The idea that equipping homes with electrical appliances and

[JbhB682]

Source : GMAT prep

The idea that equipping homes with electrical appliances and other “modern” household technologies would eliminate drudgery, save labor 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 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 appliances and other modern household technologies reduced the effort required to perform specific tasks, but ownership of these appliances did not correlate with less time spent on 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 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 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-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 more household management, child care, and the post-Second World War phenomenon of being “Mom’s taxi.”

4. According to the passage, Cowan asserts which of the following about married women's helpers over the past two centuries ?

A) they were encouraged to participate more actively in the work of the household by the advent of modern conveniences.
B) the industrialization of the home affected the time spent on housework in the same way.
C) they spent more time on household tasks because of the more rigorous standards of housework promoted by the industrialization of the home.
D) they had less leisure time after the industrialization of the home than has been assumed by most historians.
E) they spent less time on housework with the advent of such devices as the coal stove and the water pump.

OA : E

[JbhB682]

Hello experts --

Why is B wrong ?

I thought B has to be true in-fact because if B if false , the entire argument put forth in the essay by Cowan and Vanek falls apart. B i thought is a necessary assumption to be true

Argument put forth by Cowan and Vanek :

With technological advancement, Helpers see their work load reduced but not for household married women , in fact time spent on chores by household married actually increase ironically.

For above argument to be true -- doesn't B have to be true ?

Is B false because perhaps -- this is an According to the passage question and not an Assumption question ? Even though B is accurate -- it does not answer the question (According to the passage questions are detail oriented questions and thus, the answer to the question should come directly from the passage and not be implied assumption )

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I'm having trouble understanding what exactly B means. It states that 'the industrialization of the home affected the time spent on housework in the same way'. But the same way as what? I could be missing something here, but I'd be very suspicious of an answer that doesn't seem to make sense.

Is B false because perhaps -- this is an According to the passage question and not an Assumption question ?

You got it! This is not an assumption question; it's not asking for something that the passage relies on, but for something that the passage actually states. You may be thinking about this in an overly complicated way: answer choice B isn't false, it's simply not stated in the passage.

It's great that you're making connections between CR and RC, but watch out here. RC passages are not always arguments (with a conclusion, premises, etc.). The passage above seems to be more of a description, a short history, or a report on Vanek and Cowan's work.