Reading Comprehension

Source: OG 12 Ed

In Winters v. United States (1908), the Supreme
Court held that the right to use waters fl owing through
or adjacent to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation
was reserved to American Indians by the treaty
establishing the reservation. Although this treaty did
not mention water rights, the Court ruled that the
federal government, when it created the reservation,
intended to deal fairly with American Indians by
reserving for them the waters without which their
lands would have been useless. Later decisions, citing
Winters, established that courts can find federal rights
to reserve water for particular purposes if (1) the land
in question lies within an enclave under exclusive
federal jurisdiction, (2) the land has been formally
withdrawn from federal public lands-i.e., withdrawn
from the stock of federal lands available for private
use under federal land use laws-and set aside or
reserved, and (3) the circumstances reveal the
government intended to reserve water as well as land
when establishing the reservation.
Some American Indian tribes have also established
water rights through the courts based on their
traditional diversion and use of certain waters prior to
the United States' acquisition of sovereignty. For
example, the Rio Grande pueblos already existed when
the United States acquired sovereignty over New
Mexico in 1848. Although they at that time became
part of the United States, the pueblo lands never
formally constituted a part of federal public lands; in
any event, no treaty, statute, or executive order has
ever designated or withdrawn the pueblos from public
lands as American Indian reservations. This fact,
however, has not barred application of the Winters
doctrine. What constitutes an American Indian
reservation is a question of practice, not of legal
definition, and the pueblos have always been treated
as reservations by the United States. This pragmatic
approach is buttressed by Arizona v. California (1963),
wherein the Supreme Court indicated that the manner
in which any type of federal reservation is created
does not affect the application to it of the Winters
doctrine. Therefore, the reserved water rights of
Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens' water
rights as of 1848, the year in which pueblos must be
considered to have become reservations.

Q
The passage suggests that, if the criteria discussed in lines 10-20 were the only criteria for establishing a reservation's water rights, which of the following would be true?

(A) The water rights of the inhabitants of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation would not take precedence over those of other citizens.
(B) Reservations established before 1848 would be judged to have no water rights.
(C) There would be no legal basis for the water rights of the Rio Grande pueblos.
(D) Reservations other than American Indian reservations could not be created with reserved water rights.
(E) Treaties establishing reservations would have to mention water rights explicitly in order to reserve water for a particular purpose.

OA: C


The "pragmatic approach" mentioned in lines 37-38 of the passage is best defined as one that

(A) grants recognition to reservations that were never formally established but that have traditionally been treated as such
(B) determines the water rights of all citizens in a particular region by examining the actual history of water usage in that region
(C) gives federal courts the right to reserve water along with land even when it is clear that the government originally intended to reserve only the land
(D) bases the decision to recognize the legal rights of a group on the practical effect such a recognition is likely to have on other citizens
(E) dictates that courts ignore precedents set by such cases as Winters v. United States in deciding what water rights belong to reserved land

OA: A

I was stumped on this one BIG time. And this is Q#57-63. I could very easily do a lot of question post Q#100 mark. And they say they have arranged it acc. to difficulty level. Guess I don't fit their statistical pattern.

Could some experienced person please rate the difficulty of this passage? It would really help.

Also, what is the best way of tackling passages like this one?

Q
The passage suggests that, if the criteria discussed in lines 10-20 were the only criteria for establishing a reservation's water rights, which of the following would be true?

(A) The water rights of the inhabitants of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation would not take precedence over those of other citizens. - Doesn't say anything about this
(B) Reservations established before 1848 would be judged to have no water rights. We don't know about their specific contracts so we dont know this for certain.
(C) There would be no legal basis for the water rights of the Rio Grande pueblos. This must be correct becuase the Winter's Doctrine granted water rights without those rights being written down. Without the doctrine the Pueblos would not have rights. and further in the passage it says theWinters doctrine was applied to the pueblos
(D) Reservations other than American Indian reservations could not be created with reserved water rights. This is not what is being said, the passage only talks about American Indian reservations.
(E) Treaties establishing reservations would have to mention water rights explicitly in order to reserve water for a particular purpose. While this may be true it isn't a certainty as the passage didn't say that the doctrine was the only way to get the water rights.

The "pragmatic approach" mentioned in lines 37-38 of the passage is best defined as one that The passage says it says "what constitutes an... reservation is a question of practice, not legal definition."

(A) grants recognition to reservations that were never formally established but that have traditionally been treated as such This is exactly what the passage says.
(B) determines the water rights of all citizens in a particular region by examining the actual history of water usage in that region The approach is about establishing reservations, not water rights.
(C) gives federal courts the right to reserve water along with land even when it is clear that the government originally intended to reserve only the land Again, about reservations, not water rights.
(D) bases the decision to recognize the legal rights of a group on the practical effect such a recognition is likely to have on other citizens Doesn't talk about effects or citizens - only a question of practice.
(E) dictates that courts ignore precedents set by such cases as Winters v. United States in deciding what water rights belong to reserved land Certainly doesn't say to ignore Winters and also doesn't talk about water rights.

OA

The best way of tackling any passage is to answer the question yourself before looking at the answers. This passage is difficult becuase it requires you to go outside of the metioned lines to find your information, but if you answer the question yourself first such as the first doctrine allows water rights without a writing, you can extrapolate that to the pueblos if you look to find that the pueblos had water rights but no official writing.

Second if you find the answer above the quoted approach - the lines about a question of practice not legal definition then you can answer this quesiton. The word that tells you to look above is "This" which immediately begs the quesion which approach are they saying is pragmatic so you have to look before to find the answer.

Thanks becky

akhp77 wrote:Source: OG 12 Ed

In Winters v. United States (1908), the Supreme
Court held that the right to use waters fl owing through
or adjacent to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation
was reserved to American Indians by the treaty
establishing the reservation. Although this treaty did
not mention water rights, the Court ruled that the
federal government, when it created the reservation,
intended to deal fairly with American Indians by
reserving for them the waters without which their
lands would have been useless. Later decisions, citing
Winters, established that courts can find federal rights
to reserve water for particular purposes if (1) the land
in question lies within an enclave under exclusive
federal jurisdiction, (2) the land has been formally
withdrawn from federal public lands-i.e., withdrawn
from the stock of federal lands available for private
use under federal land use laws-and set aside or
reserved, and (3) the circumstances reveal the
government intended to reserve water as well as land
when establishing the reservation.
Some American Indian tribes have also established
water rights through the courts based on their
traditional diversion and use of certain waters prior to
the United States' acquisition of sovereignty. For
example, the Rio Grande pueblos already existed when
the United States acquired sovereignty over New
Mexico in 1848. Although they at that time became
part of the United States, the pueblo lands never
formally constituted a part of federal public lands; in
any event, no treaty, statute, or executive order has
ever designated or withdrawn the pueblos from public
lands as American Indian reservations. This fact,
however, has not barred application of the Winters
doctrine. What constitutes an American Indian
reservation is a question of practice, not of legal
definition, and the pueblos have always been treated
as reservations by the United States. This pragmatic
approach is buttressed by Arizona v. California (1963),
wherein the Supreme Court indicated that the manner
in which any type of federal reservation is created
does not affect the application to it of the Winters
doctrine. Therefore, the reserved water rights of
Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens' water
rights as of 1848, the year in which pueblos must be
considered to have become reservations.

Q
The passage suggests that, if the criteria discussed in lines 10-20 were the only criteria for establishing a reservation's water rights, which of the following would be true?

(A) The water rights of the inhabitants of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation would not take precedence over those of other citizens.
(B) Reservations established before 1848 would be judged to have no water rights.
(C) There would be no legal basis for the water rights of the Rio Grande pueblos.
(D) Reservations other than American Indian reservations could not be created with reserved water rights.
(E) Treaties establishing reservations would have to mention water rights explicitly in order to reserve water for a particular purpose.

OA: C


The "pragmatic approach" mentioned in lines 37-38 of the passage is best defined as one that

(A) grants recognition to reservations that were never formally established but that have traditionally been treated as such
(B) determines the water rights of all citizens in a particular region by examining the actual history of water usage in that region
(C) gives federal courts the right to reserve water along with land even when it is clear that the government originally intended to reserve only the land
(D) bases the decision to recognize the legal rights of a group on the practical effect such a recognition is likely to have on other citizens
(E) dictates that courts ignore precedents set by such cases as Winters v. United States in deciding what water rights belong to reserved land

OA: A

C and A...

The paragraph is difficult to understand specially for a non native speaker..
Can somebody tell, how can I reduce the time taken for digesting such heavy paras without losing too much time on it.

I am also on the same boat. This is the reason that I posted it.

I am in the same boat. It seems skimming technique (i.e. read first and last sentence of 1st and last paragraph and first of the rest, etc.) does not give you clear idea of the passage like this.



C and A...

The paragraph is difficult to understand specially for a non native speaker..
Can somebody tell, how can I reduce the time taken for digesting such heavy paras without losing too much time on it.[/quote]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to Beat The Gmat. I read the para for 3 times and then read the replies and then read it again to understand what is going on in the passage. The things like what is Winter's doctorine, how it is overruled, why is it a practice rather than law became clear only after reading 4-5 times. My problem stems from the fact that very less exposure to such writing style.

I would like to ask the experts how they would like to rate this comprehension in the scale of 1-10 (most difficult being 10).

I would like to ask the experts what kind of paragraphs the gmat tests on?

How to get some exposure to different types of writing?

I couldn't understand this passage easily. I guess this passage is difficult for non-Native english speakers.
Could beatthegmat help us in getting a better understanding of such passages ?

Thanks
Sai

this is one of the most difficult passages in the OG

Well.. This passage is just too difficult for me..
I solved 7 questions (57-63) and got only 3 rights out of which one was according to passage which you have to get it right....
I was actually terrified after seeing this passage... as to how can I get the answers on this one and I was not able to get the answers right... Till the first para..I was like.. ok.. I got average understanding of the passage... Lets go ahead... But after reading the second para... I was totally not aware as to what I read....

If I get something of this kind in GMAT, which I really really really prey not to get... but if i get it...I would say to myself that I was not lucky enough on that day and lets move on... While solving this kinda of passage, it is very hard to get the questions right in the exam mode..

In fact, I have experienced this in actual gmat... When I gave it, I got one RC around 10-14 and the passage was HUGE !! and then I was asked a question that was 3 lines and the options were 3 lines each... So, for a question on the right side which is BIG space in gmat UI, I had to read 18 lines and believe me... IT WAS HARD... Now whats way forward??

Can some expert point as to what we should be doing to get the maximum out of this passage by spending least amount of time.... In fact should we be spending something like 9 minutes on such passages... I do not see any point in spending 9 minutes on this passage as even after spending 9 minutes I wont be confident of answers and by that time I would have screwed my later questions... Experts pls provide approach to these kinda passage....

Even the Ron's approach of solving large passages wont work here as it is very difficult to understand the language for non natives... Even if we do not give importance to language at the first read, when we actually solve these kinda passages and come back to particular part of the passage..it is very hard to understand what is written...

keep on doing Aditya