Land proprietors profoundly shaped the New England town from

Question

Land “proprietors” profoundly shaped the New England town from the very beginning of settlement, and this fact calls into question long-held assumptions about life in colonial New England. Seventeenth-century municipalities functioned as land corporations; they were modeled after joint-stock companies and had an exclusive membership based on ownership of shares--notions that directly challenge our past understanding that the New England town operated as a “community” with broader aims and objectives. Local powers were vested in the town’s proprietors. Towns may have attracted other settlers or church congregations, but neither of those groups had the power to divide land, finance town affairs, vote on local matters, or become proprietors in their own right. The New England town was not a single community but several. Some individuals were mere “residents,” others were resident or absentee “inhabitants” (a term which applied only to proprietors), and many of each may have been church members. Although such exclusive control of affairs by “inhabitants” often led to con tention, their monopoly over power and land was repeatedly sustained by higher levels of colonial authority.

Exhaustive studies of town records show that the proprietors played an essential and pervasive role in town building and founding. These men (and occasionally a few women) effectively controlled and ran the affairs of towns, regardless of size, location, or stage of development.

Exhaustive studies of town records show that the proprietors played an essential and pervasive role in town building and founding. These men (and occasionally a few women) effectively controlled and ran the affairs of towns, regardless of size, location, or stage of development.   1 
 E 
 1. It can be inferred from the passage that "inhabitants" ( Highlighted )

A. were resident in colonial settlements year-round
B. included both voting and non-voting members of the community
C. consisted solely of those residents of a town who were members of a church congregation
D. exercised control of political power in an arbitrary and capricious manner
E. were those members of a community who owned land and controlled political power

2 
 C 
 2. With which of the following statements about New England towns would the author of the passage most likely agree?

A. The fact that power was distributed based on land ownership was a fundamentally democratic method of organizing early local governments.
B. Individual interests in the towns were often subverted by communal goals and decisions.
C. Political control was equated with land ownership no matter what the population or geographic locations of those towns.
D. The control of colonial affairs by land proprietors was an issue of debate and contention within the church hierarchy.
E. The concentration of political power in the hands of town proprietors was necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of early settlements.

3 
 C 
 3. Which of the following questions can be answered conclusively by the information in the passage?

A. Were town proprietors individuals of great wealth and aristocratic backgrounds?
B. Was there extensive disagreement over matters of property and political power between proprietors and local clergymen?
C. Did the town proprietors have the support of colonial officials for the manner in which they administered the affairs of early settlements?
D. As share-holders in land corporations, did seventeenth-century proprietors have the right to vote for their board of directors?
E. Could town proprietors legally pass their titles, rights and responsibilities to their heirs?

4 
 4. Which of the following statements, if true, would weaken the author's contention in lines 12-13 that “Local powers were vested in the town's proprietors"? (Text in Red)

A. The degree of power exercised by any proprietor was in direct proportion to the number of shares owned by that individual.
B. New records are discovered that indicate there were far fewer women share-holders among the seventeenth-century land corporations than was previously believed.
C. Court records of the period list several land foreclosures and bankruptcy proceedings against town proprietors.
D. A search of seventeenth-century New England voting rolls shows some voters described as tenant farmers and indentured servants.
E. Correspondence addressed to colonial authorities from the residents of a seventeenth-century New England town contains several complaints against the proprietors of the town.

5 
 5. lt can be inferred that each of the following could be a long-held assumption about the political structure of colonial New England EXCEPT

A. Seventeenth-century towns were founded with the narrow self-interest and financial gain of a small group of investors as their primary objective.
B. The ownership of shares in a land corporation was just one of the criteria for community involvement in colonial settlements.
C. Early New England community goals and aspirations were broadly defined and inclusive in scope.
D. Social mobility in seventeenth-century New England allowed diverse groups to acquire property, voting rights, and status equal to that of the founding proprietors.
E. The influence of the land proprietors gradually dissipated as more settlers arrived and new avenues for community involvement developed.

6 
 6. Which of the following questions can be answered conclusively by the information in the passage?

A. Were town proprietors individuals of great wealth and aristocratic backgrounds?
B. Was there extensive disagreement over matters of property and political power between proprietors and local clergymen?
C. Did the town proprietors have the support of colonial officials for the manner in which they administered the affairs of early settlements?
D. As share-holders in land corporations did seventeenth-century proprietors have the right to vote for their board of directors?
E. Could town proprietors legally pass their titles, rights, and responsibilities to their heirs?

7 
 7. It can be inferred from the passage that the church in early New England

A. rarely became involved in disputes between land proprietors and townspeople
B. established congregations in settlements only after the power of the proprietors had dissipated
C. attracted congregational members from both the proprietor and the non-proprietor groups
D. often acted to uphold the rights of the town proprietors to exercise control over issues of politics and real estate
E. provided an avenue for individuals to gain the land) money and suffrage necessary to ascend to the proprietor class

8 
 8. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. A traditional analysis is offered, examined in the light of new evidence, and dismissed as misguided.
B. an assertion is made, supporting evidence is presented, and a conclusion offered.
C. A generally accepted historical viewpoint is presented in order to discuss its merits and limitations.
D. A historical dispute is introduced, and the case for one side Is presented in detail.
E. An unorthodox theory is put forth, and its ramifications are discussed

RC Butler 2021  -  Practice Two RC Questions Everyday.   
Passage # 212 Date: 28-May-2021
 This question is a part of RC Butler 2021 .  Click here for Details

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear rajatr , I'm happy to help with this. :-)

First of all, this passage has 221 words, so it's a tad shorter than what you would find on the GMAT. Also, it really presents only one point of view, without much controversy --- controversy is mentioned, but there's really no difference in perspective throughout the argument. This is a bit uncharacteristic of standard GMAT RC passages. On this prep book overall, here's a review: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/princeton- ... ok-review/ As to the questions: 1. It can be inferred from the passage that "inhabitants" In the passage, it says "... 'inhabitants' (a term which applied only to proprietors) ..." So, this term refers to the folks who owned all the land and, thereby, controlled all the political power in the town. The whole passage is about how these folks ran the show in a New England town, so the answer should say something about having power. (D) is a bit too strong --- know the "inhabitants" had power, but whether they used it judiciously or abused it, the passage does not say. We would be inferring far too much to leap to the conclusion of (D) . By contrast, (E) simply says --- they " owned land and controlled political power " --- very factual and objective, and exactly what the passage is about. (E) is the best answer. 2. With which of the following statements about New England towns would the author of the passage most likely agree? A.The fact that power was distributed based on land ownership was a fundamentally democratic method of organizing early local governments. NO. We are told the system was " exclusive " and not based on " community " Some people had all the control and others had no say --- that's not how democracy is supposed to work! ( Never mind about shortcomings of US democracy in 2013! ) B. Individual interests in the towns were often subverted by communal goals and decisions. NO. The power dynamic was not about individual vs. community. This was NOT a community based system. The power was between folks who owned land and all the poor slobs who didn't. C. Political control was equated with land ownership no matter what the population or geographic locations of those towns. This is promising. The passage explicitly says: " Local powers were vested in the town’s proprietors ." Those who had land, had power. The passage also seems to suggest this state of affairs was widespread over New England. This is a promising choice for the answer. D. The control of colonial affairs by land proprietors was an issue of debate and contention within the church hierarchy. NO. Be careful here. There is a mention of contention, presumably between folks with land & power vs. folks with no power. Church is briefly mentioned elsewhere in the passage, not related to contention, and there's absolutely no mention of the church hierarchy. This answer basically makes a salad out of various ideas in the passage. It is not a cogent answer. E. The concentration of political power in the hands of town proprietors was necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of early settlements. NO. This is a wild unsubstantiated inference. The passage says --- as it happens, power was concentrated in the hands of the few. That's how it played out, but there's no statement about whether this was the best or the fairest or the smoothest system. In fact, this system did generate contention, so it wasn't necessarily smoothly functioning. Not a particularly believable answer. For #2, the best answer by far is (C) . Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

btg9788 · Answer

Hi rajatr,
For the first question (E) seems to be the right choice because towards the end, the author focuses on how the inhabitants controlled the power system as well as the land.

For the second question (D) was my first choice initially. But reading this sentence clarifies -

"Although such exclusive control of affairs by “inhabitants” often led to contention, their monopoly over power and land was repeatedly sustained by higher levels of colonial authority."

This sentence does not say that the contention was existent within church hierarchy. So, (C) seems to be more reflective of the overall gist. Especially with this last line -
Exhaustive studies of town records show that the proprietors played an essential and pervasive role in town building and founding. These men (and occasionally a few women) effectively controlled and  ran the affairs of towns, regardless of size, location, or stage of development

LaveenaPanchal · Answer

1. It can be inferred from the passage that "inhabitants" (Highlighted)

A. were resident in colonial settlements year-round.  Incorrect. Towns attracted other settlers so they may not be colonial settlements year around. 
B. included both voting and non-voting members of the community.  Incorrect. Proprietors were voters. 
C. consisted solely of those residents of a town who were members of a church congregation.  Incorrect. It included church congregation but not solely them. 
D. exercised control of political power in an arbitrary and capricious manner.  Incorrect. They exercised control but nowhere mentioned in the passage that the control was arbitrary. 
E. were those members of a community who owned land and controlled political power.  Correct. It is mentioned in the passage "Although such exclusive control of affairs by “inhabitants” often led to con tention, their monopoly over power and land was repeatedly sustained by higher levels of colonial authority."

2. With which of the following statements about New England towns would the author of the passage most likely agree?

A. The fact that power was distributed based on land ownership was a fundamentally democratic method of organizing early local governments.  Incorrect. Land ownership challenged the democratic governments. 
B. Individual interests in the towns were often subverted by communal goals and decisions.  Incorrect. This is not mentioned in the passage. 
C. Political control was equated with land ownership no matter what the population or geographic locations of those towns.  Correct. It is supported by the last line of the passage. 
D. The control of colonial affairs by land proprietors was an issue of debate and contention within the church hierarchy.  Incorrect. Author mentions that church congregation had not right to vote or control but nowhere he intends that the issues were debated. 
E. The concentration of political power in the hands of town proprietors was necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of early settlements.  Incorrect. The author nowhere in the passage intends that the concentration of political power was necessary.

3. Which of the following questions can be answered conclusively by the information in the passage?

A. Were town proprietors individuals of great wealth and aristocratic backgrounds?.  Incorrect town proprietors were individuals with political power but wealth is not mentioned anywhere. 
B. Was there extensive disagreement over matters of property and political power between proprietors and local clergymen?  Incorrect. No mention of any disagreement over matters of property and political power.  
C. Did the town proprietors have the support of colonial officials for the manner in which they administered the affairs of early settlements?  Correct. It is supported by following lines "Although such exclusive control of affairs by “inhabitants” often led to con tention, their monopoly over power and land was repeatedly sustained by higher levels of colonial authority." 
D. As share-holders in land corporations, did seventeenth-century proprietors have the right to vote for their board of directors?  Incorrect. Land corporations is mentioned but nothing discussed about voting for Board of Directors of land corporations. 
E. Could town proprietors legally pass their titles, rights and responsibilities to their heirs?  Incorrect no such information in the passage.

PSP92 · Answer

I have a doubt on Option E of Question #2
 The argument says that "Exhaustive studies of town records show that the proprietors played an  essential and pervasive role  in town building and founding."
The argument says that their role was  essential.  Doesn't that imply that vesting the political powers with the proprietors was necessary for early settlement?

junii · Answer

Yes that;s what i thought so and i chose answer E.
Can experts elaborate on this?

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Please read the expert's analysis on question #2 in the link below https://gmatclub.com/forum/land-proprie ... l#p1212928 Best.

Akarshkhan86 · Answer

Hello  Sajjad1994  can you share the OE of Ques 5 if possible.
Thanks.

Land proprietors profoundly shaped the New England town from

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Land proprietors profoundly shaped the New England town from

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia