Continue the discussion is asking you to choose a sentence that is in line (in terms of content) with what is being discussed beforehand. You want this sentence to fit smoothly at the end of the paragraph, and read as if it had been in the passage all along. The right answer will be the right “fit,†wrong answers will bring in new information that wasn’t discussed (we don’t want to bring in new topics in the last sentence of a piece of writing, that wouldn’t fit right) or say something that doesn’t fit with the thesis of the preceding discussion.
Let’s take a look at this one. This passage sets us up by addressing that the workforce is all-around built in a way that is disadvantageous to parents, but especially so to women, because of their culturally designated role as the primary child-rearing parent. The focus of the passage is on the disadvantages incurred by women in the workforce because of these circumstances. The passage illustrates some of the consequences women deal with as the primary child rearing parent that men do not face.
A) Correct. The last sentence is really key here. Not only does this answer choice fit well with the overall direction of the passage, but also, the last sentence sets us up for answer choice A. Our passage ends with: Indeed, *as long as the labor market remains hostile to parents*, and *family roles continue to be allocated on the basis of gender*, women will be seriously disadvantaged in that labor market.
This first two parts in asterisks set us up for a comparison, because the sentence then ends with only a discussion of what that situation means for women. It would be appropriate, then, to continue by mentioning what that situation also means for men, creating a juxtaposition that emphasizes contrast and further demonstrates the author’s point of how poorly the situation affects women.
Lines 16 through 20 help establish the thesis of the passage and establish the importance of the comparison between the outlook in the workforce for women vs men parents.
B) Husbands leaving their wives hanging is not the focus of this passage. This passage focuses on the disadvantages that women incur in the workforce because of the responsibilities entailed with child-rearing, it does not discuss men’s awareness of these issues or any action they do or do not take on the matter.
C) This passage doesn’t discuss economics. It mentions pay issues in examples, but is does not focus on or explain the circumstances around the future trajectory of a closing wage gap. This passage is about the disadvantages women incur for being child-rearing parents, and pay issues are some of those disadvantages. We are not given information in the passage that gives us reason to believe salary levels are moving in a more equitable trajectory. That’s outside the scope of this piece of writing.
D) Again, this passage doesn’t focus on men with primary child-rearing responsibilities. It mentions that they exist (lines 16 and 17), but they’re not the focus of this passage so we don’t have enough information in the text about them to support this idea. This is a new (although related) topic, which makes it bad to end the passage with.
E) Again, this is a discussion of the present circumstances and related disadvantages thereof to women in the workforce. It doesn’t talk specificity about the institutions at play, how they might favor one gender, or how institutions will play a role in affecting the future.
