Two historians of the First World War both depict women as taking up roles previously reserved for men, but they differ slightly in the significance they describe to these unprecedented but temporary wartime duties. Gail Braybon describes the war as a liberating experience for many women. Although women working in munitions factories were subject to new dangers, such as explosions and trinitrotoluene poisoning, they were mindful of and proud of supporting the war effort, whether or not they considered the broader significance of their actions. Joshua Goldstein too describes a sense of freedom in women but emphasizes that it was short-lived. Although the war bent gender roles, it did not lessen hostility to women in traditionally male jobs, increase the value of female labor, or uproot the notion that home life was a strictly female responsibility. Braybon might reply by noting that, while other changes were slower in coming, some women suffragists supported the war and women's role in it to further their cause, and this position may have contributed to the advent of women's right to vote after the war, even by Goldstein's account. Perhaps more central to Braybon's position is that the liberation that women experienced during the war was one of sentiment and therefore made no less real by the lack of accompanying widespread reform. Furthermore, even though the spirit of liberation must have faded with the end of the war, it might have lived on in a latent form and ultimately contributed to the formation of the women's movement.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is toA. examine two sides of a historical debate
B. challenge an author's interpretation of a historical phenomenon
C. describe one author's view on a historical debate
D. discuss two authors' interpretations of a historical phenomenon
E. explain the most widely accepted interpretation of a historical phenomenon
2. The author of the passage mentions women's right to vote primarily in order toA. remind readers of the role voting played in the development of women's rights during and after the First World War
B. give an example of an area in which women living through the First World War were already empowered
C. establish that women did not have to endure risk of physical harm in order to obtain improved rights during the war
D. raise questions about which women's rights were best advanced by the roles women played during the First World War
E. give an example of how the temporary roles played by women during the First World War had lasting benefits
3. With which of the following characterizations of Braybon's interpretation of the significance of women's roles in the First World War would the author of the passage be most likely to agree?A. Braybon interprets women's participation in the First World War according to popular feminist theory.
B. Braybon interprets women's roles in the First World War in terms of an idea of liberation that merits further clarification.
C. Braybon has characterized the significance of women's participation the First World War by using women's voting rights as a frame of reference.
D. Braybon has explored perspectives about wartime responsibility and liberation that were previously ignored.
E. Braybon has applied recent historiographical methods to the question of how women's participation in the First World War shaped women's rights.
4. According to the passage, Goldstein's view differs from Braybon's view in that Goldstein's viewA. considers a wider set of issues
B. ignores women's voting rights
C. casts doubt on the value of the roles played by women
D. describes a narrower impact on the women's movement
E. fails to provide evidence to support its claims
5. According to the passage, Braybon would be most likely to believe that the roles taken up by women during the First World WarA. had a lasting impact because they were legally validated
B. had somewhat inconsistent but lasting spiritual impact
C. benefited women in a way that was difficult to observe directly
D. justified the support of the war effort and the dangers to which women were subjected
E. were important to women's rights, but at odds with the development of human rights more broadly
6. The passage suggests that Goldstein's interpretation of the roles played by women in the First World War would support which of the following views of women's history?A. Women's status did not advance relative to that of men during the First World War.
B. Women after the First World War were not as likely to be conscious of their status as were women during the First World War.
C. Some advances in the women's movement were temporary.
D. The First World War increased the value of female labor, but it did not necessarily impart upon women a sense of liberation.
E. Women's occupations were generally more respected prior to the First World War than during the First World War.