The United States Supreme Court has not always resolved legal issues o

Hi everyone,
took 14 minutes and got 6/7 correct. Took 5:30 minutes to read, write down paragraphs summaries and main point.

P1: Court accommodating approach towards natives
P2: A beneficial aspect of courts towards natives
P3: 1st achievement
P4: 2nd achievement

MP: the court approach and achievements towards natives

1. According to the passage, one reason why the United States Supreme Court “has not always resolved legal issues of concern to Native Americans in a manner that has pleased the Indian nations” (lines 1–4) is that

Pre thinking:
refer to lines 1-4. The reason is that compromises were made.

(A) Native Americans have been prevented from presenting their concerns persuasively
Nowhere mentioned in the passage. Hence incorrect

(B) the Court has failed to recognize that the Indian nations’ concerns are different from those of other groups or from those of the federal government
never mentioned in this context. Hence incorrect

(C) the Court has been reluctant to curtail the powers of the federal government
out of context. Hence incorrect

(D) Native Americans faced distinct disadvantages in dealing with settlers in the past
out of context. Hence incorrect

(E) the Court has made political compromises in deciding some cases
yes as stated in the first paragraph. Hence correct.


2. It can be inferred that the objections raised by the critics mentioned in line 18 would be most clearly answered by a United States Supreme Court decision that

Pre-thinking:
The objection at hand is that courts don't take native values into consideration when evaluating cases. So in order to make up for this "incorrect" behavior courts should take those value into consideration

(A) demonstrated respect for Native Americans and the principles and qualities they consider important
Correct as in line with our pre-thinking

(B) protected the rights of the states in conflicts with the federal government
out of context and out of the concern of the critics. Hence incorrect

(C) demonstrated recognition of the unfair treatment Native Americans received in the past
out of the critics concern. Hence incorrect.

(D) reflected consideration of the hardships suffered by Native Americans because of unfair treaties
out of the critics concern. Hence incorrect

(E) prevented repetition of inequities experienced by Native Americans in the past
close but since we don't know whether those inequities depended on not taking into consideration natives values this answer choice is inconsistent. Hence incorrect


3. It can be inferred that the author calls the judicial system of the United States “accommodating” (line 10) primarily in order to

Pre-thinking:
The purpose of "accommodating in the second paragraph is to highlight a contrast. The contrast is accommodating behavior VS beneficial approach towards native in most cases. So the purpose is to highlight the beneficial approach towards natives most of the times.

(A) suggest that the decisions of the United States Supreme Court have been less favorable to Native Americans than most people believe
Cannot be inferred. Hence incorrect

(B) suggest that the United States Supreme Court should be more supportive of the goals of Native Americans
Which goals? out of scope. Hence incorrect

(C) suggest a reason why the decisions of the United States Supreme Court have not always favored Native Americans
In order to mark this answer choice as the correct one we need to extend the job done with our pre-thinking. Since in most of the cases the court approach was beneficial to natives we can infer that there were cases in which that approach would lead to some disadvantages. As well we can link this new information with the accommodating behavior as the cause of these few cases. Hence correct

(D) indicate that the United States Supreme Court has made creditable efforts to recognize the values of Native Americans
No. Values were not taken into consideration as the critics state. Hence incorrect

(E) indicate that the United States Supreme Court attempts to be fair to all parties to a case
nowhere mentioned and quite extreme. Hence incorrect

4. The author’s attitude toward the United States Supreme Court’s resolution of legal issues of concern to Native Americans can best be described as one of

Pre-thinking:
Looking at P2,P3,P4 we can see that the author attitude is quite positive towards the improvements made by the court

(A) wholehearted endorsement
This option is too extreme and it does not take into consideration the accommodating behavior and the exclusion of natives values. Hence incorrect

(B) restrained appreciation
I would say this is the closest since the author shows indeed some appreciation. Hence correct

(C) detached objectivity
I initially though this was the right answer since I saw the passage as an objective presentation of information but looking at the structure the positive aspects outweigh the negative ones and we can not talk about objectivity since the author supports in part the court approach. Hence correct

(D) cautious opposition
Opposite. The author support the court. Hence incorrect

(E) suppressed exasperation
Too extreme and definitely not the author's point of view. Hence incorrect


5. It can be inferred that the author believes that the extension of the states’ powers and jurisdictions with respect to Native American affairs would be

Pre-thinking:
Refer to the last paragraph and especially to this portion: "Federal judges are not inclined to view favorably
efforts to extend states’ powers and jurisdictions
because of the direct threat that such expansion
poses to the exercise of federal powers."

(A) possible only with the consent of the Indian nations
Never mentioned. Hence incorrect

(B) favorably viewed by the United States Supreme Court
opposite. Hence incorrect

(C) in the best interests of both state and federal governments
Opposite. Hence incorrect

(D) detrimental to the interests of Native Americans
Refer to the first line of P4. Hence correct

(E) discouraged by most federal judges in spite of legal precedents supporting the extension
Never mentioned. Hence incorrect


6. The author’s primary purpose is to

Pre thinking:
Refer to our main point formulation

(A) contrast opposing views
opposing views are not the main subject of the passage. Critics are mentioned only in P2 as a detail. Hence incorrect

(B) reevaluate traditional beliefs
No traditional belief is reevaluated. Hence incorrect

(C) reconcile divergent opinions
No opinion is reconciled. Hence incorrect

(D) assess the claims made by disputants
No claim is assessed. Hence incorrect

(E) provide evidence to support a contention
Very different from our main point but we can try to work on this nonetheless. First the contention can be identified in the beneficial improved approach of the court towards native while the evidence is represented by the last two paragraphs(rules in favor of natives and protection against encroachment). Hence correct


7. It can be inferred that the author believes the United States Supreme Court’s treatment of Native Americans to have been

Pre-thinking:
the author believes the court to have improved and to have favored natives in the majority of the cases although the accommodating behavior

(A) irreproachable on legal grounds
Inconsistent because of irreproachable. The author acknowledges that compromise rather than laws drives court's behavior but it doesn't condemn court since this behavior is in favor of natives. Hence incorrect

(B) reasonably supportive in most situations
In line with prethinking. Hence correct

(C) guided by enduring principles of law
Opposite. Guided by compromise. Hence incorrect

(D) misguided but generally harmless
It is not harmless since there were cases in which the natives did not benefit from court's behavior. Hence incorrect

(E) harmful only in a few minor cases
Inconsistent because of Minor. It's true that in few cases the court was not fair but we are not given whether those cases were minor or not. Hence incorrect.