Question 3
oasis90
Can you please explain question 3? How can D be inferred? I know that family member seamstresses were not heads of households but its a bit of a stretch to conclude that they did not enjoy certain economic and legal status
Nived
Can you please explain question 3? How can D be inferred?
Let’s take a closer look at question #3:
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3) It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was true of seamstresses employed by relatives who were members of the tailors’ guild?
In order to be confident in our answer, we must confirm that it's the best of all five choices, so let's take a look at each one:
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A. They were instrumental in convincing Louis XIV to establish the seamstresses’ guild.
At no point in the passage does the author reveal who convinced Louis XIV to establish this guild. Eliminate choice (A).
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B. They were rarely allowed to assist master tailors in the production of men’s clothing.
"They" in this statement are "seamstresses employed by relatives who were members of the tailors' guild." We know that seamstress guild members could not produce any men's clothing, but there's no evidence of any such restriction on
non-guild seamstresses, who were employable by male family members in the tailors' guild. Eliminate choice (B).
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C. They were considered by some tailors to be a threat to the tailors’ monopoly.
Again, a less precise reader might mistake "They" for "seamstress guild members" in this statement. However, we know that familial non-guild seamstresses were part of the labor force employed by
tailors. We also are told explicitly that "Tailors resented the ascension of seamstresses
to guild status." We know that tailors felt threatened by seamstress guild members, but don't see anything to suggest they were threatened by their own employees. Eliminate choice (C).
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D. They did not enjoy the same economic and legal privileges that members of the seamstresses’ guild enjoyed.
"They" still means "seamstresses employed by relatives who were members of the tailors' guild." We must confirm that seamstresses
employed by relatives who were members of the tailors guild did
not enjoy the same economic and legal privileges as seamstresses
who were members of the seamstress guild. Here's where the passage spells out this contrast:
"The seamstresses, however, viewed guild membership as a mark of independence from the patriarchal family. Their guild was composed not of family units but of individual women who enjoyed unusual legal and economic privileges."
This tells us that seamstress guild members enjoyed unusual legal and economic privileges (those that came with being protected as individuals, independent of their patriarchal family units). Guild seamstresses and non-guild seamstresses alike viewed guild membership as a mark of independence, but only guild seamstresses enjoyed this privilege. That's a solid inference, so (D) looks good.
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E. They felt their status as working women gave them a certain degree of independence from the patriarchal family.
Since we know that "They" does not refer to seamstress guild members, we know that this can't be inferred from the passage. Eliminate choice (E), and we’re left with (D) as by far our best answer choice.
I read your explanation, but I still don't understand your view so clearly.
For this part in the passage " The seamstresses, however, viewed guild membership as a mark of independence from the patriarchal family. Their guild was composed not of family units but of individual women who enjoyed unusual legal and economic privileges".
I thought that seamstresses considered guild membership as a mark of independence and the seamstresses enjoyed unusual legal and economic privileges.
Why we can not choose E, because in the passage, these seamstresses viewed guild membership as a mark of independence and the choice E said "They felt their status as working women gave them a certain degree of independence"
I'm really confused with this question.
Really hope that you can explain a bit more clearly.