GWD18-Q4-Q5

echo19872010

The idea that equipping homes
with electrical appliances and other




“modern” household technologies



Line
would eliminate drudgery, save labor




(5)
time, and increase leisure for women



who were full-time home workers



remained largely unchallenged until



the women’s movement of the 1970’s



spawned the groundbreaking and




(10)
influential works of sociologist Joann



Vanek and historian Ruth Cowan.



Vanek analyzed 40 years of time-



use surveys conducted by home



economists to argue that electrical




(15)
appliances and other modern house-



hold technologies reduced the effort



required to perform specific tasks,



but ownership of these appliances did



not correlate with less time spent on




(20)
housework by full-time home workers.




In fact, time spent by these workers




remained remarkably constant―at



about 52 to 54 hours per week―from



the 1920’s to the 1960’s, a period




(25)
of significant change in household



technology.
In surveying two



centuries of household technology



in the United States, Cowan argued



that the “industrialization” of the home




(30)
often resulted in more work for full-time



home workers because the use of



such devices as coal stoves, water




pumps, and vacuum cleaners tended



to reduce the workload of married-




(35)
women’s helpers (husbands, sons,



daughters, and servants) while



promoting a more rigorous standard



of housework.
The full-time home



worker’s duties also shifted to include




(40)
more household management, child



care, and the post-Second World War

phenomenon of being “Mom’s taxi.”

  

4. The passage is primarily concerned with

A  analyzing a debate between two scholars
B  challenging the evidence on which a new theory is based
C  describing how certain scholars’ work countered a prevailing view
D  presenting the research used to support a traditional theory

E  evaluating the methodology used to study a particular issue

The correct answer is A, but I chose C. As I thought the prevailing view is that technology do eliminate drudgery, but some scholars just illustrate some data to conter that view.

5. Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence in lines 21-26 (“In fact, time … in household technology”)?

A   It offers an alternative interpretation of a phenomenon described in the previous sentence (lines 12-20).
B   It provides the specific evidence on which an argument described in the previous sentence (lines 12-20) is based.
C  It shifts the focus of the argument developed earlier in the passage.
D  It introduces evidence that has not been taken into account by Vanek and Cowan.

E   It introduces a topic for discussion that will be developed in the rest of the passage.

The correct answer is C, but I chose B. In my opinion, L21-26 just support previous part (colored yellow), but not shift focus.

Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence in lines 21-26 (“In fact, time … in household technology”)?

A   It offers an alternative interpretation of a phenomenon described in the previous sentence (lines 12-20).
B   It provides the specific evidence on which an argument described in the previous sentence (lines 12-20) is based.
C  It shifts the focus of the argument developed earlier in the passage.
D  It introduces evidence that has not been taken into account by Vanek and Cowan.

E  It introduces a topic for discussion that will be developed in the rest of the passage.

The correct answer is C, but I chose B. In my opinion, L21-26 just support previous part (colored yellow), but not shift focus.

Please help explain it, thanks.

shlshing

同意，CBD，真烦，搞的我对自己阅读越来越没信心了……唉唉

gabriel_djh

同意 CBD

toneere

三个都同意： C B D

xiaotangyu

我Q4也选C, 文章中说的很清楚原来的观点是remained largely unchallenged until XXX

我Q5也选B，理由和你一样

另外我Q6选D，原答案B的raise the standard of housework that women who were full-time home workers set for themselves 被提到了，while promoting a more rigorous standard of housework