The Struggle to Obtain Legal Recognition of Aboriginal Rights is a Difficult One.

Reading Passage Question

The struggle to obtain legal recognition of aboriginal rights is a difficult one, and even if a right is written into the law there is no guarantee that the future will not bring changes to the law that (5) undermine the right. For this reason, the federal government of Canada in 1982 extended constitutional protection to those aboriginal rights already recognized under the law. This protection was extended to the Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples, the (10) three groups generally thought to comprise the aboriginal population in Canada. But this decision has placed on provincial courts the enormous burden of interpreting and translating the necessarily general constitutional language into specific rulings. The (15) result has been inconsistent recognition and establishment of aboriginal rights, despite the continued efforts of aboriginal peoples to raise issues concerning their rights.

Aboriginal rights in Canada are defined by the (20) constitution as aboriginal peoples’ rights to ownership of land and its resources, the inherent right of aboriginal societies to self-government, and the right to legal recognition of indigenous customs. But difficulties arise in applying these broadly conceived (25) rights. For example, while it might appear straightforward to affirm legal recognition of indigenous customs, the exact legal meaning of “indigenous” is extremely difficult to interpret. The intent of the constitutional protection is to recognize (30) only long-standing traditional customs, not those of recent origin; provincial courts therefore require aboriginal peoples to provide legal documentation that any customs they seek to protect were practiced sufficiently long ago—a criterion defined in practice (35) to mean prior to the establishment of British sovereignty over the specific territory. However, this requirement makes it difficult for aboriginal societies, which often relied on oral tradition rather than written records, to support their claims.

(40) Furthermore, even if aboriginal peoples are successful in convincing the courts that specific rights should be recognized, it is frequently difficult to determine exactly what these rights amount to. Consider aboriginal land claims. Even when (45) aboriginal ownership of specific lands is fully established, there remains the problem of interpreting the meaning of that “ownership.” In a 1984 case in Ontario, an aboriginal group claimed that its property rights should be interpreted as full ownership in the (50) contemporary sense of private property, which allows for the sale of the land or its resources. But the provincial court instead ruled that the law had previously recognized only the aboriginal right to use the land and therefore granted property rights so (55) minimal as to allow only the bare survival of the

community. Here, the provincial court’s ruling was excessively conservative in its assessment of the current law. Regrettably, it appears that this group will not be successful unless it is able to move its (60) case from the provincial courts into the Supreme Court of Canada, which will be, one hopes, more insistent upon a satisfactory application of the constitutional reforms.

“The struggle to obtain legal recognition of aboriginal rights is a difficult one.”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 8 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question 1: Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) The overly conservative rulings of Canada's provincial courts have been a barrier to constitutional reforms intended to protect aboriginal rights.
(B) The overwhelming burden placed on provincial courts of interpreting constitutional language in Canada has halted efforts by aboriginal peoples to gain full ownership of land.
(C) Constitutional language aimed at protecting aboriginal rights in Canada has so far left the protection of these rights uncertain due to the difficult task of interpreting this language.
(D) Constitutional reforms meant to protect aboriginal rights in Canada have in fact been used by some provincial courts to limit these rights.
(E) Efforts by aboriginal rights advocates to uphold constitutional reforms in Canada may be more successful if heard by the Supreme Court rather than by the provincial courts.

Question 2: Which one of the following most accurately describes the author's main purpose in lines 11–14 of the passage?

(A) to demonstrate that the decisions of the provincial courts rarely conform to the goals of the constitutional reforms
(B) to locate the source of a systemic problem in protecting aboriginal rights in Canada
(C) to identify the specific source of problems in enacting constitutional reforms in Canada
(D) to describe one aspect of the process by which constitutional reforms are enacted in Canada
(E) to criticize the use of general language in the Canadian constitution

Question 3: The passage explicitly states that which one of the following was intended as a consequence of the constitutional protection of aboriginal rights?

(A) definition of the type of property rights that apply to aboriginal societies
(B) establishment of the Supreme Court of Canada as the arbiter of aboriginal rights
(C) recognition of traditional customs but not those of recent origin
(D) clarification of which groups comprise the aboriginal population in Canada
(E) creation of local governments for aboriginal communities

Question 4: The passage provides the most evidence for the claim that the author has a negative attitude toward which one of the following?

(A) the 1982 constitutional reforms’ burdening the provincial courts with the task of interpretation
(B) the difficulties in interpreting such terms as “indigenous” and “ownership”
(C) the criterion used to determine which customs are too recent to merit constitutional protection
(D) the requirement that aboriginal peoples provide documentation for traditional customs
(E) the definition of ownership imposed by the provincial court in 1984

Question 5: The passage provides evidence to suggest that the author would be most likely to assent to which one of the following proposals?

(A) Aboriginal peoples in Canada should not be answerable to the federal laws of Canada.
(B) Oral tradition should sometimes be considered legal documentation of certain indigenous customs.
(C) Aboriginal communities should be granted full protection of all of their customs.
(D) Provincial courts should be given no authority to decide cases involving questions of aboriginal rights.
(E) The language of the Canadian constitution should more carefully delineate the instances to which reforms apply.

Question 6: Which one of the following, if true, would lend the most credence to the author's statement in lines 56–58?

(A) Other Ontario courts had previously interpreted “use” to include sale of the land or its resources.
(B) The ruling created thousands of jobs by opening the land in question to logging by a timber corporation.
(C) Previous court decisions in Ontario have distinguished the right to use land from the right to sell it.
(D) The ruling prompted aboriginal groups in other provinces to pursue land claims in those courts.
(E) Prior to the decision in question, the provincial court had not heard a case concerning the constitutional reforms.

Question 7: Based on the information in the passage, the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about the 1984 case in Ontario?

(A) The court's ruling directly contravened the language of the constitutional reforms protecting aboriginal land ownership rights in the full modern sense.
(B) The Supreme Court remains the best hope for the recognition of full aboriginal property rights because provincial courts are not authorized to rule on the definition of property rights.
(C) If there had been clear documentary evidence that the group had occupied the land before the establishment of British sovereignty, the court would probably have upheld the aboriginal claims.
(D) The unsatisfactory ruling in the case was the result of pressure from conservative politicians and other conservative interests.
(E) The court correctly understood the intent of the constitutional reforms, but it failed to apply them correctly because it misconstrued their relation to existing law.

Question 8: The passage as a whole can most accurately be described as

(A) an argument stressing the need for advocates of certain rights to adopt certain strategies
(B) a comprehensive study of efforts to guarantee the protection of certain rights
(C) an examination of problems associated with efforts to protect certain rights
(D) an argument favoring the need for revising the definition of certain rights
(E) an attempt to correct misunderstandings regarding the protection of certain rights

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