In the first paragraph (P1), the author introduces Kerber's argument

Kerber thinks that the ideology of “republican motherhood” increased educational opportunities for women AFTER the American Revolution.
She states that the goal of this education was to enable women to raise politically virtuous sons.


In the second paragraph, the author presents evidence that challenges Kerber's work, then describes an issue caused by Kerber's influence

Woody found that educational opportunities for girls increased BEFORE the American Revolution, undermining Kerber's timeline
The author argues that Kerber's work may have obscured historian's ability to determine the truth of the revolution's influence on women's education.

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The key is in this portion: "Prior to Kerber’s work, educational historians barely mentioned women and girls; Thomas Woody’s 1929 work is the notable exception."
Most other educational historians of the time barely mentioned women and girls. Since Woody's work was an exception, it must have given attention to the education of women and girls. This fits with choice (E).

As for choice (B), Woody's work was not an exception because of the time period on which it was focused. In other words, there may have been numerous works focused on that time period. What made Woody's exceptional was that it mentioned women and girls.

As for choice (C), this would imply that most other educational historians focused on educational practices while Woody's work focused on education attitudes. This is not a difference described in the passage. Rather, as shown in the portion above, the difference was that Woody's work examined the education of girls and women.

According to the passage, within the field of educational history, Thomas Woody’s 1929 work was
A. innovative because it relied on newspaper advertisements as evidence … when you call something innovative, you’re targeting the approach behind it … the approach behind woody’s work did not set it apart as per the passage … the subjects of his study (women and girls) did
B. exceptional in that it concentrated on the period before the American Revolution … it indeed was an exception with regards to the field at the time, however, it was the subjects of his study that set it apart rather than the period studied
C. unusual in that it focused on educational attitudes rather than on educational practices … nothing in the passage confirms that the usual norm was to focus on the educational practices
D. controversial in its claims regarding educational opportunities for boys … Woody’s work having sparked off a controversy is probably the least inferable option
E. atypical in that it examined the education of girls … the answer choice mentions the subjects of his work / study … perfectly inferred from passage … CORRECT
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According to the passage, Kerber argued that political leaders thought that the form of government adopted by the United States after the American Revolution depended on which of the following for its success?
A. Women assuming the sole (meaning them and them alone … extreme - AVOID) responsibility for instilling political virtue in children … passage confirm that mothers (not women in general) were an additional source of instilling virtue
B. Girls becoming the primary focus of a reformed educational system that emphasized political virtue … the educational system was never reformed as per the passage … the attention to female education saw an unprecedented rise as per the passage … however, girls becoming the primary focus and surpassing the boys regarding the focus give to them is not confirmed from the passage
C. The family serving as one of the primary means by which children were imbued with political virtue … ‘one of the’ confirms the family to serve as an additional source to the ones already existing … pretty decent match of what passage say … CORRECT
D. The family assuming many of the functions previously performed by schools and churches … ‘many of the functions’ is something not confirmed from the passage … the passage mentions the family to start acting as an additional source NOT taking over the roles of schools and churches
E. Men and women assuming equal responsibility for the management of schools, churches, and the family … neither the men nor the women are seen assuming any such responsibility anywhere in the passage
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The passage suggests that, with regard to the history of women’s education in the United States, Kerber’s work differs from Woody’s primarily concerning which of the following?
A. The extent to which women were interested in pursuing educational opportunities in the eighteenth century … the only interest the passage concerns itself with is in getting the women educated at the government’s end … the interest of the women themselves is not a part of the passage
B. The extent of the support for educational opportunities for girls prior to the American Revolution … passage confirm that while Woody believed such support had begun as early as the 1750s, Linda was of the opinion that the support only came into being post the revolution implying Linda to be of the opinion that such support had little existence prior to the revolution … perfectly inferable … CORRECT
C. The extent of public resistance to educational opportunities for women after the American Revolution … public or any resistance for that matter is never an issue raised in the passage
D. Whether attitudes toward women’s educational opportunities changed during the eighteenth century … Had the two differed from each other regarding this exact point, Linda would have said NOT changed in response to Woody having said changed or vice versa … however note that the passage shows both of them to agree on the point that attitudes did change during the eighteenth century (the 1700s) … the only difference being Linda saying only after the American revolution (i.e. after 1783) and Woody saying from 1750 something
E. Whether women needed to be educated in order to contribute to the success of a republican form of government … the timeline of when the answer to the this option was realized as a YES answer is what the two differed on … not whether the answer to the option is YES or NO
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According to the passage, Kerber maintained that which of the following led to an increase in educational opportunities for women in the United States after the American Revolution?
A. An unprecedented demand by women For greater educational opportunities in the decades following the Revolution … the only thing unprecedented in the passage is the attention to female education which according to the passage is a part of the effect not cause … women are never seen to put forward any demand in the passage
B. A new political ideology calling for equality of opportunity between women and men in all aspects (specific to general) of life … the ideology isn’t inclined towards inequality as much as it is towards ensuring a virtuous republican representation at the government level for which female education was seen as a must
C. A belief that the American educational system could be reformed only if women participated more fully in that system … the educational system is neither mentioned nor is the point of discussion here in the passage … the success of the republican form of government is … for ‘more’ to be justified in this option there has to be a mention of some measure of participation in the passage … there is none
D. A belief that women needed to be educated if they were to contribute to the success of the nation’s new form of government … Initial part of passage perfectly summarized by this option … there is no such word in the option that may not be verified from the content of the passage … CORRECT
E. A recognition that women needed to be educated if they were to take an active role in the nation’s schools and churches … their education was seen necessary for raising politically virtuous sons … no such role (active or passive) is confirmed from the passage

5) The passage suggests that Woody would have agreed with which of the following claims regarding “An Essay on Woman”?

First paragraph presents the main idea of the passage second paragraph presents twist to that idea, answer of 5th question can be found in second paragraph.

Read the following lines from the passage

"Woody found that educational opportunities increased for both girls and boys around 1750. Pointing to “An Essay on Woman” (1753) as reflecting a shift in view, Woody also claimed that practical education for females had many advocates before the Revolution. Woody’s evidence challenges the notion that the Revolution changed attitudes regarding female education."

Now see answer choices

(A) It expressed attitudes concerning women's education that were reflected in new educational opportunities for women after 1750.
(B) It persuaded educators to offer greater educational opportunities to women in the 1750s.
(C) It articulated ideas about women's education that would not be realized until after the American Revolution.
(D) It offered one of the most original arguments? No augment discussed in the passage in favor of women's education in the United States in the eighteenth century.
(E) It presented views about women's education that were still controversial in Woody's own time.

Answer: A

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