Questão 3199

(UFRGS - 1998)

For American women in the workplace, 1938 was an important year. That was the year the U.S. Fair Labour Standards Act was passed, creating working-conditions protection and the minimum wage. Though the law applied to both men and women, it was women who stood to benefit the most. The Act, in combination with World War II - during which women were "drafted" to work in factories and offices - ³forever changed American women's work roles.

In the postwar decades, two phenomena ⁴further advanced the role of women in the workplace. The first was the women's movement beginning in the late 1960's; ¹leaders like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem immensely changed the corporate consciousness of America. Discrimination and double standards can still be found, but these pioneers began a revolution that has culminated in a firmly established belief among most American employers that women can do the job - any job - as well as men. Many thought that day would never come.

The second phenomenon is the advent of the personal computer. It has been a great ⁶equalizer in offices, among ²other things, getting executives to type! Moreover, PCs and telecommunications technologies have enabled more women and men to work at home, increasing employment options and bringing the perennial kids-and ⁵career battle to an end.

Certainly, challenges remain, and the struggle goes on. But as the millennium approaches, the pace of women's progress is undeniably accelerating. 

Na frase "Many thought that day would never come" (fim do parágrafo 2), a palavra mais adequada para completar o sentido de many é: