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

The author's attitude toward Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: E

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

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the Author’s opinion on the prediction she makes, then find an answer that reflects it

Answer Anticipation

These answer choices aren’t two words, so we’re not dealing with an Author’s Attitude question where we’re boiling our anticipation down to that little. These ones, though, also have a pattern - an opening word that captures the attitude followed by details that need to be backed up. In general, we should anticipate the Author’s overall attitude - positive, negative, or neutral - and then narrow down the answers using that. We can then follow up and check the details against our overall understanding and the text of the passage.Where does the Author talk about the possibility of courts increasingly assigning ownership rights to Native communities? That was the prediction she made at the end of the passage. Looking at the specific language there, we can see the Author predicts that these courts “will gradually recognize” these ownership rights (Lines 55-60), and that this is what “should” happen (Line 61).So she’s optimistic that this possibility will come to pass, and she believes it would be good if that happens - let’s find an answer reflecting that attitude.

Answer choices

  1. A
    certain that it will Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) (Lines 55-56) The Author says that Canadian courts “will gradually recognize” these ownership rights, so she’s not certain that they will never be realized - quite the opposite!

  2. B
    concerned that it will Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) (Lines 55-56) As we said with (A), the Author believes that courts will come to recognize these property claims, so she’s not concerned that it will never happen. This answer is too pessimistic!

  3. C
    uncertain whether it will Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) (Lines 55-56) Another answer that doesn’t capture the Author’s prediction that this shift will happen with the courts!

  4. D
    uncertain whether it will Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) (Lines 55-56) Once more, with feeling! Even this answer is too pessimistic, as the Author states with certainty that the courts “will” shift towards recognizing these property claims.

  5. E
    convinced that it will Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E matches the stem

    (E) (Lines 55-61) Finally, an answer that properly states the Author’s optimism! She says in the passage that courts “will” recognize these ownership rights, and that this is something that “should” happen. So she’s certain it will happen and certain that it’s a good thing, as this answer states.

What this tests

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