According to the passage, many working parents may be forced to make any of the following types of career decisions E...

ShannonOh22 August 28, 2019

Another question on answer choice A...this time vs. E

I read through the previous questions and answers, but I am still not convinced that A is more defensible as an EXCEPT answer according to the actual text of the paragraph. E states: "limiting the career potential of one parent, often the mother, who assumes greater child-care responsibility" - there is no DIRECT mention of "limiting the career potential of one parent" in the text. There is definitely an implication of this notion, but it does not say it directly. Answer choice A) "declining professional positions for nonprofessional ones, which typically have less conventional work schedules" - again, there is absolutely an implication of this in the passage itself, and I would argue it is a stronger implication than the specific terminology of "limiting the career potential of one parent"...is there anything else you can provide as to why A should be popping out as the correct answer? Seems like a lot of gray area here...

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shunhe January 7, 2020

Hi @ShannonOh22,

Thanks for asking! Remember that this is an except question, so we're looking for something that we cannot conclude from the passage. The passage tells us that many working parents might have to limit the career potential of the mother, as she has to assume greater child-care responsibility. This is the main point of the second and third paragraphs. Thus, (E) is supported by the passage, and is incorrect. (A), however, isn't something that working parents might have to be forced to do because if we read the last paragraph carefully, we're not told that people are declining professional jobs for nonprofessional ones. We talk about both kinds of roles, but it's not stated that people leave one for the other. Hope this helps!

First August 19, 2020

I could see how none of B, C, D, and E would work, but I also feel like A cannot work because it says: "Moreover, even mothers with full–time
employment must compromise opportunities in
order to adjust to barriers against parents in the
labor market. Many choose jobs entailing little
challenge or responsibility or those offering flexible
(45) scheduling, often available only in poorly paid
positions"

It seems to me that the language "compromise opportunities" and "choose jobs entailing little challenge" which are "poorly paid" can all lead to a safe deduction that people are having to make the kinds of compromises choice A mentions.

Should I not count on inferences like this, and only choose an answer if it is explicitly mentioned (like B, C, D, and E?)

Ryn November 25, 2021

I would like to know this as well.

Jay-Etter January 26, 2022

Hi @Ryn,
To clarify the question above, the issue with A isn't the part about compromises where it says "which typically have less conventional work schedules", the issue with A is the "declining professional positions for nonprofessional ones". The passage simply never tells us this. Therefore, since this question is the passage indicates all of the following EXCEPT, the answer is A.