of the Socialist party in NYC.


Show Spoiler
A
2. It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of the boycotting women was the

(A) achievement of an immediate economic outcome

(B) development of a more socialistic society

(C) concentration of a widespread consumer protest on the more narrow issue of food prices.

(D) development of one among a number of different approaches that the women wished to employ in combating the high cost of price.

(E) attraction of more public interest to issues that the women and the socialist considered important.


Show Spoiler
A
3.Which of the following best states the function of the passage as a whole?

(A) To contrast the views held by the Socialist party and the boycotting women in the cost-of-living issue.

(B) To analyze the assumption underlying opposing viewpoints with the NY socialist party of 1917

(C) To provide a historical perspective on different approaches to the resolution of cost-of-living issue.

(D) To chronicle the sequence of events that lead to the NY socialist party's emergency as a political power.

(E) To analyze the motivations behind the socialist party's involvement in the women's suffrage movement.


Show Spoiler
B
4. According to the passage, most New York Socialists believed which of the following about the cost-of-living movement?

(A) It was primarily a way to interest women in joining the Socialist Party.

(B) It was an expedient that was useful only insofar as it furthered other goals.

(C) It would indirectly result in an increase in the number of women who belonged to labor unions.

(D) It required a long-term commitment but inevitably represented a direct step toward socialism.

(E) It served as an effective complement to union organizing.


Show Spoiler
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Housewives, Socialists, and the Politics of Food: The 1917 New York Cost-of-Living Protests
Dana Frank
Feminist Studies
Vol. 11, No. 2 (Summer, 1985), pp. 255-285
Published by: Feminist Studies, Inc.
DOI: 10.2307/3177923
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3177923
Page Count: 31

Attachment:
frank1985.pdf
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Hi Sajjad1994
Could you please post official answer explanations for this passage?
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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 30 Aug 2021, 13:31
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souvikgmat1990
Can somebody explain why in Q4 E is incorrect?
In the passage it states:
While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.

Doesn't that mean they thought it was a good complement to Union organization? I don't see understand how "furthering goals" as mentioned in option B is correct?
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Can someone explain this doubt?

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In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political 30 Aug 2021, 21:46
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souvikgmat1990
Can somebody explain why in Q4 E is incorrect?
In the passage it states:
While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living.

Doesn't that mean they thought it was a good complement to Union organization? I don't see understand how "furthering goals" as mentioned in option B is correct?


Can someone explain this doubt?

VeritasKarishma GMATNinja
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This is what the passage tells us:

... most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest...
...Although New York’s Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand...

For Socialists, the movement was useful to further other goals only.

4. According to the passage, most New York Socialists believed which of the following about the cost-of-living movement?

(A) It was primarily a way to interest women in joining the Socialist Party.

(B) It was an expedient that was useful only insofar as it furthered other goals.
This is correct.

(C) It would indirectly result in an increase in the number of women who belonged to labor unions.

(D) It required a long-term commitment but inevitably represented a direct step toward socialism.

(E) It served as an effective complement to union organizing.

They did not think of the movement as a complement to union organising. They tried to steer the movement toward Socialist goals using union organising.

Note this:
New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests designed to direct the women’s movement toward Socialist goals...
...Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living...
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