Simone De Beauvoir's Work Greatly Influenced Betty Friedan's

Reading Passage Questions

Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan's—indeed, made it possible. Why, then, was it Friedan who became the prophet of women's emancipation in the United States? Political conditions, as well as a certain anti-intellectual bias, prepared Americans and the American media to better receive Friedan's deradicalized and highly pragmatic The Feminine Mystique. published in 1963, than Beauvoir's theoretical reading of women's situation in The Second Sex. In 1953 when The Second Sex first appeared in translation in the United States, the country had entered the silent, fearful fortress of the anti-communist McCarthy years (1950-1954), and Beauvoir was suspected of Marxist sympathies. Even The Nation, a generally liberal magazine, warned its readers against "certain political leanings" of the author. Open acknowledgement of the existence of women's oppression was too radical for the United States in the fifties, and Beauvoir's conclusion, that change in women's economic condition, though insufficient by itself, "remains the basic factor" in improving women's situation, was particularly unacceptable.

“Simone de Beauvoir's work greatly influenced Betty Friedan's” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. According to the passage, one difference between The Feminine Mystique and The Second Sex is that Friedan's book

(A) rejects the idea that women are oppressed
(B) provides a primarily theoretical analysis of women's lives
(C) does not reflect the political beliefs of its author
(D) suggests that women's economic condition has no impact on their status
(E) concentrates on the practical aspects of the question of women's emancipation

2. The author quotes from The Nation most probably in order to

(A) modify an earlier assertion
(B) point out a possible exception to her argument
(C) illustrate her central point
(D) clarify the meaning of a term
(E) cite an expert opinion

3. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is not a factor in the explanation of why The Feminine Mystique was received more positively in the United States than was The Second Sex?

(A) By 1963 political conditions in the United States had changed.
(B) Friedan's book was less intellectual and abstract than Beauvoir's.
(C) Readers did not recognize the powerful influence of Beauvoir's book on Friedan's ideas.
(D) Friedan's approach to the issue of women's emancipation was less radical than Beau-voir's.
(E) American readers were more willing to consider the problem of the oppression of women in the sixties than they had been in the fifties.

4. According to the passage, Beauvoir's book asserted that the status of women

(A) is the outcome of political oppression
(B) is inherently tied to their economic condition
(C) can be best improved under a communist government
(D) is a theoretical, rather than a pragmatic, issue
(E) is a critical area of discussion in Marxist economic theory

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