Answer is E. Help me eliminate option D. Remember that traditional roles of woman is a bad thing. Now try justifying it using Math strategy.
3 possibilities .
1st Blank - good, 2nd blank - good
1st Blank - bad, 2nd blank - bad
1st Blank - big change, 2nd blank - no change
For more info, See week 2, TC and SE 12.
1. Clue 1: The phrase “on the contrary” tells us that the two blanks will hold contrasting viewpoints. If the first blank indicates a positive or beneficial effect, then the second blank should indicate something negative or vice versa.
2. Clue 2: “Traditional roles of women” being a “bad thing,” as you stated.
Now, let’s eliminate option D based on the provided clues:
Option D: “debilitating” (which means causing weakness or impairment) and “weaken” (which is self-explanatory)
Applying the Math strategy:
1st Blank (debilitating) - bad effect 2nd Blank (weaken) - bad effect
Both blanks in option D indicate a negative or “bad” effect. Based on Clue 1, the blanks should contrast, but in option D, they both have the same negative connotation. Therefore, option D does not fit with the contrasting clues given in the sentence and can be eliminated.
Given the provided clues and the information in the sentence, the correct answer is E (revolutionary…reinforce) as it provides a contrast:
1st Blank (revolutionary) - big change 2nd Blank (reinforce) - no change (rather, it strengthens or confirms the existing traditional roles, which is considered “bad”)
Wait, isn’t weaken the traditional roles of women a good thing. So now debilitate makes 1st part bad, second part is now good because of weaken. So why is this wrong? No doubt that E is also a great option to select. This doesn’t explain why D is wrong.
As u mentioned the blanks should contrast, this is not exactly correct is it? The ideas need to contrast(because of politically being correct ). With this in mind we can only narrow it down to D and E. Both D and E fit in my 3 possibilities mentioned above.
I’m genuinely asking why D does not fit here. Pls do have a look at it once more. Thanks.
I am genuinely replying 
The entire premise of the sentence seems to set up a scenario where an assumption about mechanization (potentially beneficial) is contradicted by the evidence (potentially negative). Hence, reinforcing traditional roles would indeed be a negative outcome if we consider traditional roles for women as restrictive.
While option D could be a possible answer, the combination in option E offers a more direct contradiction, making it a stronger fit.
You can also look at how greg approached it in-herehttps://www.gregmat.com/course/old-gre-walkthroughs
I don’t know why i mentioned genuinely. The link is actually pretty helpful.Thanks
This old gre book i remember greg mentioning that it was for native speakers. I’m assuming when they read this question, they start assuming something good goes into 1st blank. So they just arrive at option E naturally.
Yeah even I feel option E has a stronger fit than D. But again [Greg in the background “GO with evidence not feelings”].
No idea, I am personally against the native speakers have an edge in verbal belief and think of it as the go-to excuse people tell themselves when they want to avoid putting in the hard work.
I mean, I’ve not seen anyone complaining from native English speaking countries that people from countries like China, Russia or India have an edge in Quant but have seen plethora of folks flaunting this line
Hey, I am from this "xyz" Asian country, got 168 in Q and 150 in V, I am from Engg. background so didn't need much preparation for "Quant" but as you might have a guessed, I am a non-native speaker/ English is not my first language etc... so, I need help on how to score good in Verbal.
No u misunderstood me. Greg did mention that big book verbal questions were mostly designed specially for native speakers. But now that’s not the case.
Also i never said anything about, only they can answer this question right. I’m saying they wouldn’t actually do math startegy on each blank rather they read it once and understand what goes in it. Because, look how u just said answer is E cause it fits beter than D. U said it not me. I went with math strategy and the only way to select E is to forget D because it is not a stronger fit.
The last thing i want to do is to fight with a friend who is trying to help me 
. I agree many talk that way just to convince themselves. But that’s not me.I have put more hardwork into GRE than u can think of. Yeah the results are the only thing that belies it, Unfortunately.
It can’t be D because using tools, we can see that the first blank has to be a contrast to the second blank. Key words here to identify that are “while” (contrast) and “on the contrary” (contrast).
Thus, we can get rid of A (all positive meanings) and B/D (all negative meanings). Then C doesn’t really contrast. So E is the best answer.