Answer: B. A comparison between well-educated and less-educated working women

Detailed reasoning: The text repeatedly contrasts employment and education levels: college graduates vs high school vs elementary, then compares today’s working women (more educated) with those who do not work, and finally links education to white-collar/professional work. This overall focus fits a comparison across education levels.

Option-by-option analysis:

A. Shift from household work → The passage does not discuss household work explicitly.

B. Comparison of education levels → Correct; the passage emphasizes differences in education and employment.

C. Number of employed middle-class women → No specific total number is given.

D. Job choice → Mentioned (clerical/teaching), but that is only part of the text, not the whole focus.

E. Working women in the 1980s → Mentioned briefly as a contrast, but not the main topic.

LaTeX note (required symbols): The role of education in the passage is \( \gt \) the single historical reference to the 1980s.

Answer: A. More than half of college graduated women are professionals

Detailed reasoning: Paragraph two states that most well-educated middle-class working women hold “white collar or professional jobs,” then continues with job patterns (clerical work and teaching are preferred). Among the options, only A points to the “professional/white collar” core idea. Even though the text does not say “more than half ... are professionals” in exactly the same wording, A is the closest match to the paragraph’s central message: educated working women commonly hold professional/white-collar positions.

Option-by-option analysis:

A. Professional/white-collar focus → Best fit with “white collar or professional jobs.”

B. Many kinds of work are offered → Mentioned, but it serves as background before emphasizing preferred jobs.

C. Less educated like clerks → The paragraph talks about high school graduates taking clerical jobs, not “less educated” generally.

D. Suitable for women → Not stated; the text describes preferences, not suitability.

E. Teacher better than clerk → Not stated; no comparison of “better.”

LaTeX note (required symbols): White-collar/professional work is \( \gt \) the broader category “many kinds of work” as the paragraph’s main focus.

Answer: A. Most high-school graduates take clerical jobs.

Detailed reasoning: The passage says: “About three fifths of the girls who are graduated from high schools take clerical jobs.” Three fifths is \( 3/5 \), which equals \( 60\% \). That is a majority (“most”), so option A is true.

Option-by-option analysis:

A. Most take clerical jobs → True because “about three fifths” \( = 60\% \).

B. More college than high-school graduates → The text compares employment rates, not total numbers of graduates.

C. Elementary comparable to college → The text shows different employment rates; not comparable.

D. Mostly elementary graduates → Not stated; the text highlights higher education among working women.

E. Less than 20% didn’t finish elementary → The text discusses “less than grade five” and “less than 10 percent have not been to high school,” not elementary completion.

LaTeX note (required symbols): \( 60\% \) is \( \gt \) \( 50\% \), so “three fifths” supports the word “most.”

Answer: C. professional jobs

Detailed reasoning: The text directly pairs the phrase: “white collar or professional jobs.” This indicates that “white collar” in this passage is synonymous with “professional.”

Option-by-option analysis:

A. teachers → Teaching is an example of preferred work, but the passage defines white collar more generally as professional.

B. clerical work → Clerical is mentioned as preferred, but “white collar” is explicitly connected with “professional jobs.”

C. professional jobs → Correct; directly stated in the passage.

D. middle-class work → Middle class describes the workers, not the meaning of “white collar.”

E. upper-class work → Not stated; “white collar” is not defined as “upper-class work” here.

LaTeX note (required symbols): The text’s definition link (“white collar or professional”) is \( \gt \) inference from examples like clerical work.

Answer: A. a white collar or professional job

Detailed reasoning: In the passage, it says: “Most well-educated middle class working women hold white collar or professional jobs.” Then it adds: “clerical work and teaching are mostly preferred.” Teaching is presented as one of the preferred job types for well-educated women in the context of white-collar/professional work. Therefore, teaching is best classified as a white-collar/professional job.

Option-by-option analysis:

A. a white collar or professional job → Correct, because teaching is grouped with preferred jobs of well-educated women who hold white-collar/professional work.

B. an educated employment → The phrase is unnatural and not used by the passage as a category; the passage classifies jobs as white-collar/professional, clerical, teaching.

C. middle-class work → “Middle class” describes the women, not the job category itself.

D. proportional work → Not mentioned or implied anywhere in the passage.

E. clerical work → Clerical and teaching are mentioned as two different preferred jobs; teaching is not the same as clerical work.

LaTeX note (required symbols): The match between “teaching” and “white collar/professional” is \( \gt \) the match between “teaching” and “clerical work.”