What kinds of property rights apply to Algonquian family hunting territories, and how did they come to be? The dominant view in recent decades has been that family hunting territories, like other forms of private landownership, were not found among Algonquians (a group of North American Indian tribes) before contact with Europeans but are the result of changes in Algonquian society brought about by the European-Algonquian fur trade, in combination with other factors such as ecological changes and consequent shifts in wildlife harvesting patterns. Another view claims that Algonquian family hunting territories predate contact with Europeans and are forms of private landownership by individuals and families. More recent fieldwork, however, has shown that individual and family rights to hunting territories form part of a larger land-use system of muitifamilial hunting groups, that rights to hunting territories at this larger community level take precedence over those at the individual or family level, and that this system reflects a concept of spiritual and social reciprocity that conflicts with European concepts of private property. In short, there are now strong reasons to think that it was erroneous to claim that Algonquian family hunting territories ever were, or were becoming, a kind of private property system.


1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) provide an explanation for an unexpected phenomenon
(B) suggest that a particular question has yet to be answered
(C) present a new perspective on an issue
(D)defend a traditional view from attack
(E)reconcile opposing sides of an argument


OA: C
(Source: GMAT Prep, as mentioned in GMAT Club forums)

I was stuck between C and D. Why should the answer be "C" and not D?

Ron mentioned in his audio lectures very clearly that when there is a shift in the thought in the last paragraph and it was never discussed in earlier in the passage then in that case the shift is not part of the main idea of the passage. In this case the author talks about the three views that are prevalent to explain the question but in the end he takes his stand. How can something that showed up only in the end be the main idea?

Hi,

This is a short passage. What Ron mentioned about change applies to long passages. If you follow his methodology, this is what you should be reading in the passage to ascertain the main idea:

-The dominant view in recent decades......
-Another view claims......
-More recent fieldwork, however, has shown.....
-In short, there are now strong reasons to think that it was erroneous to claim .......

As you can see from the above that his main idea was to present a new perspective, which contradicts the older views. Even if you were stuck between C and D, D is completely opposite. He is not defending the traditional views, but in fact stating that those claims were not correct.

Hope this helps

Regards

Sunil

This was very helpful. Thanks for the reply.

Hello Sunil,

Can you please suggest some good practice material other than OG and LSAT RCs for practicing RCs? Also, can you please suggest any helpful tips on improving timing on the RC section? I have a serious timing issue on the RCs.

Hi Priyanka,

I am no expert on this matter but I will try and help. But before that, please elaborate a bit more on the issue. Do you struggle with the actual reading of the passage, understanding of the passage or tackling the questions? Do you take any notes while reading the passage?

Regards

Sunil