While historians once propagated the myth that Africans who were

Question

While historians once propagated the myth that
Africans who were brought to the New World as slaves
contributed little of value but their labor, a recent study
by Amelia Wallace Vernon helps to dispel this notion
 (5)  by showing that Africans introduced rice and the
methods of cultivating it into what is now the United
States in the early eighteenth century. She uncovered,
for example, an 1876 document that details that in
1718 starving French settlers instructed the captain of a
 (10)  slave ship bound for Africa to trade for 400 Africans
including some “who know how to cultivate rice.” This
discovery is especially compelling because the
introduction of rice into what is now the United States
had previously been attributed to French Acadians,
 (15)  who did not arrive until the 1760s.

Vernon interviewed elderly African Americans
who helped her discover the locations where until
about 1920 their forebears had cultivated rice. At the
heart of Vernon’s research is the question of why, in an
 (20)  economy dedicated to maximizing cotton production,
African Americans grew rice. She proposes two
intriguing answers, depending on whether the time is
before of after the end of slavery. During the period of
slavery, plantation owners also ate rice and therefore
 (25)  tolerated or demanded its “after-hours” cultivation on
patches of land not suited to cotton. In addition,
growing the rice gave the slaves some relief from a
system of regimented labor under a field supervisor, in
that they were left alone to work independently.

(30)  After the abolition of slavery, however, rice
cultivation is more difficult to explain: African
Americans had acquired a preference for eating corn,
there was no market for the small amounts of rice they
produced, and under the tenant system—in which
 (35)  farmers surrendered a portion of their crops to the
owners of the land they farmed—owners wanted only
cotton as payment. The labor required to transform
unused land to productive ground would thus seem
completely out of proportion to the reward—except
 (40)  that, according to Vernon, the transforming of the land
itself was the point.

Vernon suggests that these African Americans did
not transform the land as a means to an end, but rather
as an end in itself. In other words, they did not
 (45)  transform the land in order to grow rice—for the
resulting rice was scarcely worth the effort required to
clear the land—but instead transformed the land
because they viewed land as an extension of self and
home and so wished to nurture it and make it their
 (50)  own. In addition to this cultural explanation, Vernon
speculates that rice cultivation might also have been a
political act, a next step after the emancipation of the
slaves: the symbolic claiming of plantation land that
the U.S. government had promised but failed to parcel
 (55)  off and deed to newly freed African Americans.  
 1 
 1. Which one of the following titles most completely and accurately summarizes the contents of the passage?

(A) “The Introduction of Rice Cultivation into what is now the United States by Africans and Its Continued Practice in the Years During and After Slavery”
(B) “The Origin of Rice Cultivation in what is now the United States and Its Impact on the Economy from 1760 to 1920”
(C) “Widespread Rice Cultivation by African Americans under the Tenant System in the Years After the Abolition of Slavery”
(D) “Cultural and Political Contributions of Africans who were Brought to what is now the United States in the Eighteenth Century”
(E) “African American Tenant Farmers and their Cultivation of Rice in an Economy Committed to the Mass Production of Cotton”

2 
 2. Which one of the following most completely and accurately describes the author’s attitude toward Vernon’s study?

(A) respectful of its author and skeptical toward its theories
(B) admiring of its accomplishments and generally receptive to its theories
(C) appreciative of the effort it required and neutral toward its theories
(D) enthusiastic about its goals but skeptical of its theories
(E) accepting of its author’s motives but overtly dismissive of its theories

3 
 3. As described in the last paragraph of the passage, rice cultivation after slavery is most analogous to which one of the following?

(A) A group of neighbors plants flower gardens on common land adjoining their properties in order to beautify their neighborhood and to create more of a natural boundary between properties.
(B) A group of neighbors plants a vegetable garden for their common use and to compete with the local market’s high-priced produce by selling vegetables to other citizens who live outside the neighborhood.
(C) A group of neighbors initiates an effort to neuter all the domestic animals in their neighborhood out of a sense of civic duty and to forestall the city taking action of its own to remedy the overpopulation.
(D) A group of neighbors regularly cleans up the litter on a vacant lot in their neighborhood out of a sense of ownership over the lot and to protest the city’s neglect of their neighborhood.
(E) A group of neighbors renovates an abandoned building so they can start a program to watch each other’s children out of a sense of communal responsibility and to offset the closing of a day care center in their neighborhood.

4 
 4. Which one of the following most completely and accurately describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A historical phenomenon is presented, several competing theories about the phenomenon are described, and one theory having the most support is settled upon.
(B) A historical discovery is presented, the method leading to the discovery is provided, and two questions left unanswered by the discovery are identified.
(C) A historical fact is presented, a question raised by the fact is described, and two answers to the question are given.
(D) A historical question is raised, possible answers to the question are speculated upon, and two reasons for difficulty in answering the question are given.
(E) A historical question is raised, a study is described that answers the question, and a number of issues surrounding the study are discussed.

5 
 5. The passage cites which one of the following as a reason that rice cultivation in the context of the tenant system was difficult to explain?

(A) Landowners did not eat rice and thus would not tolerate its cultivation on tenant lands.
(B) Rice was not considered acceptable payment to landowners for the use of tenant lands.
(C) Tenant farmers did not have enough time “after hours” to cultivate the rice properly.
(D) The labor required to cultivate rice was more strenuous than that required for cotton.
(E) Tenant lands used primarily to grow cotton were not suited to rice.

6 
 6. The author’s primary purpose in the passage is to

(A) describe the efforts of a historian to uncover evidence for a puzzling phenomenon
(B) illustrate the historical background of a puzzling phenomenon
(C) present a historian’s theories about a puzzling phenomenon
(D) criticize the work of previous historians regarding a puzzling phenomenon
(E) analyze the effects of a puzzling phenomenon on an economic system

AnirudhaS · Answer

2. Which one of the following most completely and accurately describes the author’s attitude toward Vernon’s study?

(B) admiring of its accomplishments and generally receptive to its theories
(C) appreciative of the effort it required and neutral toward its theories

Let us zoom into the two possible answers. 
Author agrees to Vernon, so the second part of B - generally receptive to its theories - is right. The first part - admiring - is a bit tricky. The usage of the word "intrigue" does exaclty that in the second paragraph.
 "She proposes two intriguing answers, depending on whether the time is before of after the end of slavery. "

4. Which one of the following most completely and accurately describes the organization of the passage?

(A) A historical phenomenon is presented, several competing theories about the phenomenon are described, and one theory having the most support is settled upon.
(B) A historical discovery is presented, the method leading to the discovery is provided, and two questions left unanswered by the discovery are identified.
(C) A historical fact is presented, a question raised by the fact is described, and two answers to the question are given.
(D) A historical question is raised, possible answers to the question are speculated upon, and two reasons for difficulty in answering the question are given.
(E) A historical question is raised, a study is described that answers the question, and a number of issues surrounding the study are discussed.

Let us quickly write the paragraph summaries 
I: rice + rice methods --> USA
II: why rice?
III: After slavery ended --> difficult to explain
IV: Answer to why After? land = self's extension + political motive

Here the second paragraph poses the question, not the first. The first paragraph just presents a fact. So we can easily eliminate options (D) and (E) because they start with "a question is raised". After that it is fairly straight-forward to get to (C) as it simple follows. Fatal flaws in (A) & (B) is everything is not correct after the first part - a fact is presented.

Hope this helps.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. Which one of the following most completely and accurately describes the author’s attitude toward Vernon’s study?

Explanation

To say one is  “intrigued” (line 22)  means that one is interested, willing to listen.  “Receptive”  is therefore a perfect description here of the author’s attitude toward Vernon’s theories. Calling Vernon’s discovery  “compelling” (line 12)  also matches up well with  (B) ’s  “admiring of its accomplishments.” (B)  best describes the author’s attitude here.

(A)  Half right, half wrong:  “Respectful”  is fine, but  “skeptical”  is unwarranted. Nowhere in the passage does the author state or imply that he questions the validity of Vernon’s theories.

(C)  The author does seem to applaud Vernon’s effort, but again, the words “compelling” and “intriguing” have to rule out  “neutral”  as the attitude toward her findings.

(D)  Same as  (A)—“skeptical”  is uncalled for here.

(E)  Motives are never discussed, but “overtly dismissive” is really the main culprit in this one. There’s not one negative word about Vernon’s theories in the whole piece.

Answer: B

Explanation Credit: Kaplan LSAT

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. As described in the last paragraph of the passage, rice cultivation after slavery is most analogous to which one of the following?

Explanation

This Application question narrows our focus to the  final Paragraph  and the post-slavery explanation. Refresh your memory if you need to: Although not economically practical, these African Americans engaged in growing rice for cultural and political reasons. We’re therefore looking for another situation in which people engage in an activity as an  “end in itself”  with more than just economic considerations in mind. The situation in  (D)  relates perfectly to the African Americans’ motivation cited in  lines 47-50 ; they viewed the land as  “an extension of self and home”  and desired to  “make it their own.”  The neighborhood folks tend to the vacant lot out of a similar sense of ownership, and their protest of the city’s neglect of the lot corresponds nicely to the political explanation given in  lines 50-55.

(A)  The activity here does not fall into the category of  “an end in itself” : Beautifying is a goal that extends beyond the mere act of planting, and creating borders qualifies as a practical consideration.

(B)  The activity here certainly involves a practical economic motivation unlike any underlying the rice cultivation of the African Americans in question.

(C) “A sense of civic duty”  runs counter to the symbolic political protest of the post-slavery African American rice growers. Also, this activity is intended to  “forestall”  a city action, whereas the African Americans’ activity was in protest of the lack of a promised government action. Not analogous.

(E)  More practical considerations abound in  (E) . The African Americans and the neighbors in correct choice  (D)  transformed space for no practical economic reason but rather out of a sense of ownership and protest. This group in  (E)  is transforming space with a specific practical goal in mind.

Answer: D

Note:  This is not OE rather it belongs to Kaplan LSAT.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following titles most completely and accurately summarizes the contents of the passage?

Explanation

We begin with a Global question of the  “title”  variety, and it’s not likely that any book with a title as long as these is ever going to make it to the best-sellers list. Nonetheless, the length of these titles works in our favor, giving us more elements to match up to confirm our selection. Keeping the main gist of the author’s concern in mind (which, remember, is Vernon’s answer to the question of why these African Americans grew rice), we can confidently evaluate the choices looking for the one that best sums up the passage. And it helps that the first choice is the winner:

(A)  What?  “The Introduction of Rice Cultivation.”  Where?  “What is now the U.S.”  By whom?  “Africans”  (which based on the setting makes them African Americans). When?  “During and After Slavery.”  And  “Its Continued Practice”  relates to the main question of why this occurred during this time. All major elements present and accounted for. If you picked up an essay with this title, you wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find these 55 lines—which is, after all, the best confirmation that  (A)  is correct.

(B)  sounds like a pretty good title for the hypothetical passage described in the first Big Picture bullet point above. The origin of rice cultivation in the U.S. pertains well enough to the first para, but is too narrow for the rest of the passage. Its impact on the economy? That’s a distortion and a FUD (faulty use of detail) trying to get some mileage out of the dates 1760 and 1920. More importantly, what about the reasons why African Americans engaged in this practice? That’s the main concern of the passage and nothing in  (B)  reflects that.

(C), (E)  The tenant system (line 34) is too small a part of the passage to be part of the title, and the time frame of  (C)- post slavery-doesn’t encompass Vernon’s first theory.

(D)  We have cultural and political explanations of a phenomenon here, not a description of cultural and political contributions of African Americans.

Answer: A

NocturnalR · Answer

In que 6 :- why there is puzzling phenomenon, what does it says by mentioning puzzling and why it is given as historian's we dont even know whether 'V' person is even historian or not and also plz tell me there is a mix of facts and theories so how we can conclude all were thoeries

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hi NocturnalR

The  "puzzling phenomenon"  refers to why African Americans continued cultivating rice even when:

1. After slavery, there was no economic incentive (they preferred corn, no market for small rice yields, and landowners only wanted cotton).
2. The labor required to clear land for rice was disproportionate to the reward.

This behavior doesn’t make immediate sense from a purely economic or practical standpoint, making it a  "puzzle"  that Vernon tries to explain.

The passage explicitly introduces her study as historical research  (lines 3–4:   "a recent study by Amelia Wallace Vernon helps to dispel this notion"  ).  Her methods (e.g., uncovering 18th-century documents, interviewing elderly African Americans) align with historical scholarship. While her profession isn’t stated, the context treats her as a researcher/historian challenging prior historical myths.

Facts in this passage are events happened in the past, for example:

Africans introduced rice cultivation to the U.S. (lines 5–10), slaves grew rice during slavery (lines 24–29), and post-slavery, rice cultivation persisted despite economic irrationality (lines 30–39).

Explanations to the puzzles provided by the historians are therories, for example:

Land transformation as an act of identity (lines 43–50) and s  ymbolic claim to promised land (lines 50–55).

I hope it helps.

While historians once propagated the myth that Africans who were

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While historians once propagated the myth that Africans who were

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