Acting on the recommendation of a British government committee investigating the high incidence in white lead factories of illness among employees, most of whom were women, the Home Secretary proposed in 1895 that Parliament enact legislation that would prohibit women from holding most jobs in white lead factories. Although the Women's Industrial Defence Committee (WIDC), formed in 1892 in response to earlier legislative attempts to restrict women's labor, did not discount the white lead trade's potential health dangers, it opposed the proposal, viewing it as yet another instance of limiting women's work opportunities.

Also opposing the proposal was the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW), which attempted to challenge it by investigating the causes of illness in white lead factories. SPEW contended, and WIDC concurred, that controllable conditions in such factories were responsible for the development of lead poisoning. SPEW provided convincing evidence that lead poisoning could be avoided if workers were careful and clean and if already extant workplace safety regulations were stringently enforced. However, the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL), which had ceased in the late 1880s to oppose restrictions on women's labor, supported the eventually enacted proposal, in part because safety regulations were generally not being enforced in white lead factories, where there were no unions (and little prospect of any) to pressure employers to comply with safety regulations.



The passage is primarily concerned with


presenting various groups' views of the motives of those proposing certain legislation

contrasting the reasoning of various groups concerning their positions on certain proposed legislation

tracing the process whereby certain proposed legislation was eventually enacted

assessing the success of tactics adopted by various groups with respect to certain proposed legislation

evaluating the arguments of various groups concerning certain proposed legislation

考题讲解

题目分析:

文章主旨题

文章针对一个现象提出一个提议,接着介绍各个机构的看法。


选项分析:

A选项:针对那些提议,不同机构提出自己的动机:文章没有列举所有机构的动机。

B选项:正确。针对某一提议,各个机构提出自己的立场。

C选项:追溯某一提议最终被制定颁布的过程:文章没有在描述这一过程,而是在对比不同的立场。

D选项:
针对某一提议,评估不同机构是否成功实施策略:只有SPEW采取策略——调查铅中毒的真正原因,其他机构没有。

E选项:
针对某一提议,评价不同机构的观点:文章没有评价他们的观点,只是陈述观点内容。

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