Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 80 | 100 RCs for GMAT PDF Download

entry of women into the industrial labor market

recognition that work done by women as homemakers should be compensated at rates comparable to those prevailing in the service sector of the economy

development of a new definition of femininity unrelated to the economic forces of industrialism

introduction of equal pay for equal work in all professions

emancipation of women wage earners from gender-determined job allocation

greatly diminished by labor mobilization during the Second World War

perpetuated by those textile-mill owners who argued in favor of women’s employment in wage labor

one means by which women achieved greater job security

reluctantly challenged by employers except when the economic advantages were obvious

a constant source of labor unrest in the young textile industry

The central idea is reinforced by the citation of evidence drawn from twentieth-century history.

The central idea is restated in such a way as to form a transition to a new topic for discussion.

The central idea is restated and juxtaposed with evidence that might appear to contradict it.

A partial exception to the generalizations of the central idea is dismissed as unimportant.

Recent history is cited to suggest that the central idea’s validity is gradually diminishing.

the extreme variety of these occupations made it very difficult to assemble meaningful statistics about them

fewer women found employment in the service sector than in factory work

the wages paid to workers in the service sector were much lower than those paid in the industrial sector

women’s employment in the service sector tended to be much more short-term than in factory work

employment in the service sector seemed to have much in common with the unpaid work associated with homemaking

“patient” (line 21)

“repetitive” (line 21)

“hoary” (line 22)

“homemaking” (line 23)

“purview” (line 24)

involved the payment of higher wages

required skill in detailed tasks

was assumed to be less characterized by sex segregation

was more readily accepted by women than by men

fitted the economic dynamic of industrialism better

After a crisis many formerly “male” jobs are reclassified as “female” jobs.

Industrial employers generally prefer to hire women with previous experience as homemakers.

Post-Second World War hiring policies caused women to lose many of their wartime gains in employment opportunity.

Even war industries during the Second World War were reluctant to hire women for factory work.

The service sector of the economy has proved more nearly gender-blind in its hiring policies than has the manufacturing sector.

They hoped that by creating relatively unattractive “female” jobs they would discourage women from losing interest in marriage and family life.

They sought to increase the size of the available labor force as a means to keep men’s wages low.

They argued that women were inherently suited to do well in particular kinds of factory work.

They thought that factory work bettered the condition of women by emancipating them from dependence on income earned by men.

They felt guilty about disturbing the traditional division of labor in family.