PrepTest 149, Section 2, Question 27
The novelist and social theorist Charlotte Perkins Gilman,(435 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(10 more words not shown)
- ASome social conditions(22 more words not shown)
- BThe types of(21 more words not shown)
- CGender-based hierarchical relationships,(18 more words not shown)
- DWhile Social Darwinist(20 more words not shown)
- EContinuation of the(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Hold the two time periods side by side. Gilman thinks traditional work roles and hierarchical arrangements once helped a complex society develop. She now calls for their abandonment and a balance that includes more cooperation and nurturance.
What we’re looking for
So the same arrangements can play different roles at different stages. Something that helped society develop earlier can stand in the way of the further change she now wants. That inference connects two claims we were actually given; we do not need to add a new prediction about how history must unfold.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Gilman says those arrangements were once necessary for evolution, but now urges changes to them for future progress. If retaining them prevents the needed reorganization, they have become obstacles rather than aids. The answer captures that shift: earlier usefulness does not establish continued usefulness at every later stage.
- B
People can consciously shape social change, and Gilman urges them to do so. That does not establish that coordinated action toward explicit goals is now the only way genuine social evolution can happen. She identifies an opportunity and responsibility, not an exclusive mechanism.
- C
This adds a history and a prediction we never receive. We are not told that gender-based hierarchy came first and caused gender-specific work roles, or that it will be especially difficult to eliminate. Gilman's wish to change traditional arrangements does not establish either of those further claims.
- D
Gilman explicitly treats the theory as a source of ethical responsibility. She thinks it tells people something about how they should act. That is more than using a purely descriptive theory as a rhetorical device to communicate an otherwise separate ethical message.
- E
She wants greater cooperation and nurturance and thinks future progress requires them. That does not mean society will inevitably become more cooperative and nurturing. Saying a change is needed gives people a reason to work for it; it does not guarantee that the change will occur.
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