Self-study
The terms “sex” and “gender” are often used interchangeably. ███ █████████ ████ ████████ ██████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ████ ███ ███████ █████ ████████████ ██████ ██ ███████████ ████████████ ██ █ ██████ ████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ██████ ███ ███ ██ ███████████████ ████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ███ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ██████████████ ███████ ███ ██████ ████████████ ██████ ██ █ ███████ ████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ███ ████ ████ ███████████████ ███ ██████████████ ███████
Sex ≠ Gender
The argument opens with context: people often use "sex" and "gender" interchangeably. The "but" in the second sentence is the pivot to the author's view, which is that the two terms aren't actually interchangeable. They refer to different things. Sex is biological. Gender is socially constructed.
Sentences three and four support that distinction. They show that sex characteristics sort people into two non-overlapping groups, while gender traits don't (someone can have both masculine and feminine traits). The fact that the two concepts behave so differently is offered as evidence that they're really separate things, which is why the author says they shouldn't be treated as interchangeable.
The Main Conclusion
The main conclusion is the claim the author is using to correct common usage: "sex" and "gender" are not properly interchangeable. The right answer should restate that.
10.
Which one of the following ██████████ ████ █████████ █ ████ █████ ██ ███ █████████
a
Distinctions based on ██████ ███ ██████████ ██████████
Not the conclusion. The argument doesn't claim gender distinctions are arbitrary. It claims gender traits don't sort people into two non-overlapping groups, which is a different point. (A) is a stronger, separate claim about the legitimacy of gender categories that the author never makes.
b
Gender traits are ███ ██████████ ██ ██████
Not the conclusion. The argument says gender is socially constructed but doesn't address when gender traits are determined. (B) might be a reasonable inference from the social-construction premise, but it isn't the main point. The author isn't arguing about timing; she's arguing that "sex" and "gender" refer to different things.
c
Masculine gender traits ███ ██████ ██████████ ████ █████████
Not the conclusion. The author says people can have both masculine and feminine traits, but doesn't indicate whether those traits correlate with male or female sex.
d
The terms “sex” ███ ████████████ ███ ███ ████████ ████████████████
This is the main conclusion. The argument opens with the context that the terms are often used interchangeably, pivots with "but," and proceeds to correct that practice by drawing a distinction between sex (biological) and gender (socially constructed). Sentences three and four are premises supporting the distinction. (D) restates the claim the author is defending.
e
Society rather than ███ ██████████ ███████ ████ ██ ██████████ ██████ █████████
Not the conclusion. The argument mentions that gender is socially constructed, but it doesn't claim society dictates "proper behavior" or contrast society's role with the individual's. (E) goes further than what the author actually says.