Passage 38

During the nineteenth-century, occupational information about women that was provided by the

United States census-a population count conducted each decade-became more detailed and precise

in response to social changes. Through 1840, simple enumeration by household mirrored a

home-based agricultural economy and hierarchical social order: the head of the household

(presumed male or absent) was specified by name, whereas other household members were only

indicated by the total number of persons counted in various categories, including occupational

categories. Like farms, most enterprises were family-run, so that the census measured economic

activity as an attribute of the entire household, rather than of individuals.

The 1850 census, partly responding to antislavery and women’s rights movements, initiated the

collection of specific information about each individual in a household. Not until 1870 was

occupational information analyzed by gender: the census superintendent reported 1.8 million

women employed outside the home in “gainful and reputable occupations.” In addition, he

arbitrarily attributed to each family one woman “keeping house.” Overlap between the two groups

was not calculated until 1890, when the rapid entry of women into the paid labor force and social

issues arising from industrialization were causing women’s advocates and women statisticians to

press for more thorough and accurate accounting of women’s occupations and wages.

This question asks you to identify the idea that the author emphasizes

by using the word “simple” in line 5 of the passage. Choice E is the

best answer. The word simple” appears in a sentence that describes the

United States census from the beginning of the nineteenth century

through 1840. This sentence appears immediately after a statement

indicating that during the nineteenth century, the United States census

became more detailed and precise. In this context, the word “simple”

in line 5 emphasizes the idea that occupational information in United

States censuses of the early nineteenth century was limited in its

amount of detail. Choices A, B, C, and D are incorrect for the same

reason: none represents a claim which the passage makes. The passage

does not discuss the difficulty of collecting census data, the

technology for tabulating census information, or the relative ease with

which various nineteenth-century economies could be analyzed. The

passage also does not discuss the degree to which women’s economic

role was well defined in the early nineteenth century as compared with

the late part of the century.

According to the above explanation, the question, "Why choice B is

wrong?" is equal to "Whether or not does the passage discuss the

technology for tabulating census informaion?" To answer these

questions, cerntainly, we should know what "the technology for

tabulating census information" is. In my view, it is "taking advantage

of such scientific or technic methods as computer, mobile, notebook,

pen, etc to arrange the demographic information in tabular form."

Consequently, we can arrive at the conclusion that there is no context

in the whole passage to discuss so detailed things, which is totally

out of the scope of the topics that the author concerns to show to us.