While acknowledging that there are greater employment opportunities fo

Question

While acknowledging that there are greater employment opportunities for Latin American women in cities than in the countryside, social science theorists have continued to argue that urban migration has unequivocally hurt women’s status. However, the effects of migration are more complex than these theorists presume. For example, effects can vary depending on women’s financial condition and social class. Brazilian women in the lowest socioeconomic class have relatively greater job opportunities and job security in cities than do men of the same class, although there is no compelling evidence that for these women the move to the city is a move out of poverty. Thus, these women may improve their status in relation to men but at the same time may experience no improvement in their economic standing.

In addition, working outside the home, which is more common in urban than in rural areas, helps women in the lowest socioeconomic class make contacts to extend exchange networks-the flow of gifts, loans, or child care from those who currently have access to resources to those who do not. Moreover, poor women working in urban areas actively seek to cultivate long-term employer-employee relations. When an emergency arises that requires greater resources than an exchange network can provide, these women often appeal for and receive aid from their wealthy employers. However, the structure of many poor women’s work-often a labor force of one in an employer’s home-makes it difficult for them to organize to improve their economic conditions in general.

Not surprisingly, then,  Latin American women  in the lowest socioeconomic class differ in their opinions about the effects of urban migration on their lives. Some find urban living, with access to electricity and running water, an improvement and would never return to the countryside. Others, disliking the overcrowding and crime, would return to the countryside if there were work opportunities for them there. Thus, urban life has had both negative and positive impacts on women’s lives. In general, urban migration has not provided economic prosperity or upward mobility for women in the lowest socioeconomic class, despite their intelligent and energetic utilization of the resources available to them.   1 
 1. In the first paragraph, the author refers to the experiences of Brazilian women most probably in order to

A. support an earlier assertion made by social science theorists about the effects of urban migration
B. provide an example of one area in which urban migration has failed to improve Latin American women’s lives
C. substantiate the claim that the effects of urban migration cannot be easily characterized
D. illustrate the effect that urban migration has had on the economic status of Latin American women
E. compare the effect that urban migration has had on the economic status of Latin American women with its effect on the economic status of Latin American men

2 
 2. Which of the following best summarizes the main point of the passage?

A. Although Latin American women disagree about the effects urban migration has had on their lives, they agree that migration has provided them with greater opportunities for stable employment outside the home.
B. Although urban migration has improved the quality of life for Latin American women, it has weakened the social support systems that these women enjoyed in rural communities.
C. The effects that urban migration has had on Latin American women’s lives are complex and are best evaluated in light of a range of issues concerning Latin American women’s overall quality of life.
D. The effects of urban migration in Latin America are different for men than they are for women because of the relatively greater job opportunities and job security enjoyed by women in urban areas.
E. Urban migration has led to an increasing disparity between the economic prosperity of Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic classes and that of women in the higher socioeconomic classes.

3 
 3. The author mentions which of the following as a disadvantage of urban employment for Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic group?

A. It is difficult for these women to obtain reliable, long-term employment.
B. It is difficult for these women to organize effectively in order to obtain better wages.
C. It is difficult for these women to find employers who are supportive when emergencies arise.
D. The structure of their jobs makes it difficult for these women to participate in exchange networks.
E. Working in urban areas makes these women more vulnerable to health problems than they would be in rural areas.

4 
 4. The author of the passage would most likely agree that the opinions of the Latin American women discussed in the third paragraph ( Highlighted ) are influenced by the

A. fact that urban life has provided them with greater opportunities for upward mobility than did rural life
B. relative importance they place on the benefits of urban exchange networks in comparison to those of rural networks.
C. relative importance they place on the conveniences and drawbacks of urban life in comparison to those of rural life
D. difference in the effects of urban migration on women of higher and lower socioeconomic classes
E. difference in the effects of urban migration on men and women of the same social and economic class

5  
 5. The author of the passage would most likely react to a claim that Latin American women have not made good use of the resources available to them by

A. expressing strong disagreement
B. offering cautious dissent because of specific case studies
C. withholding judgment because of insufficient evidence
D. offering tentative support because of some circumstantial evidence
E. concurring fully with the claim

6  
 6. It can be inferred that the theorists mentioned in the first paragraph of the passage believe which of the following about the status of Latin American women who migrate from rural to urban areas?

A. Women enjoyed a higher status in the countryside than they do in the city.
B. Urban migration will most likely increase women's status because there are greater employment opportunities in urban than in rural areas.
C. Although urban migration weakens extended-family exchange networks, women's overall status is not greatly affected by migration.
D. Urban migration increases women's status in comparison to that of men of the same class.
E. Women's status in urban areas depends primarily on how marketable their job skills are.

dcummins · Accepted Answer

Passage map : Urban migration effects on women
 P1:  To state a problem but caveat that problem: women's status has been affected by urban migration positively in relation to men, but its a win-lose situation
 P2:  To explain the caveats of this problem - forgone advantages 
 P3:  To argue that the overall status of lower-socio economic women is hurt by urban migration

Q1 - Inference  
"the effects of migration are more complex than these theorists presume" -- an example of the type of complexity is given "for example, effects vary..." and then a specific culture is referenced in support of this complexity - Brazil.

A - is incorrect because the theorists simply think migration is overall negative, but we know its a little bit more "complex" meaning there are likely some positives
B - No. The example is provided in support of the statements and the statements don't mention anything about failure to improve.
C - Correct. The examples are given to further explain the 'complexity'
D - No. The overall para discusses one effect and the examples are only given in support of earlier statements
E - No comparison is made.

Q2 - Main Idea  
A - no way this is the main idea. The opinions of women aren't even taken in the passage.
B - It hasn't weakened the support systems, they just haven't had as much of the support. Trigger word here is "weaken"
C - Yes. There are a lot of negatives, but some positives to urban migration. P1 mentions this, P2 explains the caveats, P3 argues the overall negativity of migration.
D - We don't know about the relatively greater job opps of women in relation to Men 
E - We don't know how much better off if at all the higher socio-eco women are in relation to lower. Incorrect

Q3 - Detail  
A - Incorrect because the only thing mentioned about LT employment is that LA women actively seek it for greater support. No mention of the difficulty.
B - Correct. Last sentence of P2 mentions that it is difficult "for them to organise to improve their economic conditions" - economic conditions are improved by earning more money i.e. "better wages"
C - Similar to A - no mention of the difficulty of actually finding the more supportive employers
D - Incorrect as we aren't able to substantiate the affects of the structure of women's jobs.
E - Incorrect - not supported at all by the passage.

Q4 - Detail Inference  
The author's opinion is given in the last para (P3).
A - is incorrect as it is the opposite of the opinion. "urban migration has not provided eco prosperity or upward mobility for women.."
B - This isn't supported. All we know is LA women value their networks, but we don't know how much LA women's opinions are influenced by such networks.
C - This is correct. The author concludes that "urban migration has not provided economic prosperity... etc. " overall, but before he does this he mentions some enjoy positives - access to electricity and water - and OTHERS cant stand the negatives - overcrowding/ crime-so it is clear that the importance placed on each positive/ negative varies depending on the LA women's circumstances, leading us to conclude that the LA women place differing levels of importance on positives/negatives otherwise there would be a general consensus on whether to stay/ leave
D - Incorrect, we don't really know much about the migration of higher socioeconomic classes
E - Incorrect, similar to D we don't know a lot about the migration of men.

Q5 - Detail Inference  
Refer to the last sentence of P3
The author states  "urban migration has not provided economic prosperity or upward mobility for women in the lowest socioeconomic class, despite their intelligent and energetic utilization of the resources available to them"

So he would disagree with the statement in the stem, clearly.
A - correct
B - He would disagree, but there are no specific case studies. The passage describes overall trends.
C - No. He would disagree
D - No. He would disagree
E - Worse than D. He would disagree.

Q6 - Detail Inference  
P1 clearly states:  "social science theorists have continued to argue that urban migration has unequivocally hurt women’s status"

A - This is correct as it essentially repeats what is stated.
B - is incorrect because it is the opposite of what is stated
C - women's status IS affected. Wrong
D - No. We just know that women's status is decreased. We only know that the effects of migration vary in relation to men
E - We know nothing of the marketability of women's job skills. Incorrect.

mihir0710 · Answer

Hey mate ...here is the explanation :

Refer to the following coloured part of the 1st paragraph of the passage :

While acknowledging that there are greater employment opportunities for Latin American women in cities than in the countryside,  social science theorists have continued to argue that urban migration has unequivocally hurt women’s status . However,   the effects of migration are more complex than these theorists presume . For example,  effects can vary depending on women’s financial condition and social class. Brazilian women in the lowest socioeconomic class have relatively  greater job opportunities and job security in cities than do men of the same class, although there is no compelling evidence that for these women the move to the city is a move out of poverty. Thus, these women may improve their status in relation to men but at the same time may experience no improvement in their economic standing.

Pink Font : Social Science theorist (SST) says that Urban Migration HURT women’s status.
Red Font : “HOWEVER” is the critical word here ...”however” indicates that AUTHOR’s view point is different that “SST”.
And author believes (hence we also have to believe) that effect of migration is MORE complex and NOT that straight forward as the SSTs are suggesting ...

Now, just try to put yourself in a conversation and imagine that you have just made a massive statement against some popular belief ...what would you do ...
You would probably back it up with a substantial example ...right ?

So did the AUTHOR and hence the next statement started with “For example” ...which was then made a specific example with the reference of BRAILIAN WOMEN...

Hence if you see Option A :
A. support an earlier assertion made by social science theorists about the effects of urban migration

it says, that author is trying to support the SST’s theory ...however as explained this is NOT the case...author is infact against the theory made by SST.
Hence Option A is incorrect.

atom · Answer

Hi jogeshanand

The author mentions which of the following as a disadvantage of urban employment for
Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic group?
A. It is difficult for these women to obtain reliable, long-term employment.  
 B. It is difficult for these women to organize effectively in order to obtain better
wages.    
C. It is difficult for these women to find employers who are supportive when
emergencies arise.   
D. The structure of their jobs makes it difficult for these women to participate in
exchange networks.  
E. Working in urban areas makes these women more vulnerable to health problems
than they would be in rural areas.

arunavamunshi1988 · Answer

10 mins but 3 correct....

Can anybody please explain what is wrong with the option A in question 1?

venmic · Answer

I still dont understand vvhy it is B for s 24

mbanotioncom · Answer

Hi, Happy to elucidate my understanding of question-3,

The author mentions which of the following as a disadvantage of urban employment for Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic group?
A. It is difficult for these women to obtain reliable, long-term employment.  (Nowhere in the passage is this described as a disadvantage of urban employment for Latin American women in the lowest socioeconomic group, whereas, what mentioned is-    poor women working in urban areas actively seek to cultivate long-term employer-employee relations   ) 
B. It is difficult for these women to organize effectively in order to obtain better wages.   Bingo!  The last line of the 2nd paragraph clearly says-  However, the structure of many poor women’s work-often a labor force of one in an employer’s home- makes it difficult for them to organize to improve their economic conditions in general.  , and from this we can infer the option to be correct 
C. It is difficult for these women to find employers who are supportive when emergencies arise.  The 2nd paragraph again says that they do find employers who are supportive when emergencies arise 
D. The structure of their jobs makes it difficult for these women to participate in exchange networks.  2nd para, incorrect 
E. Working in urban areas makes these women more vulnerable to health problems than they would be in rural areas. Nowhere mentioned about health problems as a disadvantage.

FirmComplaint321 · Answer

GMATNinja  do you have any thoughts on Question 5 not being B? It really seems like GMAC messed this one up since the passage is only about Latin American women from the lowest socioeconomic status, not all Latin American women.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 5

To answer this question, we need to find the author's opinion about how well Latin American women have made use of available resources. This opinion is stated in the final sentence:

"In general, urban migration has not provided economic prosperity or upward mobility for women in the lowest socioeconomic class, despite  their intelligent and energetic utilization of the resources available to them . "

This suggests that the author thinks these women have used their resources well. The author definitely disagrees with the claim mentioned in question 5, meaning (C), (D), and (E) cannot be the answer to this question. Now we have to determine the strength of the author's disagreement -- is (A) or (B) the correct answer?

For (B) to be the correct answer to this question, we would need to be able to point to specific case studies that would support the author's cautious dissent.

As we can  only  find the author's view referenced in the final sentence of the passage that's quoted above, we don't have any specific case studies to point to in regards to how well women used the resources available to them.

In addition, the author might "cautiously dissent" with the view of the social scientists mentioned in the first paragraph. However, when specifically discussing the use of resources, the author is not cautious at all -- he/she uses strong language to convey how well the women used the resources available to them.

(B) is out.

Again, the only relevant evidence in the passage is in that last sentence, in which the author firmly states that certain Latin American women use resources well.

Sure, the author doesn't explicitly apply this statement to ALL Latin American women -- but that's not an issue in selecting (A) as the answer. We need to determine how the author would  "most likely"  react to a claim. The only indication we have is that the author would strongly disagree with that claim, and none of the other answers are a "more likely" response. That makes (A) the best answer.

I hope that helps!

Slava065 · Answer

Q6.

I don`t understand how we can infer that women "enjoyed" more a higher status in countryside than in a city. 
"social science theorists have continued to argue that urban migration has unequivocally hurt women’s status" - I can understand from here only that migration to city was not pleasant for women, but I cannot infer what women enjoyed more.

GMATNinja , please, help with this issue.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 6 
 
"Enjoyed" has two definitions. The first is how we usually use it in conversation: "take delight or pleasure in." For instance, "I really enjoyed the documentary about whales."

The second is the definition that is used in this passage: "possess and benefit from." For instance, "The residents of Boulder, Colorado enjoy beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains." This doesn't mean that every single Boulder resident actually takes pleasure in the mountain view -- maybe there are some people who detest the mountains. Instead, it just means that this generally good thing is available for the residents to benefit from.

Similarly, saying that women "enjoyed a higher status in the countryside than they do in the city" just means that women  had and could benefit from  this higher status. We don't need to know whether the women felt about the higher status to infer this.

(A) is the correct answer to question 6.

I hope that helps!

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  GMATNinja  On Q5 -when it comes to utlization of resources - if you read the line in the passage (pink text above) carefully - the women in this sentence ARE NOT LATIN AMERICAN women. In the line above in the passage - "women" is referring to ALL WOMEN.  Furthermore , this sentence above is talking about "WOMEN (IN GENERAL) FROM LOWEST socieconomic class"

If you reveiw the question stem in q5  on the other hand   -- the the women in the question stem are 'LATIN AMERICAN' women from multiple socioeconomic classes (lowest socioeconomic class / 2nd lowest socioeconomic class / 3rd lowest socioeconomic class...)

So its an apples to oranges comparison  on two fronts . 
-- Women in general vs Latin American women 
-- Women from  lowest  sociioeconomic class vs Latin american women from multiple socieconomic classes ..

Hence when it spoke about "utilization of resources" , the passage technically NEVER referred to "LATIN AMERICAN women from different socioeconomic classes ..". The passage refereed to " women from the lowest socio-economic class" only

hence i chose C (this answer choice is closest to --  well the passage never mentioned about this class of women specifically...... )

thoughts ?

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 5 
 
The question asks us how the author " would most likely react " to a given statement. In other words, we're not looking for something that the author has explicitly stated in the passage -- instead, we're thinking about his/her most likely reaction to something that's NOT directly stated in the passage.

So you're right that the author hasn't weighed in on how ALL Latin American women have used the resources available to them. Instead, he/she has talked about a subset of those women -- those from "the lowest socioeconomic class." (Side note: since the entire passage discusses Latin American women, it's fair to assume that the author hasn't suddenly shifted to talk about ALL women in the world, even if he/she doesn't repeat that qualification in every single sentence. It's pretty clear that he/she's discussing Latin American women from the lowest socioeconomic class.)

What does the author think about this subset of Latin American women? He/she has a pretty strong opinion: they have been "intelligent and energetic" in their utilization of resources.

So what would the author  most likely  think about a slightly broader swathe of women? Chances are, he/she would think the same thing! So, if someone said that "Latin American women have not made good use of the resources available to them," the author would most likely express strong disagreement.

(A) is the correct answer to question 5.

I hope that helps!

TrungTiger · Answer

GMATNinja  and  RonPurewal 
Choice A is awful, my feeling. It says that author expresses  STRONG  disagreement" for the claim for  LATIN AMERICAN  women, whereas the author argued for  the lowest socioeconomic class   only . It is really awful because I often see GMAT eliminate  strong  statement.

Moreover, I cannot find a portion in the passage imply that the author seem to apply/ generalize his conclusion (which is for the lowest class) to all LATIN AMERICAN women.

GMATNinja · Answer

Question 5 
 
You're quite right that the author never explicitly generalizes his/her ideas about the lowest-class Latin American women to Latin American women in general.

To answer your very interesting question about this issue, check out  this reply  and let us know whether it helps.

If that doesn't fully clarify things, consider the following: we know the author thinks that  some  Latin American women HAVE made good use of the resources available to them. Based on that, the author  must  disagree with the blanket statement that "Latin American women have not made good use of the resources available to them." Because as long as  some  Latin American women HAVE done so, we can't make a blanket statement saying they HAVEN'T done so.

Notice this doesn't mean the author necessarily thinks  all  Latin American women have made good use of the "resources available to them." It just means the author disagrees with the blanket statement that "Latin American women" haven't made good use of these resources.

For that reason, we can eliminate (E).

I hope that helps!

Elite097 · Answer

KarishmaB   GMATNinja  can you pls help with Q2 explanation and also why not A? and is main point same as conclusion and is it different from primary purpose?

GMATNinja · Answer

Main point, conclusion, and primary purpose are similar concepts that all point to the same question: WHY did the author write this passage?

Choice (A) is probably accurate  --  the passage does tell us that working outside the home is more common in urban than in rural areas and that women working in urban areas actively seek to cultivate long-term employer-employee relations. Is this something the women agree about? I guess we don't REALLY know, but they probably do.

But even if it is true, was the author's primary goal to convince you that (A) is true? Or were these ideas used in support of some other, larger goal?

Choice (C) better explains the broader purpose of the passage: the author wants us to see that this isn't a simple and straiaghtforward topic and that there are lots of different variables and issues to consider.

I hope that helps!

VerbalBot · Answer

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