PrepTest 101

[lcid:3503] Prep Test 101 LSAT — Reading Comp — S4 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 9-14  .        Many Native Americans view the archaeological  . excavation and museum display of ancestral skeletal  . remains Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • How Native American tribes can establish standing to recover artifacts taken from burial sites
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • List of the three ways Native Americans can establish standing in cases involving items from burial sites (third sentence):
      • If the plaintiff is the deceased person's heir
      • If the plaintiff owns the land where the burial sites is located
      • If the plaintiff has a clear interest in preserving the burial sites
    • Comparison between the likelihood of establishing standing (fourth sentence):
      • Native Americans are likely to establish standing if the grave is recent and located in an area associated with the plaintiffs; Native Americans are less likely when the grave is ancient and the plaintiffs haven't recently lived in the area where the grave is located
    • Author's view:
      • Common law can provide basis for Native Americans with standing to recover property taken from burial sites (last sentence)
    • Author's attitude: "less likely to be successful" (fourth sentence); "significant expansion" (fifth sentence); "may provide" (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • How Native Americans can use property law to reclaim artifacts from burial sites
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definition of "abandonment": Legal doctrine that allows the finder of abandoned property to claim ownership of the property (second sentence)
      • Doesn't apply to property from graves, per Charrier v. Bell (third and fourth sentences)
    • Author's view:
      • Artifacts excavated from burial sites should be returned to tribes that can establish standing (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • How community property can help Native Americans recover artifacts
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Comparison between individual and communal property:
      • Native American individuals do not have title to communal property owned by the tribe; this communal property cannot be sold by an individual

Main Point: Common law provides a few ways for Native Americans who can establish standing to recover artifacts taken from burial sites.

Key Lines?

Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 (P1, S1) - Problem described

P2, S4 - Prerequisite for solution discussed

P2, S6 - Author summarizes solution

Meta-Structure?

Problem/Solution: This passage best fits the Problem/Solution Meta-Structure. In such a passage, the author will typically start by describing some problem. In this passage, the problem is the excavation and display of Native American remains and artifacts from ancestral graves. Native Americans view this as "spiritual desecration" (P1, S1). After the problem is identified, the author will typically describe one or more solutions. Here, that solution is using the legal system to recover these excavated artifacts — assuming the Native American claimants can establish "standing" (described at length in "Last Thoughts?" below). The author discusses how property law and the concept of community property can allow some Native American plaintiffs (those bringing the lawsuit to recover the artifacts) to reclaim the artifacts.

The main point in Problem/Solution passages is typically the solution the author describes or endorses. The author summarizes the common law solution in the last sentence of the first paragraph. We can use that sentence when assessing answer choices on the Main Point question or any other question on which we need to refer to the main point.

Last Thoughts?

Legal passages — especially legal passages from older practice tests — have an annoying habit of sometimes rewarding test-takers who know legal terminology. That's not how it's supposed to work — you're supposed to be able to take the LSAT without any specialized knowledge. And recent legal passages have certainly done a better job of leveling the playing field by avoiding legal jargon. However, this passage uses the legal term "standing" repeatedly without ever explicitly defining that term. We'd argue that knowing what "standing" is would make understanding this passage easier. (The test-writers would presumably respond that the meaning of this term can be inferred from the passage. We'd counter by saying that's debatable, but prior knowledge of that term — as some test-takers undoubtedly possess — makes that inference unnecessary.)

At any rate, if you didn't quite understand what "standing" means, here's a quick and hopefully not-too-boring primer. "Standing" refers to one's ability to bring a lawsuit against another party. The U.S., at least, has a reputation as a litigious country. Still, we don't let anyone sue anyone else (or, more accurately, we don't let anyone take a lawsuit very far in the judicial process). Let's say I see my mortal enemy X steal from my best friend Y. As a person who respects both Y and personal property, this action offends me to my core. It offends me so much that I want to sue my mortal enemy X for theft (well, technically, I'd have to sue for "conversion," but that's another topic). Could I? No, because I would lack "standing" to bring that lawsuit against X. I wasn't the victim in that case — Y was. So Y may have the standing to sue X, but not I. If I sued X, my case would be dismissed because I lacked "standing."

So, that's what the author means when they say that Native American plaintiffs have a better chance of establishing standing — and thus recovering artifacts from burial sites — when they can show the burial sites is recent and located in an area associated with the plaintiffs (P1, S4). The legal system will allow Native American plaintiffs to use the courts to recover artifacts taken from recent graves associated with the plaintiffs. The legal system will probably dismiss the cases brought by Native American plaintiffs who try to recover artifacts from ancient graves or graves in areas where they haven't lived for a long time because these plaintiffs lack standing.

Question prompt

According to the passage, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: D

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

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Refer to notes or what you highlighted/underlined to locate where the passage discusses ancient graves, and refer to the relevant part of the passage as needed to find that answer choice that must be true

Answer Anticipation

For these questions that ask us to identify a specific piece of information, quickly finding that piece of information is paramount. That is why we make brief notes describing the role of each paragraph and highlight or underline definitions and the minor Meta-Structures — doing so helps us find the salient information efficiently and reliably.This question asks what must be true of "cases involving ancient graves." Where did the author discuss ancient graves in the passage? If we can recall from our review for the previous question, we can use CTRL/Command + F to find "ancient" in the first paragraph. The author claims that Native Americans are unlikely to establish standing if the grave is ancient (P2, S4). The author also implies that common law does not recognize Native American's't standing in most cases involving such graves (P2, S5).CTRL/Command + F would also reveal a reference to ancient graves in the second paragraph. The author says that property law can be used to return artifacts taken from ancient graves can be returned to Native Americans who can establish standing (P2, S1, S4).So, the correct could reflect either of these points: that the courts in most of these cases do not recognize Native Americans' standing or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing. Let's look for an answer choice that reflects one of these points.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Once a plaintiff's standing Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited

    (A) Does this answer choice say the courts do not recognize Native Americans' standing in most ancient graves cases or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing?

    No. So a fast-moving test-taker would table or eliminate (A) without reviewing the passage.

    If we reviewed the passage to assess (A) more carefully, we'd notice that the author only discusses the distinction between ancient and recent graves in the context of standing. The author says Native Americans are likely to establish standing if the grave is recent and less likely when the grave is ancient (P1, S4). However, if the Native American plaintiff has standing in a case involving ancient graves, that distinction may not matter. The author never says it would be harder to resolve a case involving ancient graves, so we don't know whether (A) is ntrue.

  2. B
    The distinction between individual Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this answer choice say the courts do not recognize Native Americans' standing in most ancient graves cases or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing?

    Nope. Decisive test-takers would table or eliminate (B) once they realized it deviated from their anticipation.

    If we reviewed the passage to assess (B), we'd see that this isn't supported. Although the author suggests that the distinction between individual and communal property can be an issue in these cases (P2, S1; P3, S1), the author never says this issue is usually present. Since we don't know how often the distinction between individual and communal property is an issue, we can't determine that (B) is true.

  3. C
    Even when a plaintiff's Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this answer choice say the courts do not recognize Native Americans' standing in most ancient graves cases or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing?

    No. In fact, this contradicts the second point. If the plaintiff has standing, we know property law can be used to recover artifacts taken from ancient burial sites (P2, S1).

  4. D
    In most such cases, Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D matches the stem

    (D) Does this answer choice say the courts do not recognize Native Americans' standing in most ancient graves cases or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing?

    Yes, this reflects the former point. As the author says in the first paragraph, recognizing Native Americans' standing in most cases involving ancient graves "would represent a significant expansion of common law" (P1, S5). This implies that common law does not currently recognize Native Americans' standing in most cases involving ancient graves. Therefore, (D) must be true and is the correct answer.

  5. E
    Common law is rarely Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this answer choice say the courts do not recognize Native Americans' standing in most ancient graves cases or that Native Americans can recover property in these cases when they do have standing?

    Negative. In fact, this contradicts the second point. When Native American plaintiffs have standing in these cases, common law provides a basis to recover artifacts taken from burial sites (P1, S6).

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