Reading Comprehension

PT121 · S3 · P3 · Q15 Canadian Courts and Cultural Property

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Although the rights of native peoples of Canada have yet to be comprehensively defined in Canadian law, most native Canadians assert that their rights include the right not only to govern themselves and their land, but also to exercise ownership rights over movable cultural property—artifacts ranging from domestic implements to ceremonial costumes.

Topic

Native Canadian rights to cultural property and the tension between collective and private ownership concepts in Canadian law

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

Canadian law has traditionally supported museums' claims to native cultural property based on private property concepts, but the author argues that the courts should recognize native Canadians' collective ownership rights instead. (Most Valuable Sentence: Last sentence of the last paragraph—author’s forward-looking statement about what the courts should do.)

P1: Introduction to the Dispute

The paragraph explains that although the legal rights of native Canadians are not well-defined, many believe their rights include self-governance as well as ownership of cultural artifacts. The law has typically favored museums, but native Canadians are now challenging this in court.

P2: Contrasting Ownership Concepts

This paragraph lays out the difference between the private-property approach of Canadian courts (favoring individual or group ownership with transferable rights) and the collective-ownership philosophy of native Canadians (where the community, not individuals, owns property, and rights can't be sold or inherited as personal possessions).

P3: Legal Hurdles and Future Recognition

This paragraph highlights the practical difficulty: native Canadians typically lack paperwork (required under private property law) to prove their ownership, so museums win claims. However, the author says that as courts realize that private property rules don’t always fit, they’ll start honoring native Canadians’ collective ownership claims to their cultural property.

15.

The author's attitude toward the possibility of courts increasingly assigning ownership rights to native communities is best described as which one of the following?

  1. certain that it will never

    Opposite: never realized

    The author says that "Canadian courts will recognize that native Canadians can claim ownership via collective property".

    1% picked this

  2. concerned that it will never

    Opposite: concerned never realized

    The author says that "Canadian courts will recognize that native Canadians can claim ownership via collective property".

    1% picked this

  3. uncertain whether it will be

    Contradicted: uncertain

    The author says that "Canadian courts will gradually recognize that native Canadians can claim ownership via collective property". There's nothing uncertain about the verb "will" (it's even a conditional logic indicator word).

    8% picked this

  4. uncertain whether it will be

    Contradicted: uncertain

    The author says that "Canadian courts will gradually recognize that native Canadians can claim ownership via collective property". There's nothing uncertain about the verb "will" (it's even a conditional logic indicator word).

    11% picked this

  5. Correct

    convinced that it will be

    Why this is right

    The author says that "Canadian courts will gradually recognize that native Canadians can claim ownership via collective property". So the author is convinced it will be realized. The author also said that Canadian courts will grow increasingly aware of the inappropriateness of the current status quo (applying private property) rights. She also says that native Canadians clearly can claim ownership and their claims should be honored. So, yes, she is fully on board with this emerging reality.

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

    79% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free