Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A “ typical ” American woman may be single. S he may also be divorced or married. S he may be a homemaker, a doctor, or a factory worker. I t is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitude about themselves and their role in American life. H istorically, American women have always been very independent. The first colonists to come to New England were of ten young couples who had left behind their extended family (i.e. their parents, sisters, cousins, etc.). T he women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. T his had two important effects. F irst of all, this as yet uncivilized environment demanded that every p erson share in developing it and in survival. W omen worked along side their husbands and children to establish themselves in this new land. S econd, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into nontraditional roles. T his role of women was reinforced in later years as Americans moved west, again leaving family behind and encountering a hostile environment. E ven later, in the East, as now immigrants arrived, the women often found jobs more easily than men. W omen became the supporters of the family. W ithin the established lifestyle of industrialized twentieth century America, the strong role of women was not as dramatic as in the early days of the country. S ome women were active outside the home; others were not. H owever, when American men went to war in the 1940s, women stepped into the men ’ s jobs as factory and business workers. A fter the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of their own capabilities.