1.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, almost nothing was written about the
contribution of women during the colonial period and the early history of the newly formed
United States. Lacking the right to vote and absent from the seats of power, women were not
considered an important force in history. Anne Bradstreet wrote some significant poetry in the
seventeenth century, Mercy Otis Warren produced the best contemporary history of the
American Revolution, and Abigail Adams penned important letters showing she exercised great
political influence over her husband, John, the second President of the United States. But little or
no notice was taken of these contributions. During these centuries, women remained invisible in
history books.
2. Throughout the nineteenth century, this lack of visibility continued, despite the efforts of
female authors writing about women. These writers, like most of their male counterparts, were
amateur historians. Their writings were celebratory in nature, and they were uncritical in their
selection and use of sources.
3. During the nineteenth century, however, certain feminists showed a keen sense of history by
keeping records of activities in which women were engaged. National, regional, and local
women’s organizations compiled accounts of their doings. Personal correspondence, newspaper
clippings, and souvenirs were saved and stored. These sources form the core of the two greatest
collections of women’s history in the United States – one at the Elizabeth and Arthur Schlesinger
Library at Radcliffe College, and the other the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. Such
sources have provided valuable materials for later generations of historians.
4. Despite the gathering of more information about ordinary women during the nineteenth
century, most of the writing about women conformed to the “great women” theory of history,
just as much of mainstream American history concentrated on “great men”. To demonstrate that
women were making significant contributions to American life, female authors singled out
women leaders and wrote biographies, or else important women produced their autobiographies.
Most of these leaders were involved in public life as reformers, activists working for women’s
right to vote, or authors, and were not representative at all of the great mass of ordinary women.
The lives of ordinary people continued, generally, to be untold in the American histories being
published.

Questions 1 – 5
Choose from the letter A, B, C or D that corresponds to the correct answer.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The “great woman” approach to history used by American historians.
B. The interest of American women in towards history
C. The place of American women in written histories
D. The role of literature in American history.
2. Why does the author mention Bradstreet, Warren, and Adams in paragraph 1?
A. to show how many American women are keen on writing 
B. to illustrate that even great contribution of women was being ignored 
C. to explain why only three women had their writing published
D. to show the woman’s status changed after her marriage
3. What can be inferred from the passage about the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
 A. There was no writing about women from both male and female authors.
B. Women had their right to vote and could participate in an election.
C. Women had a great influence on politics, history, and literature.
D. Women's contribution in the society was not highly acknowledged.

4. According to paragraph 2, what problem in the nineteenth-century histories that the

writer points out?
A. Daily activities received a lot of attention.
B. Money-related discussion in politics was ignored.
C. The information sources used were not accurate.
D. Low-quality paper was used for printing historical stories.

5. According to the passage, how were the nineteenth-century women's history materials used
in the Schlesinger Library and the Sophia Smith Collection?
A. They provided valuable information for research in the next century.
B. They were combined to make an encyclopedia about women.
C. They were shared among colleges in the USA.
D. They formed some foundation courses in college.

Questions 6 – 10
Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement does not agree with the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the reading passage

6. Many “great women" in the nineteenth-century histories were politicians. NG

7. Some feminists took records of activities done by their fellows (like everyone). NG

8. Later in the history of America, the role of ordinary women in society was documented and
highly appreciated. F
9.  People accepted poetry written by women more than other types of writing. NG

10. Abigail Adams proved herself to be a more outstanding politician than the second President
of the United States. NG