Writing of the Iroquois nation, Smith has argued that

Question

Writing of the Iroquois nation, Smith has argued that through the chiefsâ€™ council, tribal chiefs traditionally maintained complete control over the political affairs of both the Iroquois tribal league and the individual tribes belonging to the league, whereas the sole jurisdiction over religious affairs resided with the shamans. According to Smith, this division was maintained until the late nineteenth century, when the dissolution of the chiefsâ€™ council and the consequent diminishment of the chiefsâ€™ political power fostered their increasing involvement in religious affairs.
However, Smith fails to recognize that this division of power between the tribal chiefs and shamans was not actually rooted in Iroquois tradition; rather, it resulted from the Iroquoisâ€™ resettlement on reservations early in the nineteenth century. Prior to resettlement, the chiefsâ€™ council controlled only the broad policy of the tribal league; individual tribes had institutionsâ€”most important, the longhouseâ€”to govern their own affairs. In the longhouse, the tribeâ€™s chief influenced both political and religious affairs.
24. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) question the published conclusions of a scholar concerning the history of the Iroquois nation
(B) establish the relationship between an earlier scholarâ€™s work and new anthropological research
(C) summarize scholarly controversy concerning an incident from Iroquois history
(D) trace two generations of scholarly opinion concerning Iroquois social institutions
(E) differentiate between Iroquois political practices and Iroquois religious practices
25. It can be inferred that the author of the passage regards Smithâ€™s argument as
(A) provocative and potentially useful, but flawed by poor organization
(B) eloquently presented, but needlessly inflammatory
(C) accurate in some of its particulars, but inaccurate with regard to an important point
(D) historically sound, but overly detailed and redundant
(E) persuasive in its time, but now largely outdated
26. The author of the passage implies that which of the following occurred after the Iroquois were resettled on reservations early in the nineteenth century?
(A) Chiefs became more involved in their tribesâ€™ religious affairs.
(B) The authority of the chiefsâ€™ council over the affairs of individual tribes increased.
(C) The political influence of the Iroquois shamans was diminished.
(D) Individual tribes coalesced into the Iroquois tribal league.
(E) The longhouse because a political rather than a religious institution.
27. Which of the following best expresses an opinion presented by the author of the passage?
(A) Smith has overstated the importance of the political role played by Iroquois tribal chiefs in the nineteenth century.
(B) Smith has overlooked the fact that the Iroquois rarely allowed their shamans to exercise political authority.
(C) Smith has failed to explain why the chiefsâ€™ council was dissolved late in the nineteenth century.
(D) Smith has failed to acknowledge the role prior to the nineteenth century of the Iroquois tribal chiefs in religious affairs.
(E) Smith has failed to recognize that the very structure of Iroquois social institutions reflects religious beliefs.

banerjeea_98 · Answer

ACDD

HongHu · Answer

ACBD for me. It's rather hard, I had to go back to the passage multiple times just for the last question.

anandnk · Answer

It is very diffult to scroll up and down many times.

ACBD are my answers.

prep_gmat · Answer

ACBD

Felt that the third question was subtle. required the recognition of the key word 'only' and separation of the scholar's views and authors views. It also muddled it up with a bunch of choices that are close and inferable but not explicitly stated in the passage.

praveen_rao7 · Answer

ACBD as well
Q 26 gave me some fits, curious to know how Anand & HongHu approached it

kevinw · Answer

ACCD

but after reading your answers, I see it could also be: ACBD

it took me about 20 min, I had to go over the text several times, as the words were too confusing and I lost the concentration many times.

it is hard to read something you are not interested about.

how do you guys keep focused on something that is not interesting?

i can understand astronomy, biology, Discovery channel stuff easily, but when it comes to Hisotyr and politics....my head starts to ache.... :wink:

thearch · Answer

The opposite of me! Why don't we join our brains? :wink:

kevinw · Answer

well, I have a big head, added to yours divided 2 may finally solve my problem with hats!. :wink:

mallelac · Answer

I got the answers as A C B D
The timing was poor. I took 10 minutes for 4 questions. I ned to work on timing too!!
How about others?? Could you give your timings?

mbamantra · Answer

ACBD are correct. HongHu, how you approached last 2 questions.

HongHu · Answer

This passage is confusing because there are many different things. Tribe chiefs, chief's council, and shaman; political affairs and religion affairs, presettlement and aftersettlement, etc. You need to be careful which is which when you answer questions.

26. The author of the passage implies that which of the following occurred after the Iroquois were resettled on reservations early in the nineteenth century?
(A) Chiefs became more involved in their tribesâ€™ religious affairs.
Wrong. "In the longhouse, the tribeâ€™s chief influenced both political and religious affairs." That was before the settlement.

(B) The authority of the chiefsâ€™ council over the affairs of individual tribes increased.
Correct. "Prior to resettlement, the chiefsâ€™ council controlled only the broad policy of the tribal league;"

(C) The political influence of the Iroquois shamans was diminished.
The author has not discussed about shaman's political influence. The only thing the passage mentions about shaman was that they were said to have jurisdiction over religious affairs at one time.

(D) Individual tribes coalesced into the Iroquois tribal league.
We don't know when the individual tribes became united into a tribal league.

(E) The longhouse became a political rather than a religious institution.
We only know that prior settlement the long house was an institution for both political and religious issues. We have no info about the longhouse after settlement. 

27. Which of the following best expresses an opinion presented by the author of the passage?
(A) Smith has overstated the importance of the political role played by Iroquois tribal chiefs in the nineteenth century.
The author mainly challenged Smith's opinon on tribal chiefs religious role, not political role. Smith believed that tribal chiefs became more active in religious issues later, while the author believed that they have been governing both political and religious issues in the longhouse before settlement.

(B) Smith has overlooked the fact that the Iroquois rarely allowed their shamans to exercise political authority.
He did not challeng Smith's view on shaman's political authority at all. It's not discussed. Not even mentioned.

(C) Smith has failed to explain why the chiefsâ€™ council was dissolved late in the nineteenth century.
He did not challenge this point either, nor did he offer an idear himself.

(D) Smith has failed to acknowledge the role prior to the nineteenth century of the Iroquois tribal chiefs in religious affairs.
Yes. The tribal chiefs govern religious affairs in the longhouse prior to the settlement, but Smith didn't recognize that.

(E) Smith has failed to recognize that the very structure of Iroquois social institutions reflects religious beliefs.
It's out of scope. The author was not talking about social institutions.

mbamantra · Answer

thanks mite. good explanation.

Writing of the Iroquois nation, Smith has argued that

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