Reading Comprehension

Please choose and explain your picks for this GMATprep RC question

Traditional social science models of class groups in the United States are based on economic status and assume that women's economic status derives from association with men, typically fathers or husbands, and that women therefore have more compelling common interest with men of their own economic class than with women outside it. Some feminist social scientists, by contrast, have argued that the basic division in American society is instead based on gender, and that the total female population, regardless of economic status, constitutes a distinct class. Social historian Mary Ryan, for example, has argued that in early-nineteenth-century America the identical legal status of working-class and middle-class free women outweighed the differences between women of these two classes: married women, regardless of their family's wealth, did essentially the same unpaid domestic work, and none could own property or vote. Recently, though, other feminist analysts have questioned this model, examining ways in which the condition of working-class women differs from that of middle-class women as well as from that of working-class men. Ann Oakley notes, for example, that the gap between women of different economic classes widened in the late nineteenth century: most working-class women, who performed wage labor outside the home, were excluded from the emerging middle-class ideal of femininity centered around domesticity and volunteerism.

It can be inferred from the passage that the most recent feminist social science research on women and class seeks to do which of the following?

a) Introduce a divergent new theory about the relationship between legal status and gender

b) Illustrate an implicit middle-class bias in earlier feminist models of class and gender

c) Provide evidence for the position that gender matters more than wealth in determining class status

d) Remedy perceived inadequacies of both traditional social science models and earlier feminist analyses of class and gender

e) Challenge the economic definitions of class used by traditional social scientists

It can be inferred from the passage that the most recent feminist social science research on women and class seeks to do which of the following?

a) Introduce a divergent new theory about the relationship between legal status and gender NO THEORY ABOUT LEGAL STATUS DISCUSSED

b) Illustrate an implicit middle-class bias in earlier feminist models of class and gender NO BIAS DISCUSSED

c) Provide evidence for the position that gender matters more than wealth in determining class status NOPE

d) Remedy perceived inadequacies of both traditional social science models and earlier feminist analyses of class and gender CORRECT AS "ways in which the condition of working-class women differs from that of middle-class women (MARY RION THEORY) as well as from that of working-class men (EARLIER THEORY)"

e) Challenge the economic definitions of class used by traditional social scientists NOPE

WHAT IS OA

Wonderful explanation Stacey ! Thanks for your detailed post. It has refined my approach towards inference questions.
I was wondering how you could take such detailed notes the first time you read the passage. I always find that I lose track of time when I take such detailed notes.
My notes were more like this:

Class Groups(CG) - Eco stats
W -> M
Controversial topic
Others: Argue CG based on Gender; not eco stats
MR: All W same
Recent SS: question MR.
AO: Working and middle class W diff

I finished reading the passage in 2 mins(including the notes).
However, the inference question stumped me. Though I got it correct, it took me 2.5mins to answer the question and I was not sure of the answer either as I used POE approach and was left with option D.

The only thing that I am still worried about is how do I think so fast under pressure i.e., comprehension. My reading speed is decent. But I understand RC is also about comprehending the details. Though my notes come to my rescue most of the times, I find it hard to answer inference questions. Any suggestions to improve speed and performance on inference questions??