Canadian Aboriginal Rights

Answer choices

1. A

   Opposite, if anything15% picked this

   the 1982 constitutional reforms’ burdening the provincial courts with the task

   The author definitely thinks that provincial courts have a really tough task, but he isn't mad at the 1982 reforms. Overall, this author is looking out for the aboriginal rights. He's unhappy when they're not being sufficiently protected or recognized. In the second to last sentence of the first paragraph, where the author describes the enormous burden of interpretation, he also acknowledges that it's not the fault of the reformers. The constitutional language was necessarily general -- in other words, the author understands why the constitutional language was written broadly. He doesn't fault the reforms.

   15%
2. B

   Not Opinionated8% picked this

   the difficulties in interpreting such terms as “indigenous”

   Throughout the passage, the author is commenting on problems / difficulties with this recent situation of adding language to the constitution to protect aboriginal peoples. One of those problems is ambiguity in terms like "indigenous" and "ownership". Another problem mentioned in the 2nd paragraph is the requirement that something be a long-standing traditional custom in order to be protected. In other words, there are several points in this passage where the author is acknowledging the difficulty of the present interpretation situation. We wouldn't have any way of elevating one aspect of the problem over another, in order to call one the thing the author was most negative about. Even though problems and difficulties are "negative" things, talking about them is more descriptive. One can describe a problem without having a negative attitude. I can say that More than 400,000 Americans have already died from COVID Clearly, I would have a negative attitude about that statement, but that statement didn't contain any visible attitude whatsoever. It was factual.

   8%
3. C

   Not Opinionated4% picked this

   the criterion used to determine which customs are too recent to

   This is just like (B). Again it points to one of the various things about this situation that the author identifies as problematic. But we don't have any way of elevating one aspect of the problem over another, in order to call one the thing the author was most negative about. Even though problems and difficulties are "negative" things, talking about them can be purely descriptive. One can describe a problem without having a negative attitude. I can say that More than 400,000 Americans have already died from COVID Clearly, I would have a negative attitude about that statement, but that statement didn't contain any visible attitude whatsoever. It was factual.

   4%
4. D

   Less Opinionated than the Answer16% picked this

   the requirement that aboriginal peoples provide documentation for

   This is just like (B) and (C). The 2nd paragraph sketches out two problems: - terms like "indigenous" are very hard to interpret - the requirement that Aboriginal peoples provide documentation for the long-standing nature of a practice they want protected is hard for a mainly oral culture. We don't have any way of elevating one aspect of the problem over another, in order to call one the thing the author was most negative about. It does seem like the author thinks it's a pretty unrealistic requirement to have for aboriginal people, if you know that they often relied on oral tradition. But I think the test writers wanted us to react to the more explicit negative attitude found in the final paragraph (regrettably / excessively conservative).

   16%
5. E

   Correct57% picked this

   the definition of ownership imposed by the provincial court

   Why this is right

   In the last paragraph, the author says it's regrettable that the provincial court was excessively conservative in terms of how it interpreted the definition of ownership. It resulted in an unsatisfactory application of the new forms. It's the most explicit attitudinal marker in the passage, so even though the author seemed to have negative feelings about other aspects of this problematic situation, we have the best evidence for a negative attitude about the 1984 court's decision, because of the explicit attitudinal words.

   Skill tested: Author's Attitude · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

   57%