That Native Americans in colonial North America were thrust into

Question

﻿That Native Americans in colonial North America were thrust into a world at least as new as that confronting the ever-increasing numbers of European immigrants and transplanted Africans is a simple yet important truth that students of the period have overlooked. The f ailure to explore the Native Americans' new world  helps to explain why the history of the colonial period often remains a history of Europeans and Africans. One reason Native Americans have been left out may be historians' apparent inability to fit them into the New World theme, a theme that exerts a powerful hold on historians' imagination. From  Turner  to Allen, from  Herskovits  to Littlefield, scholars have analyzed encounters between peoples from the Old World and conditions in the New World. Since Native Americans had not recently arrived from a faraway land, it must have seemed logical to exclude them.

Recent research, however, suggests that perhaps historians should think of a "world" as the physical and cultural milieu within which people live and a "new world" as a dramatically different milieu demanding basic changes in ways of life. Considered in these terms, the experience of Native Americans was more closely akin to that of immigrants, and the idea of an encounter between worlds can, and indeed must, include the original inhabitants of America.   1 
 1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

A. disclosing new evidence
B. correcting a factual error
C. recommending a new approach
D. summarizing a scholarly debate
E. assessing conflicting information

2 
 2. The passage suggests that the "failure to explore the Native Americans' new world" (see highlighted text) resulted from historians'

A. emphasis on the contrast between the Old World and the New World
B. lack of familiarity with the precolonial history of Native Americans
C. inability to document the activities of Native Americans in colonial America
D. inability to reconstruct the interactions between Native Americans and immigrants to the New World
E. belief that physical environment has little effect on culture

3 
 3. ﻿The author of the passage mentions Turner and Herskovits in the highlighted text primarily in order to provide examples of historians who

A. provided provocative but flawed studies of the Native American past
B. failed to recount the experience of Native Americans in colonial America
C. carefully examined the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans from histories of the New World
D. recently revised their approach to the study of the history of colonial America
E. were unlike other historians in that they incorporated a "new world" theme into their works

MartyMurray · Accepted Answer

Explanation for Question 1

1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

A. disclosing new evidence

The author does not disclose any new evidence.

Eliminate.

B. correcting a factual error

The author does not mention any factual errors. Rather, the author discusses "a simple yet important truth that students of the period have overlooked."

Overlooking something is not the same as making a factual error.

Eliminate.

C. recommending a new approach

In the passage, the author first discusses "a simple yet important truth that students of the period have overlooked" and why that truth has been overlooked. Then, in the second paragraph, the author says, "Recent research, however, suggests that perhaps historians should think of a 'world' as the physical and cultural milieu within which people live and a 'new world' as a dramatically different milieu demanding basic changes in ways of life."

So, basically, after introducing an issue in the first paragraph, the author makes a recommendation about how to think about that issue in a new way.

Thus, we can say that the author is primarily concerned with "recommending a new approach."

Keep.

D. summarizing a scholarly debate

The author does not discuss a debate. A debate involves two sides with different ideas arguing. The author discusses what people have done and what research indicates they could do differently, not a debate.

Eliminate.
 
 E. assessing conflicting information

The information presented by the author is not conflicting. The information is simply that historians have taken one approach and perhaps should take a different one. Though the two approaches are different, none of the information presented conflicts with any of the other information presented.

Eliminate.

The correct answer is (C).

Explanation for Question 2

2. The passage suggests that the "failure to explore the Native Americans' new world" (see highlighted text) resulted from historians'

A. emphasis on the contrast between the Old World and the New World

Reviewing the passage, we see that it presents the following reason for historians' "failure to explore the Native Americans' new world."

One reason Native Americans have been left out may be historians' apparent inability to fit them into the New World theme, a theme that exerts a powerful hold on historians' imagination. From Turner to Allen, from Herskovits to Littlefield, scholars have analyzed encounters between peoples from the Old World and conditions in the New World. Since Native Americans had not recently arrived from a faraway land, it must have seemed logical to exclude them.

If historians "have analyzed encounters between peoples from the Old World and conditions in the New World," and excluded Native Americans because "Native Americans had not recently arrived from a faraway land," then the historians have emphasized "the contrast between the Old World and the New World" in deciding what to include.

So, this choice is supported by the passage.

Keep.

B. lack of familiarity with the precolonial history of Native Americans

The passage says nothing about historians' degree of familiarity with the precolonial history of Native Americans.

Eliminate.

C. inability to document the activities of Native Americans in colonial America

This choice is tricky because it seems plausible that historians have had trouble documenting the activities of Native Americans in colonial America.

At the same time, the passage mentions no "inability to document the activities of Native Americans."

The only "inability" mentioned is "historians' apparent inability to fit them into the New World theme," which involves an inability to understand how the Native Americans fit not an inability to document their activities.

D. inability to reconstruct the interactions between Native Americans and immigrants to the New World

This choice is tricky because it seems plausible that historians have had trouble reconstructing the interactions between Native Americans and immigrants to the New World.

At the same time, the passage mentions no inability to reconstruct those interactions.

The only "inability" mentioned is "historians' apparent inability to fit them into the New World theme," which involves an inability to understand how the Native Americans fit not an inability to reconstruct interactions.

E. belief that physical environment has little effect on culture

This choice is somewhat contrary to what the passage says.

The passage basically says that historians failed to explore the Native Americans' new world because the Native Americans' did not change physical locations: "Since Native Americans had not recently arrived from a faraway land, it must have seemed logical to exclude them."

So, it appears that historians did consider the effects of changes in physical environment on Europeans and Africans and excluded Native Americans because the historians felts that Native Americans' experiences during colonial times didn't involve such changes.

Eliminate.

The correct answer is (A).

Explanation for Question 3

3. ﻿The author of the passage mentions Turner and Herskovits in the highlighted text primarily in order to provide examples of historians who

A. provided provocative but flawed studies of the Native American past

The author does not say that Turner and Herskovits provided flawed studies of the Native American past. Rather, it uses them as examples of historians that "left out" the Native American past from what they studied.

B. failed to recount the experience of Native Americans in colonial America

The author says that historians "left out" Native Americans, in other words, that they "failed to recount (tell the story of) the experience of Native Americans."

Then, the author mentions "Turner and Herskovits" as examples of historians who have left out the experience of Native Americans.

So, we can see that the author mentions Turner and Herskovits to provide examples of historians who "failed to recount the experience of Native Americans in colonial America."

Keep.

C. carefully examined the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans from histories of the New World

The author carefully examines the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans from histories of the New World but does not say that Turner and Herskovits carefully examined that logic. Rather, the author indicates that Turner and Herskovits are two historians who excluded Native Americans from histories of the New World.

Eliminate.

D. recently revised their approach to the study of the history of colonial America

The author suggests that historians should revise their approach to the study of the history of colonial America but does not say that Turner and Herskovits have done so.

Eliminate.

E. were unlike other historians in that they incorporated a "new world" theme into their works

This choice is half right in that the author does indicate that Turner and Herskovits incorporated "the New World theme" into their works,.

However, this choice has a failure point in that the author does not indicate that, in incorporating the New World theme, Turner and Herskovits were "unlike other historians."

Eliminate.

The correct answer is (B).

Gemmie · Answer

1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with 
 C. recommending a new approach

The passage is primarily concerned with recommending a new approach to understanding the experiences of Native Americans in colonial North America.

- The author argues that the traditional approach of viewing the colonial period solely through the lens of European and African immigration overlooks the significant changes experienced by Native Americans themselves.

- The author proposes a new definition of "new world" that emphasizes the dramatic changes in environment and lifestyle, which would include the experiences of Native Americans.

- The author encourages historians to consider Native Americans as part of the "encounter between worlds" narrative.

2. The passage suggests that the "failure to explore the Native Americans' new world" (see highlighted text) resulted from historians' 
 A. emphasis on the contrast between the Old World and the New World

The author suggests that the existing framework for understanding the colonial period focuses on the "New World" experience of Europeans and Africans arriving from a different environment (Old World).

This focus on contrasting experiences, according to the author, led historians to exclude Native Americans who were already there.

3. ﻿The author of the passage mentions Turner and Herskovits in the highlighted text primarily in order to provide examples of historians who 
 B. failed to recount the experience of Native Americans in colonial America

The passage mentions a list of historians: "From Turner to Allen, from Herskovits to Littlefield". This structure suggests the author is using them as  examples  of a broader trend in historical scholarship.

The key point is in the following sentence: "Scholars have analyzed encounters between peoples from the Old World and conditions in the New World". This highlights how the focus has been on  immigrants  from Europe and Africa.

By implication, this focus on contrasting experiences from the "Old World" might have led to the  exclusion  of Native Americans who were already there. (This is the argument the author is making).

In short, Turner and Herskovits are cited as examples of historians who contributed to a historical narrative that marginalized or ignored Native American experiences in colonial America, focusing instead on European and African interactions with the New World.

SergejK · Answer

Question 2:

As we are asked to infer from the "failure to explore the Native Americans' new world" resulted from historians'...", we are asked to find the cause of their failure. Such a cause will be presented in the information explaining why the failed to do so. So our answer must be embedded in the part that provides the explanation for their inability. As the following sentence starts with "one reason" here we will clearly find that explanation. In those next 2 sentences it is explained that Native Americans were excluded because they were part of the Old World and their perspective didn't fit into the New World theme. As choice A presents that the emphasis of the contrast between the 2 worlds is the reason, choice A is clearly correct.

Blackcrow1972 · Answer

Q2
A. emphasis on the contrast between the Old World and the New World
Explanation:
The passage suggests that historians’ focus on the theme of encounters between the Old World (Europe and Africa) and the New World (the Americas) led to the exclusion of Native Americans from this narrative. This emphasis on the Old World vs. New World contrast prevented historians from fully considering the transformative experiences of Native Americans as they encountered new challenges and changes due to European and African arrivals.

Option D ("inability to reconstruct the interactions between Native Americans and immigrants to the New World") is incorrect because the passage does not suggest that historians lacked the ability to document or reconstruct these interactions. Instead, the passage argues that historians were more focused on the theme of encounters between Old World immigrants and the New World itself, which inadvertently excluded Native Americans from this narrative.

The main issue wasn’t historians’ inability to reconstruct interactions but rather their emphasis on the contrast between the Old World and New World, which led to an oversight of Native Americans' experiences in the transformed world they faced.

kartickdey · Answer

MartyMurray

Regarding Q3, option C, I have one doubt. It is written that "  Since Native Americans had not recently arrived from a faraway land, it must have seemed logical to exclude them.  ". It means that the exclusion of the native americans seemed logical to the mentioned historians. I could not understand why option C is wrong.

MartyMurray · Answer

Here's question 3:

3. ﻿The author of the passage mentions Turner and Herskovits in the highlighted text primarily in order to provide examples of historians who

We see that the correct answer will describe what the author believed was a characteristic of Turner and Herskovits.

Now, here's (C):

C. carefully examined the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans from histories of the New World

As you mentioned, the passage says that exclusion of Native Americans must have seemed logical to Turner and Herskovits.

At the same time, the idea that that exclusion seemed logical to them does not mean that Turner and Herskovits "  carefully examined  the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans." In fact, if anything, the author indicates otherwise, suggesting that historians "overlooked" how Native Americans fit into the New World theme and were mistaken in doing so, meaning, if anything, that they excluded Native Americans because they were  not  careful.

So, in saying that Turner and Herskovits were historians who "carefully examined" the logic of the exclusion of Native Americans, (C) says something that goes beyond and is in a way contrary to what the passage says.

That Native Americans in colonial North America were thrust into

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

That Native Americans in colonial North America were thrust into

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

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