So many accounts of this continents past begin with Europeans stridin

Question

So many accounts of this continent’s past begin with Europeans striding ashore, claiming this “new found land” and its human inhabitants for their respective empires. These arrogant assertions always have been challenged by native peoples, but nonetheless jurists and scholars have inscribed them in American law and in the written histories from which the law springs. And with heads bowed, or with a bounteous welcome, too many native peoples in too many of these accounts prepare to greet their colonizers as saviors, whatever their initial misgivings. When the Algonquian-speaking peoples of the Carolina Sounds first saw the English colonists sent to occupy Roanoke Island in 1585, for instance, the astute English observer Thomas Harriot reported that they “began to make a great and horrible crye as people which never before had seen men appareled like us.” Confused and savage, “they made out,” Harriot continued, “cries like wild beasts or men out of their wits.” Soon they calmed themselves, in Harriot’s eyes, and stopped acting like beasts, and regained their wits, but only after the newcomers presented them with gifts that demonstrated and confirmed their benevolent intent. These native peoples soon would debate amongst themselves, as they considered the great power these newcomers seemed to possess, whether they were “gods or men.”

That is how Harriot saw it, yet today many Americans still believe that it is with the arrival of Europeans that their nation’s history begins. We could find, if we looked, dozens of accounts of “discovery” that differed from Harriot’s only in their details. These moments of encounter, depicted so often over the years in the work of American artists, historians, and myth-makers, represent the opening of a grand story — the growth and development of the United States. All that happened before these seminal moments, as a result, has been ignored or trivialized by earlier generations of American historians, who celebrated the progress of a new nation.

That is how Harriot saw it, yet today many Americans still believe that it is with the arrival of Europeans that their nation’s history begins. We could find, if we looked, dozens of accounts of “discovery” that differed from Harriot’s only in their details. These moments of encounter, depicted so often over the years in the work of American artists, historians, and myth-makers, represent the opening of a grand story — the growth and development of the United States. All that happened before these seminal moments, as a result, has been ignored or trivialized by earlier generations of American historians, who celebrated the progress of a new nation.    1 
 1. The author of this passage is primarily concerned with

(A) discussing the impact the arrival of European settlers to the North American continent had on existing native peoples
(B) disputing the claims made by many jurists and scholars that the native inhabitants of North America welcomed European settlers with open arms
(C) verifying the accuracy of Harriot’s account of the 1585 English arrival on Roanoke Island
(D) demonstrating how Harriot’s account of the 1585 English arrival on Roanoke Island differed from those of other English historians and scholars
(E) distinguishing myth from reality in regard to the reception early European settlers received from North America’s native peoples

2 
 2. Upon whom does the author place blame for perpetuating the inaccuracies in the depictions of the arrival of European settlers on the land that is now North America?

(A) Harriot
(B) American historians
(C) Europeans
(D) Algonquin-speaking peoples
(E) English colonizers

3 
 3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s primary issue with early accounts of the arrival of European settlers on the North American continent is that

(A) they fail to accurately depict the way the native people reacted to the European settlers after the settlers showed their benevolence
(B) despite being disputed by native peoples, they still influence American art, written history, and law
(C) they create the image that native peoples welcomed the English colonists ashore and viewed them as saviors without reporting how the colonists felt about seeing the native inhabitants 
(D) much of what has made its way into American law and history books strays substantially from the accounts of English settlers who were present to observe the events 
(E) they largely ignore the native peoples’ initial response to the arrival of European settlers

4 
 4. Which of the following is not a description Harriot used to depict the native peoples’ initial reaction to him and other settlers of Roanoke Island?

(A) witless
(B) bewildered
(C) savage
(D) benevolent
(E) beast-like

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. The author of this passage is primarily concerned with

Explanation

The author of this social science passage has a clear opinion and point. He wishes to expose the fallacies in accounts of Europeans’ first arrival to North America. He challenges early descriptions that suggest that the native inhabitants looked on the settlers as saviors and have been used to project the idea that the history of the continent didn’t begin until the Europeans arrived.

From your summary of the two paragraphs, answer the first question regarding the author’s primary concern.  Choices (C)  and  (D)  deal specifically with Harriot’s account, and the passage is broader than that one account. Eliminate these two answers; they’re too specific.

You can also eliminate  Choice (A)  for the opposite reason; it’s too general. The author deals particularly with the way that Europeans described the native inhabitants’ reaction to their arrival. The passage isn’t about their overall impact on the native peoples.

Distinguishing between  Choices (B)  and  (E)  may be a little tricky. Both relate the author’s concern about the accuracy of the depictions of how native peoples received the settlers. But  Choice (E)  is more comprehensive than  Choice (B).

The author isn’t concerned with just the accounts of jurists and scholars but also the works of artists, historians, and mythmakers. Of the two,  Choice (E)  is the better answer.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s primary issue with early accounts of the arrival of European settlers on the North American continent is that

Explanation

First, note that this question is asking about the author’s primary issue with the historical accounts of the arrival of early European settlers. Although the author takes issue with the inaccuracy of the accounts, his bigger concern is that these false accounts have shaped and continue to shape American law and culture. Eliminate answers that either aren’t issues or that aren’t the biggest issue.

The author doesn’t mention a concern with how settlers felt, so  Choice (C)  isn’t a concern.

The passage focuses on the native peoples’ initial reaction to the settlers, so  Choice (A)  doesn’t reveal the author’s primary problem with the accounts.

Eliminating the other two incorrect answers may be a little trickier.  Choice (E)  isn’t right, because the problem isn’t that the accounts ignore the native inhabitant’s initial reaction but that they depict it falsely.

Choices (B)  and  (D)  are similar. The difference between the two is that  Choice (D)  suggests that the problem with the accounts is that they’re different from English colonists’ reports. The author gives just one example of an English colonist (Harriot) whose report differs from the general myth. He doesn’t imply that all English colonists reported different accounts of the native peoples’ reaction. The author does stress, however, that the accounts differed from the reports of the native inhabitants. The best answer is  Choice (B).

Answer: B

So many accounts of this continents past begin with Europeans stridin

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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) Questions

So many accounts of this continents past begin with Europeans stridin

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