Answer:
The characteristics of the Gilded Age that best fit the given options are:
• Labor strikes: There were frequent labor strikes during the Gilded Age as workers protested long hours, low pay and poor working conditions in the nation's growing industries. Major strikes included the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Haymarket Square Riot of 1886.
• Labor unions: Labor unions formed and grew during this time period as workers organized to demand better treatment and compensation from corporations and industrialists. Union membership rose significantly during the Gilded Age.
• Long shifts and low pay: One of the defining features of the Gilded Age was the growth of American industry and big business. However, this often came at the expense of workers who had to endure long hours, low wages, and unsafe working conditions. Labor issues were widespread.
The other options do not accurately characterize the Gilded Age, which spanned from the 1870s to 1900 and was marked by rapid industrialization, laissez-faire capitalism and vast income inequality. Though there were some advances for women's rights during this period, equality for women and civil rights for Black Americans had yet to become major social movements.
So in summary, labor strikes, the growth of labor unions and the long hours/low pay that workers endured were among the defining features of the Gilded Age, reflecting the tensions between capital and labor that emerged with the rise of big business and industrialization in America.