PrepTest 121

[lcid:3582] Prep Test 121 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 13-19  .        Although the rights of native peoples of Canada  . have yet to be comprehensively defined in Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal Studies


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Background/Intro to implied legal question
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Native Canadians don’t have their rights defined in law
    • Native Peoples - Right to govern selves and land; ownership over movable cultural property
    • Traditional statute/law - Movable property owned by museums/custodians
    • Recent litigation/Native Canadians - Owned by Native Peoples
    • Suggested Question - Who owns it? Who should?

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Current legal framework; Alternative argument
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Current (Canadian law) - Private property - Items are owned and can be transferred
    • Alternative (Native Canadians) - Collective ownership - People use items that are collectively owned, but they can’t transfer them out

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Current situation; Author’s prediction/opinion
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Current - Courts recognize ownership of museums who have documents
    • Prediction - Courts will recognize collective property; courts will and “should” honor claims of Native Canadians

Main Point: Courts should and will increasingly view claims of Native Canadians to movable cultural property as invoking the idea of collective ownership, thus honoring their communal ownership rights in these items.

Key Lines?

Lines 9-14 - Key legal issue/question raised

Lines 15-16 - Current approach

Lines 25-28 - Alternative approach

Lines 53-61 - Author’s prediction and opinion on what “should” happen

Meta-Structure?

Question/Answer and Old Approach/New Approach - This passage enmeshes two common Meta-Structures in a way that happens relatively frequently in Legal Studies passages. It presents a Question that the legal system needs to address, which suggests a Question/Answer Meta-Structure. Here, that question is: Who owns Native Canadian movable cultural property (Lines 9-14)? In such a Meta-Structure, the Author’s answer (or her opinion of a key answer) is the main point. Frequently, though, in a Legal Studies passage, the answer to the legal question involves a New Approach to that area of law, which is what we see here! The Author presents the current approach - basing the decision on the idea of private property (Lines 15-16). She then highlights an alternative - basing the decision on the idea of collective ownership (Lines 25-28), which is how Native Canadians have traditionally viewed ownership of their movable cultural property. At the end of the passage, the Author predicts that this approach will become more common (Lines 55-60) and endorses it (“should be honored,” Line 61). In an Old Approach/New Approach passage, the Author’s opinion of the New Approach serves as the main point. Here, the Author endorses the New Approach as an Answer to the key legal Question in the passage, so that is our main point, as we summarized above.

Prediction - Predictions are almost always featured in questions when one is made by the Author. Here, the Author doesn’t just endorse the use of the concept of communal property/collective ownership in cases involving Native Canadian property claims, but she also predicts that courts “will gradually recognize” that it’s the appropriate framework in these cases. Such a prediction on the core topic of the passage should be reflected in the main point and will likely feature in a question or two.

Last Thoughts?

Nothing here!

Question prompt

Which one of the Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Reiterate the main point as we summarized it after reading through the passage, then find the answer that best matches with it

Answer Anticipation

This passage enmeshes two common Meta-Structures in a way that happens relatively frequently in Legal Studies passages.First, it presents a Question that the legal system needs to address, which suggests a Question/Answer Meta-Structure. Here, that question is: Who owns Native Canadian movable cultural property (Lines 9-14)? In such a Meta-Structure, the Author’s answer (or her opinion of a key answer) is the main point.Frequently, though, in a Legal Studies passage, the answer to the legal question involves a New Approach to that area of law, which is what we see here! The Author presents the current approach - basing the decision on the idea of private property (Lines 15-16). She then highlights an alternative - basing the decision on the idea of collective ownership (Lines 25-28), which is how Native Canadians have traditionally viewed ownership of their movable cultural property. In an Old Approach/New Approach passage, the Author’s opinion of the New Approach serves as the main point.Here, at the end of the passage, the Author predicts that this approach will become more common (Lines 55-60) and endorses it (“should be honored,” Line 61). Since the Author endorses the New Approach as an Answer to the key legal Question in the passage, that is our main point:Courts should and will increasingly view claims of Native Canadians to movable cultural property as invoking the idea of collective ownership, thus honoring their communal ownership rights in these items.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Litigation by native Canadians Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) This answer is too broad in stating that the idea of private ownership is “increasingly obsolete.” The Author believes that it shouldn’t be applied in cases of Native claims to communal cultural property, but she doesn’t indicate that in other areas - say, the Canadian housing market - it shouldn’t be applied.

  2. B
    Litigation by native Canadians Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem

    (B) (Lines 53-61) This answer summarizes the Author’s prediction and opinion on settling questions of Native Canadian ownership of movable cultural property using a new framework - that of collective rather than private ownership. In capturing her answer to the central legal question and the new approach to it that she recommends, this is the correct answer.

  3. C
    The conflict between the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) This answer frames the passage as being about a debate between the two concepts of ownership, but the Author limits that discussion to Native Canadian claims to movable cultural property. This answer also fails to reflect an opinion or side being taken in the debate, whereas the Author says that courts should apply the idea of collective ownership in such cases.

  4. D
    The conflict between the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 55-58) The Author predicts that courts will start to apply the idea of collective ownership to cases involving Native Canadian movable cultural property, but she doesn’t predict that the rights of these Peoples will be comprehensively defined, so this answer doesn’t line up with the information in the passage.

  5. E
    The conflict between the Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) (Lines 25-28) The Author doesn’t reconcile the ideas of private and collective ownership, or argue that the definition of one should be expanded to include the other. Rather, she argues that one is currently being applied to a set of cases, when in reality another is more appropriate. This answer misses that argument, so it’s incorrect.

What this tests

Discussion

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