The Recent Change to All-Volunteer Armed Forces in the United States will Eventually Produce a Gradual Increase in the Proportion of Women

Reading Passage Question

The recent change to all-volunteer armed forces in the United States will eventually produce a gradual increase in the proportion of women in the armed forces and in the variety of women's assignments, but probably not the dramatic gains for women that might have been expected. This is so even though the armed forces operate in an ethos of institutional change oriented toward occupational equality and under the federal sanction of equal pay for equal work. The difficulty is that women are unlikely to be trained for any direct combat operations. A significant portion of the larger society remains uncomfortable as yet with extending equality in this direction. Therefore, for women in the military, the search for equality will still be based on functional equivalence, not identity or even similarity of task. Opportunities seem certain to arise. The growing emphasis on deterrence is bound to offer increasing scope for women to become involved in novel types of non combat military assignments.

“The recent change to all-volunteer armed forces in the United States will eventually produce a gradual increase in the proportion of women”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 6 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. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) present an overview of the different types of assignments available to women in the new United States all-volunteer armed forces
(B) present a reasoned prognosis of the status of women in the new United States all-volunteer armed forces
(C) present the new United States all-volunteer armed forces as a model case of equal employment policies in action
(D) analyze reforms in the new United States all-volunteer armed forces necessitated by the increasing number of women in the military
(E) analyze the use of functional equivalence as a substitute for occupational equality in the new United States all-volunteer armed forces

2. According to the passage, despite the United States armed forces' commitment to occupational equality for women in the military, certain other factors preclude women's

(A) receiving equal pay for equal work
(B) having access to positions of responsibility at most levels
(C) drawing assignments from a wider range of assignments than before
(D) benefiting from opportunities arising from new noncombat functions
(E) being assigned all of the military tasks that are assigned to men

3. The passage implies that which of the following is a factor conducive to a more equitable representation of women in the United States armed forces than has existed in the past?

(A) The all-volunteer character of the present armed forces
(B) The past service records of women who had assignments functionally equivalent to men's assignments
(C) The level of awareness on the part of the larger society of military issues
(D) A decline in the proportion of deterrence-oriented noncombat assignments
(E) Restrictive past policies governing the military assignments open to women

4. The "dramatic gains for women" and the attitude of a "significant portion of the larger society" are logically related to each other inasmuch as the author puts forward the latter as

(A) a public response to achievement of the former
(B) the major reason for absence of the former
(C) a precondition for any prospect of achieving the former
(D) a catalyst for a further extension of the former
(E) a reason for some of the former being lost again

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