Most educated people of the eighteenth century, such as the Founding F

Question

Most educated people of the eighteenth century, such as the Founding Fathers, subscribed to Natural Rights Theory, the idea that every human being has a considerable number of innate rights, simply by virtue of being a human person. When the US Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, many at that time felt that the federal government outlined by the Constitution would be too strong, and that rights of individual citizens against the government had to be clarified. This led to the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments, which were ratified at the same time as the Constitution. The first eight of these amendments list specific rights of citizens. Some leaders feared that listing some rights could be interpreted to mean that citizens didn't have other, unlisted rights. Toward this end, James Madison and others produced the Ninth Amendment, which states: the fact that certain rights are listed in the Constitution shall not be construed to imply that other rights of the people are denied.

Constitutional traditionalists interpret the Ninth Amendment as a rule for reading the rest of the constitution. They would argue that "Ninth Amendment rights" are a misconceived notion: the amendment does not, by itself, create federally enforceable rights. In particular, this strict reasoning would be opposed to the creation of any new rights based on the amendment. Rather, according to this view, the amendment merely protects those rights that citizens already have, whether they are explicitly listed in the Constitution or simply implicit in people’s lives and in American tradition.

More liberal interpreters of the US Constitution have a much more expansive view of the Ninth Amendment. In their view, the Ninth Amendment guarantees to American citizens a vast universe of potential rights, some of which we have enjoyed for two centuries, and others that the Founding Fathers could not possibly have conceived. These scholars point out that some rights, such as voting rights of women or minorities, were not necessarily viewed as rights by the majority of citizens in late eighteenth century America, but are taken as fundamental and unquestionable in modern America. While those rights cited are protected specifically by other amendments and laws, the argument asserts that other unlisted right also could evolve from unthinkable to perfectly acceptable, and the Ninth Amendment would protect these as-yet-undefined rights.

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B

1) The author cites the scholars referring to "voting rights of women or minorities" in order to

(A) cite unquestionably justified Ninth Amendment rights
(B) demonstrate how changing priorities can alter perspectives on fundamental human rights
(C) argue for the modern extension of Natural Rights Theory
(D) refute the traditionalist interpretation of the Ninth Amendment
(E) champion the rights of all citizens in the democratic process

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D

2) Constitutional scholars of both the traditionalist and liberal views would agree that "Ninth Amendment rights"

(A) accommodate shifts in cultural values with respect to issues affecting human rights
(B) cannot serve as the basis of legal decisions
(C) are directly reflected in our understanding of who can and can’t vote
(D) are not stated explicitly in the Bill of Rights
(E) extend the idea of Natural Rights Theory

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E

3) According to the passage, what would the Ninth Amendment imply about a right to "a trial by jury", guaranteed in the Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution?

(A) The Ninth Amendment would provide direct support for this right.
(B) The Ninth Amendment would not support this right directly, but would support all the logistics that would allow citizens to exercise this right.
(C) The Ninth Amendment would apply to trials that fall outside the jurisdiction of Federal Courts.
(D) The Ninth Amendment would apply to all trials that do not involve Constitutional Law
(E) The Ninth Amendment is irrelevant to any right mentioned explicitly in the Bill of Rights.

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A

4) In the view of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers, the Ninth Amendment limits the power of the central Federal government by

(A) preventing constitutionally listed rights from being viewed as exhaustive
(B) giving the citizens rights in every area not explicitly addressed by the law
(C) codifying a vast universe of federally enforceable rights
(D) guaranteeing, in the text of US Constitution, all rights held by Natural Rights Theory
(E) ensuring all citizens are able to vote and, thus, choose the democratic leaders

Show Spoiler

D

5) The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) clarify the most proper interpretation of an amendment
(B) argue for a broader perspective on human rights and their legal protection
(C) contrast historical perspectives of an amendment to its modern legal reading
(D) explain the motivation for an amendment and the ambiguity this amendment presents
(E) demonstrate how the Founding Fathers’ intentions have been distorted by subsequent legal proceedings.

For a complete discussion of this passage and full solutions to the questions see:
https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-readi ... questions/

Show Answer Question #1

Official Answer

B

Show Answer Question #2

Official Answer

D

Show Answer Question #3

Official Answer

E

Show Answer Question #4

Official Answer

A

Show Answer Question #5

Official Answer

D

iamdp · Accepted Answer

1) The author cites the scholars referring to "voting rights of women or minorities" in order to
(A) cite unquestionably justified Ninth Amendment rights. > Distraction
 (B) demonstrate how changing priorities can alter perspectives on fundamental human rights  > Stated in the passage 
how the views changed ove time.
(C) argue for the modern extension of Natural Rights Theory > Irrelevant 
(D)  refute  the traditionalist interpretation of the Ninth Amendment
(E)  champion the rights  of all citizens in the democratic process. Noway..!!

2) Constitutional scholars of both the traditionalist and liberal views would agree that "Ninth Amendment rights"
(A) accommodate shifts in cultural values with respect to issues affecting human rights
(B) cannot serve as the basis of legal decisions. Not infer-able 
(C) are directly reflected in our understanding of who can and can’t vote. > irrelevant 
 (D) are not stated explicitly in the Bill of Rights  > Not formally listed but inherited. 
(E) extend the idea of Natural Rights Theory. Somewhere near but not extender idea but D seems fine

3) According to the passage, what would the Ninth Amendment imply about a right to "a trial by jury", guaranteed in the Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution?
(A) The Ninth Amendment would provide direct support for this right. Just the opposite stated in the passage.
(B) The Ninth Amendment would not support this right directly, but would support all the logistics that would allow citizens to exercise this right. Nope..!!
(C) The Ninth Amendment would apply to trials that fall outside the jurisdiction of Federal Courts. Not inferable
(D) The Ninth Amendment would apply to all trials that do not involve Constitutional Law. Opposite
 (E) The Ninth Amendment is irrelevant to any right mentioned explicitly in the Bill of Rights.  > Exactly what the passage states

4) In the view of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers, the Ninth Amendment limits the power of the central Federal government by
 (A) preventing constitutionally listed rights from being viewed as exhaustive 
(B) giving the citizens rights in  every area  not explicitly addressed by the law. Extreme
(C) codifying a vast universe of federally enforceable rights. Nope..!!
(D)  guaranteeing , in the text of US Constitution,  all rights  held by Natural Rights Theory. Extreme..!! words
(E) ensuring all citizens are able to vote and, thus, choose the democratic leaders. Off the track.

5) The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A)  clarify the most  proper interpretation of an amendment
(B)  argue  for a broader perspective on human rights and their legal protection
(C)  contrast  historical perspectives of an amendment to its modern legal reading
 (D) explain the motivation for an amendment and the ambiguity this amendment presents 
(E) demonstrate  how  the Founding Fathers’ intentions  have been distorted  by subsequent legal proceedings.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear rockinfeet , I'm sorry --- there was a typo in that sentence, a missing "not". I fixed the typo in the question above --- the sentence should read: the fact that certain rights are listed in the Constitution shall not be construed to imply that other rights of the people are denied This means --- the Constitution lists some rights, but that list is not exhaustive --- people still have other rights, fundamental human rights (such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) even if these are not stated explicitly in the Constitution. Does that make sense? Mike :-)

kartik222 · Answer

Hi Mike,

I understand that the answer to first questions stems from here:

"These scholars point out that some rights, such as voting rights of women or minorities, were not necessarily viewed as rights by the majority of citizens in late eighteenth century America, but are taken as fundamental and unquestionable in modern America. "

thanks,

K

But the answer which has some words that makes it not correct:
 demonstrate how changing priorities  can alter perspectives on fundamental human rights--> where does the passage talks about " demonstrate how changing priorities "??

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear kartik222 I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, fundamentally, the word " priority " has a broad definition. Anything anyone considers important, in any context, can be called a " priority ." In the third paragraph says: " These scholars point out that some rights, such as voting rights of women or minorities, were not necessarily viewed as rights by the majority of citizens in late eighteenth century America, but are taken as fundamental and unquestionable in modern America ." In other words, if we ask the question, " is it a priority to make sure woman and non-white folks are able to vote ?", then most 18th-century folks, including just about all of the Founding Fathers, would say, " No, not really ", but the vast majority of modern Americans would say, " Yes, of course it is !" The answers to questions such as " Should women be allowed to vote? Should non-white folks be allowed to vote? " ---- the answer to these questions represent priorities, and these answers have changed profoundly in the past two centuries, which of course alters " perspectives on fundamental human rights ". This " demonstrates ... changing priorities " Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Hugoba , I'm happy to respond. :-)

What's extreme about that language? Consider these hypothetical statements. Nobody can make sense of this amendment! It's complete gibberish!! or The people who wrote that amendment must have been on drugs at the time! Those are very extreme statements! These statements are judgmental and charged. Nothing like that would ever be correct on the GMAT! By contrast, talking about " the ambiguity this amendment presents " is relatively objective and factual. In other words, if different people have different interpretations of a source that they each think is correct, de facto , then the source is ambiguous. There's no emotional judgment in that. It's just a factual statement about the message people are getting. I think it's important to distinguish between the GMAT and real life. On the GMAT, say on SC, a sentence that is ambiguous is irredeemably wrong: it can't possibly be a correct answer. One might say that, on the GMAT SC, ambiguity is punished. Well, in the real world, all kinds of things are ambiguous. More than half the advertisements in existence are ambiguous, many deliberately so, to create false impressions or expectations. Some laws are ambiguous, and when those ambiguities get challenged in the courts, it forces judges or law-makers to clarify the situation somehow, through rulings or new laws. Politicians love saying ambiguous things, for much the same reasons that advertisers say them. In the real world, ambiguity is simply a fact of life. There is not some Arbiter of the Truth out there that is punishing real-world ambiguity in the way that the GMAT can punish ambiguity in SC. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear nehajain1234 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

This passage is a free sample from Magoosh. If you want to see more, sign up for Magoosh. We have a large bank of verbal practice questions, including multiple passages each with its own questions. Here's a sample Critical Reasoning question: According to Federal VA, hospitals When you submit your answer, the next page will have a complete video explanations. Each one of Magoosh's 1000+ GMAT Practice questions, for accelerated learning. As for the time, see these blog article: GMAT Reading Comprehension Technique: Read Carefully Once Curiosity: The “Secret Sauce” of GMAT Reading Comprehension Success Of course, to get up to the speeds recommended in that first blog, you will need to develop a habit of reading. See: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

TheRzS · Answer

Perhaps the best non-OG RC I have done. Thanks for sharing  mikemcgarry

Just wanted to ask, what do you think is a reasonable "time" for this passage? 
I clocked 4/5 about - 12.5 mins.

Thanks and regards

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear TheRzS , I'm happy to respond.

Thank you for your kind words of appreciation.

I would say that, unfortunately, 12.5 minutes is way too long. Ideally, a long passage plus 5 questions should take you a total of about 8-9 minutes if you are working at full speed. Ideally, you would read the passage once, thoroughly, in about 3-4 minutes, and then spend about a minute per question. See: How to Study for GMAT Reading Comprehension If that sort of time seems too fast right now, then it would be a good idea to boost the amount of outside-of-the-GMAT reading you are doing. The very best way to improve reading speed, especially for a non-native speaker, is to develop a rigorous daily habit of reading. See: How to Improve Your GMAT Verbal Score Does all this make sense? Mike

chesstitans · Answer

additional question:
The passage provides support for which of the following?

A. The right to privacy, not mentioned at all in the Bill of Rights, must have its constitutional basis in the Ninth Amendment.
B. Madison would have been in favor of women's right to vote.
C Certain parts of the Bill of Rights are open to divergent interpretations.
D Twentieth-century amendments that explicitly added new rights weakened the Ninth Amendment.
E In the absence of the Ninth Amendment, the American Federal Government would have interpreted the list of rights in the Bill of Rights as setting a strict limit on the possible rights that American citizens could enjoy.

OA is C

Talayva · Answer

Regarding Question 3 
" Rather, according to this view, the amendment merely protects those rights that citizens already have, whether they are explicitly listed in the Constitution or simply implicit in people???s lives and in American tradition."
This line in the passage tells us that Ninth Amendment protects all the rights already listed in the Constitution . Even the liberal view just expands the view of traditionalists , but doesnot contradicty it . Hence , we can infer that both traditionalists and liberals believed that 9th Amendment protects rights already mentioned in the constitution

TaN1213 · Answer

Is it just me or the passage is long, contrary to the tag of short passage? Are 'long passages' approximately longer than this one?

goofytiwari69 · Answer

first of all you have misconstrued the line it says the fact that certain rights are listed in the Constitution shall  not  be construed to imply that other rights of the people are denied.

it means that the fact that some rights are listed doesn't means that others which are not listed are denied.

jawele · Answer

1) The author cites the scholars referring to "voting rights of women or minorities" in order to   - the relevant text is in the last paragraph 
(A) cite unquestionably justified Ninth Amendment rights  by the reference the author seeks to make a point that some new rights can in fact evolve 
(B) demonstrate how changing priorities can alter perspectives on fundamental human rights  matches the purpose 
(C)  argue for  the modern extension of Natural Rights Theory
(D)  refute  the traditionalist interpretation of the Ninth Amendment  by the example, the author does not seek to refute, but to illustrate that some new rights can be created 
(E)  champion  the rights of all citizens in the democratic process

2) Constitutional scholars of both the traditionalist and liberal views would agree that "Ninth Amendment rights"
(A) accommodate shifts in cultural values with respect to issues affecting human rights  the traditionalist may not likely to agree with this 
(B) cannot serve as the basis of  legal decisions  
(C) are directly reflected in our understanding of who can and can’t vote  if anything, too narrow 
(D) are not stated explicitly in the Bill of Rights  correct 
(E)  extend  the idea of Natural Rights Theory  the scholars don't provide their views about the theory

3) According to the passage, what would the Ninth Amendment imply about a right to "a trial by jury", guaranteed in the Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution?
(A) The Ninth Amendment would provide direct support for this right.  the 9th Amendment deals with a completely different category of rights, and thus this cannot be inferred 
(B) The Ninth Amendment would not support this right directly, but would support  all the logistics  that would allow citizens  to exercise  this right.  the 9th Amendment deals with a completely different category of rights 
(C) The Ninth Amendment would apply to  trials  that fall outside the jurisdiction of Federal Courts.  the passage doesn't give any information about trials 
(D) The Ninth Amendment would apply to all  trials  that do not involve Constitutional Law
(E) The Ninth Amendment is irrelevant to any right mentioned explicitly in the Bill of Rights.  the 9th Amendment talks about rights that are not listed in the BoR, while the other Amendments establish explicit rights

4) In the view of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers, the Ninth Amendment limits the power of the central Federal government by   - the relevant text: "Toward this end, James Madison and others produced the Ninth Amendment, which states:  the fact that certain rights are listed in the Constitution shall not be construed to imply that other rights of the people are denied ." 
(A) preventing constitutionally listed rights from being viewed as exhaustive  correct 
(B) giving the citizens rights in every area not explicitly addressed by the law  the government may have interpreted in limited manner - the opposite that we need 
(C) codifying a  vast universe  of federally enforceable rights  again, the government may have wanted a limited scope of rights 
(D) guaranteeing, in the text of US Constitution, all rights held by Natural Rights Theory  the same as in C 
(E) ensuring all citizens are able to vote and, thus, choose the democratic leaders  too specific and doesn't catch the essence of the relevant text

5) The primary purpose of the passage is to   - first the author provides a short historical context that describes how the Bill of Rights have come to being. Then, the author mentions an issue related to the 9th Amendment. After that, the author provides two opposing views that describe whether the Amendment can or cannot expand the scope of rights 
(A) clarify  the most proper  interpretation of an amendment
(B)  argue for a broader perspective  on human rights and their legal protection
(C)  contrast historical  perspectives of an amendment to its  modern  legal reading
(D) explain the motivation for an amendment and the ambiguity this amendment presents  correct 
(E) demonstrate how the Founding Fathers’  intentions have been distorted by subsequent legal proceedings .

KrishnakumarKA1 · Answer

Hey..

Reading Comprehension passages on the GMAT are usually this long - I don't understand why it is tagged as a short passage.

Nevertheless, one thing that you need to understand is that it is sufficient to read 20% of the passage to answer 80% of the questions on the RC.

You can watch the video below to understand what to read and what not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43X5yJI ... c_0aAFpICK

Thanks,
Saikiran Dudyala
Byju's GMAT Expert.

AdityaHongunti · Answer

mikemcgarry  
I dont understand how does " preventing constitutionally listed rights from being viewed as exhaustive" - LIMIT the power of govt.?? 
I mean it was more like the thinkers were concerned that the citizens may think that whatever is explicitly stated is the only law and other rights are not granted. HOW DOES THIS LIMIT THE POWER OF GOVT.?

In the view of James Madison and the other Founding Fathers, the Ninth Amendment limits the power of the central Federal government by

(A) preventing constitutionally listed rights from being viewed as exhaustive

pratiksha1998 · Answer

For Question 2 how are we inferring that both the traditionalists and liberals agree that the 9th Amendment is not a part of Bill of Rights?

Most educated people of the eighteenth century, such as the Founding F

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

Most educated people of the eighteenth century, such as the Founding F

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