Passage 38
During the nineteenth-century, occupational information about women that was provided by the
United States census1-a population count conducted each decade-became more detailed2 and precise
in response to social changes. Through 1840, simple enumeration3 by household mirrored a
home-based agricultural economy and hierarchical social order: the head of the household
was specified4 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 inpiduals.
The 1850 census, partly responding to antislavery and womens rights movements, initiated5 the
collection of specific information about each inpidual in a household. Not until 1870 was
occupational information analyzed7 by gender8: the census superintendent9 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. Overlap10 between the two groups
was not calculated until 1890, when the rapid entry of women into the paid labor11 force and social
issues arising from industrialization were causing womens advocates and women statisticians to
press for more thorough and accurate accounting12 of womens occupations and wages.
236. The primary purpose of the passage is to
explain and critique the methods used by early statisticians
compare and contrast a historical situation with a current-day one
describe and explain a historical change
discuss historical opposition13 to an established institution
trace the origin of a contemproary cotroversy
237. Each of the following aspects of nineteenth-century United States censuses14 is mentioned in
the passage EXCEPT the
year in which data on occupations began to be analyzed by gender
year in which hspecific information began to be collected on inpiduals in addition to the head of the household
year in which overlap between women employed outside the home and women keeping hosue was first calculated
way in which the 1890 census measured womens income levels and educational backgrounds
way in which household members were counted in the 1840 census
238. It can be inferred from the passage that the 1840 United States census provided a count of
which of the following?
Women who worked exclusively in the home
People engaged in nonfarming occupations
People engaged in social movements
Women engaged in family-run enterprises
Men engaged in agriculture
239. The author uses the adjective simple in line 5 most probably to emphasize that the
collection of census inofrmation became progressively more difficult throughout the nineteenth-century
technology for tabulating15 census information was rudimentary during the first half of the nineteenth century
home-based agricultural economy of the early nineteenth century was easier to analyze6 than the later industrial economy
economic role ofwomen was better defined in the early nineteenth century than in the late nienteent century
information collected by early-nineteen-century censuses was limited in its amount of detail
240. The passage suggests which of the following about the womens advocates and women
statisticians mentioned in lines 27-28?
They wanted to call attention to the lack of pay for women who worked in the home.
They believed that previous census information was inadequate16 and idd not reflect certain economic changes in the United States.
They had begun to press for changes in census-taking methods as part of their participation17 in the antislavery movement.
They thought that census statistics about women would be more accurate if more women were employed as census officials.
They had conducted independent studies that disputed the official statistics provided by previosu United States censuses.