In the early 1940s, women’s participation in the U.S. labor market cha

Question

In the early 1940s, women’s participation in the U.S. labor market changed dramatically as a result of the labor shortages resulting from the drafting of men to fight in World War II. Although persistent and institutionalized discrimination had discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s, the wartime government used patriotic propaganda to encourage women to work in defense industries. While women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times—and the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged—gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize. Despite these moves toward women’s participation in the workforce, however, shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942.    1 
 1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.

2 
 2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.

3 
 3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers 
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace 
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question

RC Butler Competition 2021  -  Participate and Win!   
Passage # 9 Date: 7-Jan-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler Competition 2021 .  Click here for Details

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

Difficulty Level:   Easy

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION

The language according to the passage indicates that this is a Specific Detail question. The question stem further indicates that you are looking for information about working women in the United States during World War II. (Note: You may already know that World War II took place from 1939 to 1945. If not, the first sentence of the passage indicates that the war was going on in the early 1940s.)

STEP 2: FIND THE SUPPORT

The 1940s time frame was mostly detailed in the middle of the passage. The information about the 1930s (that women were discouraged from working) was pre-war and the information about 1952 was post-war. Find the relevant text and, in order to get full context, start reading two to three lines before the “meat” of the text. Here’s the relevant text for the wartime period:

“Although persistent and institutionalized discrimination had discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s, the wartime government used patriotic propaganda to encourage women to work in defense industries. While women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times—and the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged—gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize. ”

STEP 3: PREDICT AN ANSWER

So what was true? The government encouraged women to work. They were still viewed as filling in, not the real workers. But gender barriers were lowered a bit and pay got a little bit more equal.

STEP 4: ELIMINATE AND FIND A MATCH

(A)  Based on the last sentence of the paragraph, it sounds like the women did eventually give up their jobs, but nothing indicates that they did so happily, nor does the passage indicate that this occurred as soon as the men returned home. Eliminate.

(B)  The passage does use the word extraordinary, but in a different context. The fact that women were doing what was usually “man’s work” was viewed as extraordinary, or very unusual. The passage does not indicate how competent the women were at their jobs. Eliminate.

(C)  Yes! This matches the language pay began to equalize. It was not as equal before (in earlier decades), and it began to become more equal during the wartime 1940s.

(D)  This answer choice starts out well, but then veers into issues not discussed in the passage. The passage says that gender barriers were lowered, but educational opportunities are never mentioned. Eliminate.

(E)  The passage does not indicate anything about the competence or skills of women in the workforce in the 1940s. Eliminate.

Answer: C

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

Difficulty Level:   Easy

Step 1: Identify the Question

The word inferred indicates that this is an Inference question. The question stem further indicates that you need to infer something about women’s employment.

Step 2: Find the Support

Most of the passage is about the topic of women’s employment, so remind yourself of the major time frames:

…discrimination discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s
…wartime government…encourage  women to work
…fewer women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942

Note:  The passage contains additional detail about wartime employment; if none of the answers match on your first pass, you can narrow down and review the more specific details about the 1940s.

Step 3: Predict an Answer

The correct answer should  “flip”  what the passage says. If women were discouraged from working in the 1930s but encouraged in the 1940s, then there was a change in behavior or attitudes toward women working. If fewer women worked outside the home in 1952, then more worked outside the home in 1942.

Step 4: Eliminate and Find a Match

(A)  Discrimination was mentioned for the 1930s, not 1942 or 1952. Eliminate.

(B)  The passage indicates that fewer women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942, but it does not say why. One possibility might have to do with job qualifications, but this does not have to be true. Eliminate.

(C)  This sounds pretty good—that’s probably what happened when the war ended. Leave this choice in.

(D)  The passage doesn’t mention anything about economic prosperity. Eliminate.

(E)  This is exactly what Step 3 says: More women worked outside the home in 1942! But what about answer (C)?

It turns out that  answer (C)  is a big trap. While it certainly sounds reasonable to assume that a lot of men came back from World War II and took their old jobs back, the passage doesn’t provide the information needed to make this inference. What if most of the soldiers died or were too injured to resume their old jobs? What if they came back and wanted to take new jobs, not resume their old ones? The passage does state that fewer women worked outside the home by 1952, but it does not provide information to infer that soldiers specifically took back their old jobs.

The correct answer is (E).

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

Difficulty Level:   Hard

Step 1: Identify the Question

The words in order to indicate that this is a Specific Purpose, or Why, question. Why did the author include the specific line quoted in the question stem?

Step 2: Find the Support

On Why questions, you’ll need to make sure you have the full context. The sentence or two preceding the quoted text will typically tell you why the author introduced that text, so start a bit before the quoted text, in this case:

“Although persistent and institutionalized discrimination had discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s, the wartime government used patriotic propaganda to encourage women to work in defense industries. While women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times—and the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job  “properly”  belonged—gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize.”

Step 3: Predict an Answer

Before the war, women experienced a lot of discrimination. Then, the government started encouraging women to work. The while start to the next sentence indicates a twist: The fact that women were working was still viewed as something they wouldn’t (or even shouldn’t) be doing if the men hadn’t gone off to war, but some things did get better for women.

The author is showing the two sides of the coin. The country needed women to work, and the fact that so many did helped to lower gender barriers, but many people still felt that the situation was, or should be, only temporary.

Step 4: Eliminate and Find a Match

(A) The men were off at war; they were literally unavailable to take the jobs. The government encouraged the women to fill in. Eliminate.

(B) The passage mentions nothing about the competency of either men or women. Eliminate.

(C) While it is likely true that discrimination still existed, the passage doesn’t provide enough information to say that it predominated. All the passage indicates is that conditions did get at least somewhat better for women during this period. Eliminate.

(D) Yes! The sentence does list two positives (gender barriers lowered, pay more equalized), but the specific line quoted is a negative for women. The author is showing both sides of the coin.

(E) Just the opposite, in fact! The lowering of gender barriers was a positive for women. The fact that they were still viewed as filling in for men to whom the jobs “properly” belonged is a negative. Eliminate.

The correct answer is (D).

RashmikaAnegama · Answer

Briefing the given Passage:
Early 1940s - war time - women employment increased - patriotism - extraordinary measure - merely filling - gender bias lowered - Pay equalized - jobs decreased in 1952

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

This is a must be true question, so let's check the options given
 
  (A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home. 
There was no sign of women's mood to return their jobs, so eliminate

(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them. 
The lines from the passage say that -  women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times 
This proves that they have exhibited extraordinary levels of skills - so, this must be true.

(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades. 
 than had been the case in earlier decades.  - we have no proof telling that women worked before 1940s

(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women. 
There was no sign of educational opportunities for women, so eliminate

(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries. 
This was also not mentioned explicitly in the passage, so eliminate.

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

This is an inference question. Let's review the options given.
Last few lines of the passage says -  shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942.

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952. 
It was shifting forces what caused the decrement in the number of women, not discrimination.

(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952. 
How can qualifications decrease over time?

(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held. 
This is the one. So post-war when soldiers(men) returned, they took back their jobs, for which reason, women count at work place has decreased

(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work. 
We can't really say whether the economic prosperity increased or decreased during the given time

(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later. 
This is obvious and explicitly stated, there is now new inference here, and option C is better than this, so eliminate it

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

This is comparatively a harder question.
I felt BCDE are contenders. So let's try to eliminate each..

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers 
This is not the case. They are given jobs to women, that was the requirement. So we can eliminate it

(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question 
Yes, this is the case. "Properly" here is explaining the author thoughts of women being less competent than the men who would have taken those jobs

(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace 
There can't be predominant discrimination, because, women had to do those jobs, and the jobs are offered to them, instead of they demanding for the jobs. So, we can eliminate this option

(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive 
This is the not the right point. So, we can eliminate this option

(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question 
This is a good trap answer as it is immediately comes after the line in the question, but these 2 statements themselves are opposite.

So IMO, the answers are  B, C, B

Vie3nrose · Answer

Question 1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?
 
(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
 INCORRECT   -- Although the last two sentences imply that once the war was over and the soldiers returned, women may have given up their jobs to soldiers "to whom the job “properly” belonged", there is no mention in the passage that women were "happy" to do so (vs not given a choice in the matter)
 
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
 INCORRECT   -- "women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary  measure  for extraordinary  times "; no mention of women exhibiting extraordinary skills
 
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 CORRECT   -- "gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize", implying that the gender pay gap between women and men began getting smaller vs the period leading up to the war
 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
 INCORRECT   -- "gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and  pay  began to equalize"; no mention of educational opportunities as one of the barriers that were lowered for women 
 
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
 INCORRECT   -- "as a result of the labor shortages resulting from the drafting of men to fight in World War II... government used patriotic propaganda to encourage women to work in defense industries"; no mention of women being better suited for certain tasks in the industry, simply an "extraordinary measure" and "merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged"

Question 2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?
 
(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
 INCORRECT   -- We know that "discrimination had discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s" and that in the early 1940s "gender barriers were lowered somewhat" as a result of men leaving to fight in the war, and also that "shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942"; however, the author didn't specifically attribute the drop in working women to discrimination (vs other possible factors) 
 
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
 INCORRECT   -- we know that "shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942"; however, the author didn't specifically attribute the drop in working women to a decline in job qualifications (vs i.e. increased discrimination) 
 
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
 INCORRECT   -- we know that "shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942", and that this is likely due to soldiers coming home and returning to their jobs (especially given the previous sentence), but the author doesn't specifically make the connection for us so I prefer not to make this inference 
 
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
 INCORRECT   -- we know that "shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942", and although it's definitely possible that this may have been one of the factors, the author didn't mention anything about economic prosperity so we would be relying on external knowledge to make this inference
 
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
 CORRECT   -- the author states that "shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942", which is exactly this answer choice, said in the reverse direction.

ikatke · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.- Wording from para-1 used in this choice, but meaning is totally different.
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.- Although passage mentioned,  women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times . Word  viewed  can not be inferred as exhibited
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.-As mentioned in passage,  gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and  pay began  to equalize 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.-Nowhere in passage mentioned about educational opportunity
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.-Superiority of women over men to certain task is not mentioned.
Ans: C

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.- Not mentioned.
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.- Nowhere mentioning of qualification
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.- Not mentioned.
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.-Not mentioned
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.- As per last line of passage,  shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942 
Ans: E
Question 3

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers- Author of passage is not arguing anything in passage. Overall tone of passage is informative.
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question - Competency of women over men is not mentioned in para
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace- Complete sentence is,  the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged . As job is PROPERLY belong to soldier, (not to female worker), we can infer discrimination still predominated in the workplace.
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive - This is close answer choice but can be rejected on basis of words  universally positive .
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question- Answer of this why is not given in para.
Ans: C

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Summary:  Women discriminations were persistent and institutionalized in 1930 to 1940. Due to WW-II, men forced to move to war front and more women got opportunity to work. Slowly, unequal salary barrier reduced, but they felt as incompetent with men for a particular job. In 1950s, less women got the opportunity to work as men returned from war.

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home. -> Incorrect.
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them. -> Incorrect.
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades. ->  correct. 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women. -> Incorrect
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries. -> Incorrect

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952. -> Incorrect.
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952. -> Incorrect.
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held. ->Incorrect.
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work. -> Incorrect.
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later. ->   Correct.

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers -> Incorrect.
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question -> Incorrect.
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace -> Incorrect.
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive ->  Correct. 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question -> Incorrect.

Deepakjhamb · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

answer - c) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 
(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home:  its never mentioned in passage that women were happy to give up their paid job and return home , secondly question is regarding duration of word war 2 and not after end of it , so this is out  
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them. :  its never mentioned that women exhibited extraordinary levels of skill that that was expected of them , looks like a recycled language trap of extraordinary measure for extraordinary times which was actually a metaphor , so this is out  
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades -  yes this looks ok as in the passage its stated that pay began to equalize during world war 2 . 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women :  its never mentioned that lowering of gender barriers resulted in greater educational opportunities for women , looks to be a recycled language trap with half truth and half wrong language  
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries :  this kind of comparison is never mentioned in the passage , so its out

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

answer : e)More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later. 
(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952:  actually during this from passage we can only infer that fewer women worked outside home due to shifting forces , so concluding that discrimination against women increased is extreme language , so ruled out  
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952 :  we know nothing about women qualifications - its outside scope of this passage , so out  
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held :  actually passage only mentions shifting force post world war 2 , we cannot infer that shifting forces mean that men came back home and took back same jobs that they held once , so out  
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work : t here is no mention of increased prosperity as the reason that women did not have to work in the 1950's 
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later :  right bang on the answer , this is the flip in language and can be inferred as passage states that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942.

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to
 answer is (D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive 
(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers :  no this was done for this purpose , it was done to just show that it was not something very positive to be boasted about  
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question:  no this was done for this purpose , it was done to just show that it was not something very positive to be boasted about 
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace :  actually this is too extreme language and also a contrast with some universally positive things like gender barriers were lowered and pay began to equalize is shown , so this is not so apt for purpose  
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive :  this is right as this is correct contrast with some universally positive things like gender barriers were lowered and pay began to equalize is shown 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question :  no actually this is one of the different parts of contrast mentioned and thus cannot explain the reason

Tahamohsin · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?  
 C

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
  The author never stated that women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.

(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
  The passage didn't say that women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.

(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
  Yes the passage that pay began to equalize.

(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
  The passage stated no info about the women's education.

(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
  The passage actually stated that the wartime government used patriotic propaganda to encourage women to work in defense industries, but it doesn't state that women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries. .

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?  
 E

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
  The passage never stated that discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952. So we cannot be sure.

(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
  The passage never staed this.

(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
  The passage doesn't provide this info. This could be the case, but we don't know for sure.

(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
  Complety wrong. We cannot conclude this.

(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
  Yes, this was the case, which passage stated directly. In the last sentence the passage stated that despite these moves toward women’s participation in the workforce, however, shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942.

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to  
 D

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers 
   the author didn't argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers

(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
  The author never assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question

(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace 
  The author didn't state that persistent and institutionalized discrimination was still predominated in the workplace after the soldiers return.

(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
  Yes, the author uses this sentence as a counter positive in the nonessential modifier.

(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
  The sentence in the nonessential modifier is not used to explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question.

Sumi1010 · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war,  women were happy to give up their paid jobs  and return to the home.
 This is not mentioned in the passage . 
(B) Women exhibited  extraordinary levels of skills  relative to what was expected of them.
 "women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure" . The women's employment was viewed as an extraordinary measure, but this does not mean they actually exhibited such level of skills.  
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 Correct. "gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize" 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered,  resulting in greater educational opportunities  for women.
 This result of lowered gender barrier is not mentioned.  
(E) Women were  better suited  than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
 No, women were just acting as substitutes. "Female worker as  merely filling  in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged"

C

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
 The all that the passage says is "fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942." There is no implication of the discrimination in the workplace since 1942. 
(B) Women’s  job   qualifications decreased  during the period 1942–1952.
 This can't be implied. The passage is limited to outside the home jobs only. 
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
 They might have taken other jobs then they had. The all we know that this shifted back the women's outside job positions. 
(D)  Increased economic prosperity  in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
 The passage never says that there was an increased economic prosperity.  
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
 Correct. This is what it says "fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942."

E

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women  should not have taken jobs  away from soldiers
 The author does not make this suggestion. The author just intends to convey that women were not considered in general apt for those jobs. 
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
 The author does not add his own opinion on the competency of women. 
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace
 Such discriminations were known in 1930s. The author mentioned "properly" for the wartime situations.  
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
 Correct. The author just intends to convey that women were not considered in general apt for those jobs. 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
 The author used "properly" not to explain the reason for lowered barrier, but to demonstrate that positive changes for the women were not absolute.

D

Pankaj0901 · Answer

Answer IMO
1. C
2. E
3. E

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
 Nowehere in the passage is it mentioned that women were happy to give up their paid jobs after men returned from work. WRONG 
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
 "extraordinary levels of skills"- not relevant to the passage. Rather it is mentioned: "While women’s employment was still viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary time", which is different from this option. 
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 Correct: "..the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged—gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize." 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
 Wrong. "educational opportunities" is out of context. 
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
 Wrong. Irrelevant

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
 Wrong- This cannot be concluded directly. 
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
 Wrong. There is nothing mentioned about the job qualification impact in this period. 
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
 Wrong. 
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
 Wrong conclusion to draw. 
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
 COrrect. As mentioned in the last line: "Despite these moves toward women’s participation in the workforce, however, shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942."

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers
 Wrong. This can not be the intended reference, as it does not go with the fact that women were able to participate at the time of labor need during World war. 
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
 Wrong to conclude this. 
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace
 Wrong. 
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
 Wrong. It cannot be concluded that the change brought by female workers were not universally positive. 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
 Correct. Gender barriers were lowered in this period. It is explained in the passage that there was a shortage of lobor force.

BIDJI23 · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
 No we do not know if they were happy. 
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
 Not mention in the text. 
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 Yes."and pay began to equalize" tells us the author.  
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
 Barriers lowered yes. But is this brought some educational opportunities? I do not think so. 
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
 The text does not mention this.

1-->C

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?
 Let's find support for this: "Although persistent and institutionalized discrimination had discouraged women from paid work during the 1930s" and "however, shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942."

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
 Discrimination is out of scope here 
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
 We have no idea about this 
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
 Yes. That's true. But is this supporting any conclusion about the employment of women? No maybe new jobs were created for those women. This does not strengthen the question. 
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
 This is not the question. 
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
 This helps us to understand that women employment was higher in 1942 (the period discussed in the text) than in the 30's and in the 50's

2-->E

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to
It means:" you, woman, you do a job made for a man".

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers
 They had to take the jobs. It was the war. 
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
I like this answer. Maybe not bad to keep.
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace
 This is even better. Because we can imagine that this word “properly” is repeated to those women by the society itself, overall. The persistent word could be seen as discrimination, persistent and from the institution. I prefer this one to B. 
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
 No this is the meaning here. 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
 No this is not explaining this.

3-->C

C-E-C

Neha2404 · Answer

1-C
2-E
3-D

IMO-C

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
INCORRECT:-IN PASSAGE it is not mentioned that women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.

(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
INCORRECT:-IN PASSAGE it is not mentioned thatWomen exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.

(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
CORRECT:- According to following supporting lines
Supporting lines :-gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period, and pay began to equalize

(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
INCORRECT:- It is half corect and half incorrect answer it is not mentioned greater educational opportunities for women after war -2

(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
INCORRECT:-No comparision is given woman job and men job irrelevant

IMO-E

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
INCORRECT:- Not indicated in the passage

(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
INCORRECT:- Not indicated in the passage

(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
INCORRECT:-due to Shiffting forces decline in no of working women from 1942 to 1952
but it is not mentioned men

(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
INCORRECT:-Not mentioned in the para

(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
Correct:- it is mentioned in last lines of passage

IMO-D

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers
INCORRECT:- Author discussed that women take the soliders job during the war but not say that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers

(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
INCORRECT:-Not mentioned in the passage

(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace
INCORRECT:-NO information current scenario given by author

(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
Correct:- According to POE

(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
INCORRECT:-gender barriers were lowered during the war It cant inferred from above lines

rocky620 · Answer

Primary Purpose. 
The role of women in labor market during 1930's + Challenges faced + The role of women in labor market during WW2 + Improvements in the status + How did the role of women reduced post war.

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?

(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home...... Women might have left the jobs, but the happiness quotient is not true. ELiminate. 
(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them..... Women employment was viewed as an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times. Not that the exhibited extraordinary levels of skills. Eliminate 
(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades...... The male vs female wages began to equalize, may be in defense industries but not in general. It cannot be always true. Eliminate 
(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women. Gender barriers were lowered, but we cannot say for sure that it resulted in greater educational opportunities for women. Eliminate. 
(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.   As it is mentioned "and the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged  , since proper is quoted, we can infer that males were doing the jobs. Which were actually meant for women or in which the women had better skills than men. Keep it.

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?

(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.... It actually started to reduce. Eliminate. 
(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952..... Nothing can be inferred on the status of job qualifications. Eliminate 
(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held....... Shifting forces post war meant that the women who were employed in war duties were out of jobs. Did the men came home and the jobs back? Cant be said. 
(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work...... Cant Be inferred. 
(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later....... Mentioned in the last line of the para"   however, shifting forces in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942."   Keep it.

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to

The author mentions this for three main purpose:
 1.  That women were getting employed in defence only as a filler. Not as a job requirement.
 2.  The jobs in which the women were filling in for men were actually meant for women.
 3.  Even after knowing that the jobs are meant for women, they were not given the chance to have at it.

From this we can infer that -  even tough women were getting employed, still there was some discrimination happening.

(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers..... The govt had to encourage women to take these jobs, the women may or may not be keen on taking them up. Eliminate 
(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question.... No these jobe were actually meant for women. Eliminate. 
(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace..... Yes this matches to our pre thinking. Also predominate can be inferred from the following lines: gender barriers were lowered somewhat during this period,  Keep It. 
(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive...... OFS. Eliminate. 
(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question...... The gender barriers were lowered some what, but the main concern is that the women were used only as fillers, If they were allowed to take up all the positions meant for them, the barriers would lower further. Eliminate.

IMO Option E, E, C

RajatJ79 · Answer

1. According to the passage, which of the following was true of working women in the United States during World War II?
 
(A) As soon as soldiers returned home from the war, women were happy to give up their paid jobs and return to the home.
 No mention of soldiers returning from the war.

(B) Women exhibited extraordinary levels of skills relative to what was expected of them.
 No mention of level of skill of women workers.

(C) Wages for women were closer to the typical wages paid to males than had been the case in earlier decades.
 'While women’s employment was still ... pay began to equalize.'
The above was true of working women in the United States during World War II.
 Keep Option C

(D) Gender barriers were lowered, resulting in greater educational opportunities for women.
 No mention of greater educational opportunities for women.

(E) Women were better suited than men to certain tasks needed in the defense industries.
 Quite the opposite is mentioned in the passage.

Answer should be Option C.

2. Which of the following can be inferred regarding women’s employment during the period discussed in the passage?
 
(A) Discrimination against women in the workplace increased between 1942 and 1952.
 No mention of the above in the passage.

(B) Women’s job qualifications decreased during the period 1942–1952.
 Women’s job qualifications not mentioned in the passage.

(C) The end of World War II caused many men to come home and take back jobs they had once held.
 No mention of 'jobs men had once held' in the passage.

(D) Increased economic prosperity in the 1950s meant women didn’t have to work.
 No mention in the passage.

(E) More women worked outside the home in 1942 than 10 years later.
 'Despite these moves ... in the post-war labor market meant that fewer American women worked outside the home in 1952 than in 1942'
Option E can be inferred from the above line from the passage.
 Keep Option E

Answer should be Option E.

3. The author mentions the female worker as merely filling in for a soldier to whom the job “properly” belonged primarily in order to
 
(A) argue that women should not have taken jobs away from soldiers
 Women 'taking' jobs away is inaccurate as per information in the passage.

(B) assert that women were generally less competent than men to do the jobs in question
 The author does not assert the above idea in the passage.

(C) establish that persistent and institutionalized discrimination still predominated in the workplace
  Keep Option C

(D) acknowledge that the changes brought about for female workers during this time period were not universally positive
 Trap answer. Not the right choice

(E) explain why gender barriers were lowered somewhat during the period in question
 Mentioning 'the job “properly” belonged' does quite the opposite as mentioned in Option E.

Answer should be Option C.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello Everyone

In this question the first one is really easy the second one is somewhere between easy and medium and third is Hard. OAs are CED. All those got the last question incorrect shouldn’t be worried much about.

RashmikaAnegama  to answer the first question we didn’t need to know what had been paid to the women earlier (I am talking about the part you highlighted in question #1), I think you didn’t understand the meaning of the option C. Otherwise this is an easy question. In question #2, C is a trap answer and unfortunately you fell into it. In question 3 three B and D were close but D is correct. Hard luck this time, Attempt this question once again and then reconcile your approach.

ikatke  Please change the format of your reply in the next questions and try to differentiate your reasoning from the answer choices.

Deepakjhamb   Tahamohsin   Sumi1010   Neha2404  Excellent work done

rocky620  Hard luck

Rajat8  Next time please post your reply before 8 am pacific.

Thank you

Prerana94 · Answer

All the explanations in RC butler are so well written! Thank you for RC butler questions!!

harmanvirdi90 · Answer

Not satisfied with Q2. How answer(E) could be inferred when it is clearly stated in Passage. Also could not follow the explanation for Q3.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Apart from the OE, this thread contains more than 10 posts with detailed explanations you can refer to, and the following are a few prominent among them. https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-early ... l#p2699229 https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-early ... l#p2699316 https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-early ... l#p2699432 https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-early ... l#p2699494 Thank you

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

In the early 1940s, women’s participation in the U.S. labor market cha

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

In the early 1940s, women’s participation in the U.S. labor market cha

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards