Question 5 (The following passage is excerpted from a commencement speech delivered by then First Lady Barbara Bush at Wellesley College in 1990.)

In the second-to-last paragraph, the anecdote about the complaining husband serves primarily to
A : provide an example of how women should motivate their partners to take on more childcare responsibilities
B : illustrate the author’s claim regarding the value of devoting oneself to one’s children
C : reinforce the author’s recommendation that women develop friendships outside the family
D : encourage her audience to choose partners who will support their ambitions
E : establish a contrast between the friend’s dedication to her family and her husband’s focus on his career

B

Explanation:

The author concludes the passage by asserting that: “one thing will never change: fathers and mothers, if you have children, they must come first. You must read to your children. And you must hug your children. And you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.” In context, therefore, the anecdote about the complaining husband reinforces the importance the author attaches to cherishing “human connections,” particularly those within the immediate family (“what happens inside your house”). In the story, the wife’s remonstrations offer a critique of the general tendency to view childcare as a chore (“babysitting”); instead, the author suggests that caring for “your own kids” should be viewed as an opportunity to make one of “the most important investments you will ever make.”