CR Aficionados please help

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Alright so I desperately need help with this particular passage in the new BB: T4, S2. So basically, the passage talks about the inequality in the social and economic spheres as experienced by middle-class women in the nineteenth century. It then proceeds to mention something about a fifth class of workers that was exclusively comprised of women:</p>

<p>"The fifth class comprises large numbers of the population that have no occupation; but it requires no argument to prove that the wife, the mother, the mistress of an English family -- fills offices and discharges duties of no ordinary importance; or that children are or should be occupied in filial or household duties, and in the task of education, either at home or at school." </p>

<p>I literally have no idea what the author just said other than the fact that the fifth class encompassed a large group of women that held no jobs.</p>

<p>If someone could just break it down for me that would be great, thanks!</p>

2

<p>It says that married women don’t have occupations, but they DO have duties (of no ordinary importance, which is the same as saying of extraordinary importance) and that children should be occupied with their education and with household duties. These children are also considered to be part of the “fifth class”.</p>

3

<p>The key word here is “but”:</p>

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<p>You don’t really have to pay attention to every detail in the first clause following “but”; you already know that it is complimentary of women.</p>

<p>It is essentially saying that although women in this “fifth class” have no occupation, they do have important tasks and duties.</p>