Scholars of Native American history are profoundly interested in termi

Question

Project RC Butler 2020  -  Participate and win GMAT Club Tests.   
Passage # 83, Date: 12-May-2020
 This post is a part of Project RC Butler 2020 .  Click here for Details

Scholars of Native American history are profoundly interested in termination, the Truman-era policy of ending Indian tribes’ special status with the federal government. In ending federal wardship, the government sought to enhance individual and tribal “self-determination,” but, in fact, in most cases, the policy’s effect was quite the opposite: Indian individuals and communities were dispossessed of the land, rights, benefits, and aid that were their due and that were necessary for such self-determination. The policy is considered to have had devastating effects on terminated tribes’ economies, autonomies, and cultures.

To understand the failure of termination as a whole, historians have had to look at tribes individually, as each tribe’s relationship with the federal government was and is as nearly as unique as each tribal culture itself. Most notable, perhaps, for the complexity of the issue are the cases of California tribes. At the time, a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land, so for the promise of per capita distributions, many initially supported termination. In 1958, 44 California Indian groups were terminated, with tribal lands to be distributed to individual tribal members, and general services, such as improved sanitation, water, education, and roads, to be delivered by the federal government. However, in many communities, the promised improvements never materialized. Moreover, in many cases, individual tribal members did not receive a land allotment.

Perhaps worse than the unkept promises of material improvements was the loss of autonomy tribes suffered with termination’s shifting laws and responsibilities. Once a tribe was terminated, and the government-to-government relationship severed, tribes were regarded as a state’s responsibility. In many cases, states were unwilling or unable to provide services for their new constituents. Moreover, Public Law 280, which gave six states—including California—criminal jurisdiction in previously sovereign Indian lands, was largely opposed by both states and Indian communities. States were disinclined to enforce laws on a larger area without any additional funding, and Indian communities were loath to have outside law enforcement without prior consent.   1  
 1. According to the passage, termination in California was

a. opposed by state lawmakers in California

b. originally supported by some California Indians without a tribal land base

c. one method for California Indians to access jobs in law enforcement

d. challenged by the state under Public Law 280

e. a source of federal income that the state could spend on increased local law enforcement
 2  
 2. Which of the following words best expresses the opinion of the author concerning the welfare of Indians after termination?

a. self-determination
 
b. failure

c. unique

d. worse

e. disinclined
 3  
 3. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the final paragraph to the passage as a whole?

a. The main idea is reinforced by the inclusion of additional evidence.

b. The main idea is summarized and a transition to a new topic is given.

c. The main idea is restated in contrast to a contradictory opinion.

d. Exceptions to the main idea are critiqued and dismissed.

e. Local history is included to show that the main idea does not apply in every case.
 4  
 4. Which of the following statements does the author imply about termination as it is discussed in the second paragraph?
 
a. Its intent to create law enforcement jobs on California tribal lands would reduce crime there.

b. Its plan to improve roadways and water systems was stymied by state interference.

c. Its failure to implement infrastructure provisions worsened Native California economies.
 
d. Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands.

e. Its plan to only allocate lands to those Indians who did not live on tribal land violated state law.

pandeyashwin · Answer

Q1 B
"At the time, a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land, so for the promise of per capita distributions, many initially supported termination"
Para 2

Q2 D
Read last line of para 1 and first line of para 3

Q3 A
Para 1 : States that the new policy was bad for the Tribes
Para 2 : Focuses on the Californian Tribe
Para 3 : Gives additional details regarding why the policy was bad for the Tribes

Q4

c. Its failure to implement infrastructure provisions worsened Native California economies.
d. Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands.

Can anyone provide some insight on this question.
Are we eliminating D because those California Indians didn't care about the conditions as long as they got their share of the lands.

tapasgupta · Answer

1.  a. opposed by state lawmakers in California  - they actually supported the termination as given in 2 nd para

b. originally supported by some California Indians without a tribal land base 
  - as given in 2 nd para
 c. one method for California Indians to access jobs in law enforcement
  - no where it is written about the same
 d. challenged by the state under Public Law 280   - given in 3 rd para but we need to focus on 2nd para only

e. a source of federal income that the state could spend on increased local law enforcement  - nowhere discussed

2.  a. self-determination

b. failure

c. unique
 
 d. worse - it is the actual situation of the Indian tribes

e. disinclined

3.  a. The main idea is reinforced by the inclusion of additional evidence.   - As a whole 3 rd para supported the whole passage

b. The main idea is summarized and a transition to a new topic is given.

c. The main idea is restated in contrast to a contradictory opinion.

d. Exceptions to the main idea are critiqued and dismissed.

e. Local history is included to show that the main idea does not apply in every case.

4.  a. Its intent to create law enforcement jobs on California tribal lands would reduce crime there.
 - nowhere it is discussed
 b. Its plan to improve roadways and water systems was stymied by state interference.  - given in 3 para - out of scope

c. Its failure to implement infrastructure provisions worsened Native California economies.

d. Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands.  - not supported

e. Its plan to only allocate lands to those Indians who did not live on tribal land violated state law.  - not supported

Please advise if I am wrong.

dabaobao · Answer

Took 7:53 min in total including 2:50 min to read the passage!

Passage Map: 
1) Opp effect of plan
2) Why plan failed? California tribe example
3) Neg effect: Loss of autonomy

varun325 · Answer

SajjadAhmad

Please provide the explanations for question No.2 & 4

1. According to the passage, termination in California was

a. opposed by state lawmakers in California ( the law 280 was opposed by the states not the termination) INCORRECT

b. originally supported by some California Indians without a tribal land base. Correct 
Refer to the text in para 2 " At the time, a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land, so for the promise of per capita distributions, many initially supported termination "
 
c. one method for California Indians to access jobs in law enforcement OUT OF CONTEXT. To provide Jobs is not at mentioned in the passage. It was mentioned that general services, such as improved sanitation, water, education, and roads, to be delivered by the federal government.

d. challenged by the state under Public Law 280. This Law was apposed by states and tribal people.

e. a source of federal income that the state could spend on increased local law enforcement. Termination is not source of income and law enforcement in tribal constituencies was an issue faced by California law makers because of no additional funding. This option is a mixture of two different parts of the passage.

3. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the final paragraph to the passage as a whole?

Main idea of the passage can be drawn in simple words as , The termination was not a smart move and it created problems for the states and the native tribes.

Last passage states an issue faced by the California state and the tribal communities under it while implementing the enforcement laws.
 
 a. The main idea is reinforced by the inclusion of additional evidence. ( correct)

b. The main idea is summarized and a transition to a new topic is given. Nothing new is discussed .

c. The main idea is restated in contrast to a contradictory opinion.There is no contradictory opinion in the passage the author maintains its stand that the termination is not beneficial.

d. Exceptions to the main idea are critiqued and dismissed. No exceptions are pointed out. An example in line with the main idea of the passage is stated.

e. Local history is included to show that the main idea does not apply in every case. First is correct but the second part of the option is incorrect

abhinav261289 · Answer

Can't get what's wrong with : 2) B 4) D .

Could someone please explain ?

Thanks!

kris19 · Answer

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Which of the following words best expresses the opinion of the author concerning the welfare of Indians after termination?

Passage analysis: The author talks about a policy, which supposed to help native Americans but in reality it had lasting negative impact. In the second and third paras, author gives details about the negative impact - how they lost land, and the worse part is they lost the autonomy. I think we need to find how the author felt about the welfare of Indians after the termination.
 
a. self-determination -  not correct, passage says 'the government sought to enhance individual and tribal “self-determination,”'. The author of the passage says that this self-determination did not happen for tribals. But, this is not author's opinion.

b. failure -  not correct, author says that after the termination policy, the situation became worse for tribals - first they lost land, and then lost autonomy. I thought about this choice this way 'tribals welfare after termination failed ?' or 'tribals welfare after termination worsened ? From the third para 'Perhaps worse than the unkept promises of material improvements was the loss of autonomy', so I thought author's opinion was not 'failure' concerning the welfare of Indian tribes.

c. unique -  not correct, the author doesn't say that the problems faced by Indian tribals are 'unique'

d. worse -   correct, I think the author wants to say that 'welfare of Indian tribes after the termination policy is worsened', my reasoning is from third para 'Perhaps worse than the unkept promises of material improvements was the loss of autonomy tribes suffered with termination’s shifting laws and responsibilities.'

e. disinclined -  not correct, termination policy supposed to help Indian tribals, but did not help and moreover worsened the situation. So, the author would not say 'welfare of Indian tribes after termination disinclined' 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Which of the following statements does the author imply about termination as it is discussed in the second paragraph?

a. Its intent to create law enforcement jobs on California tribal lands would reduce crime there -  not correct, no discussion of reducing crime in tribal lands

b. Its plan to improve roadways and water systems was stymied by state interference -  not correct, no discussion of state interference in second para. However, second para says that 'However, in many communities, the promised improvements never materialized.', but we don't know the reasons for not having improvements.

c. Its failure to implement infrastructure provisions worsened Native California economies -   correct, passage says 'At the time, a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land', and these people never got the land and infrastructure, which they supposed to get after the termination policy. So, we can say that their situation worsened after the termination policy because the promises were not kept.

d. Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands -  not correct, passage says 'At the time, a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land, so for the promise of per capita distributions, many initially supported termination.' So, we can't infer that this termination policy's conditions were satisfying to California Indians conditions.

e. Its plan to only allocate lands to those Indians who did not live on tribal land violated state law -  not correct, no discussion of violating the state law

anisinghal · Answer

1. According to the passage, termination in California was

a. opposed by state lawmakers in California( it is not said in the passage.)

b.  originally supported by some California Indians without a tribal land base 
(as given in passage: a significant number of Native Californians did not live on tribal land, so for the promise of per capita distributions, many initially supported termination.)

c. one method for California Indians to access jobs in law enforcement(no mention in the passage)

d. challenged by the state under Public Law 280( public law 280 was challenged but it comes under termination...not termination challenged by it)

e. a source of federal income that the state could spend on increased local law enforcement(not mentioned)

2. Which of the following words best expresses the opinion of the author concerning the welfare of Indians after termination?

a. self-determination

b. failure

c. unique

d.  worse  (main idea of passage is this only that situation got worse after the implementation of termination.

e. disinclined

3. Which of the following best describes the relationship of the final paragraph to the passage as a whole?

a.  The main idea is reinforced by the inclusion of additional evidence.  ( main idea is again said in final paragraph along with it additional evidence of public law 280 is given)

b. The main idea is summarized and a transition to a new topic is given.(no new topic is incorporated in final passage)

c. The main idea is restated in contrast to a contradictory opinion.(no contrast)

d. Exceptions to the main idea are critiqued and dismissed.( no, main idea is restated not dismissed)

e. Local history is included to show that the main idea does not apply in every case.( no history is given)

4. Which of the following statements does the author imply about termination as it is discussed in the second paragraph?

a. Its intent to create law enforcement jobs on California tribal lands would reduce crime there.

b. Its plan to improve roadways and water systems was stymied by state interference.

c.  Its failure to implement infrastructure provisions worsened Native California economies.
  ( as it is said that termination policy failed to provide any benefits )
d. Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands.

e. Its plan to only allocate lands to those Indians who did not live on tribal land violated state law.

jayarora · Answer

Kudos please if that helped

jayarora · Answer

abhinav261289 I can provide my thoughts. Question 2: Yes, the POLICY was a failure. However, the question talks about the WELFARE of Indians. The welfare was not a failure. It does not make sense to even say the WELFARE was a failure. Instead, it was something that deteriorated i.e worsened Question 4: Let us look at the Answer choice D "Its ultimate conditions were deemed satisfactory by the California Indians who did not live on tribal lands." Satisfactory means acceptable. Were California Indians content with the outcome? If you read the last two sentences in paragraph, the sentiment was rather opposite: However, in many communities, the promised improvements never materialized. Moreover, in many cases, individual tribal members did not receive a land allotment Does this help? Feel free to ask more questions

Adi88 · Answer

Please check the respective highlighted sentences for each of the answer.

in Q2, Option B, "Failure", is a bit extreme and is nowhere mentioned in the passage, so Option D, "Worse", is a better choice among all the given five.

VerbalBot · Answer

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.

Scholars of Native American history are profoundly interested in termi

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

My Rewards

GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Scholars of Native American history are profoundly interested in termi

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

My Rewards