Reading ComprehensionDifficulty: Hard

PT121 S3 P3 Q18 Explanation

Canadian Courts and Cultural Property

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

TopicsInferenceLaw

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Passage

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. custodians such as museums, recent litigation by native Canadians has called such ownership into question.

Canadian courts usually base decisions about ownership on a concept of private property, under which all forms of property are capable of being owned by individuals or by groups functioning legally as individuals. This system is based on a philosophy that encourages the right of owners to use their property as they die. Nevertheless, their children will enjoy the same rights, not as heirs but as communal owners.

Because the concept of collective property assigns ownership to individuals simply because they are members of the community, native Canadians rarely possess the legal documents that the concept of private property requires to demonstrate ownership. Museums, which are likely to possess bills of sale or proof of prior possession to substantiate their the notion of collective property, and that their claims to movable cultural property should be honored.

What this question is testing

Inference

Your task

Find what must be true based on what the passage or stimulus states.

Common trap

Answers that are plausible or likely but not actually guaranteed by the text.

Winning move

Keep only the choice the statements fully support — eliminate anything that requires an extra assumption.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
18.

The passage suggests that the concepts of collective and private ownership differ in each of the

Answer choices

  1. Correct68% picked this

    The collective concept allows groups of individuals to own property; the private

    Why this is right

    The first sentence of the 2nd paragraph contradicts this. The private concept does allow for groups to own property. We're told that under the private property concept, "all forms of property are capable of being owned by individuals or by groups functioning legally as individuals."

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

  2. Supported6% picked this

    The collective concept requires consideration of community interests; the private concept

    We were told that under the private concept, owners have a right to use their property as they see fit without outside interference. We were told under the collective concept, "use of resources is determined by the collective interests of the community".

  3. Supported7% picked this

    The collective concept assigns ownership on the basis of membership in a community; the private

    The private concept assigns ownership based on documentation possessed by an individual (or group acting as an individual). The collect concept of ownership "assigns ownership to individuals simply because they are members of the community" (beginning of 3rd paragraph).

  4. Supported9% picked this

    The private concept allows owners to function as titleholders to their property; the collective

    In the beginning of the 3rd paragraph, it implies that private ownership is based on legal documents that demonstrate that you are the titleholder to this piece of property. At the end of the 2nd, "collective ownership casts an individual in the role of the guardian or caretaker of property, rather than as a titleholder".

  5. Supported9% picked this

    The private concept permits individuals to sell property; the collective concept

    The beginning of the 2nd paragraph tells us that private ownership allows you to use your property in any way you see fit, including selling it, without outside interference. The end of the 2nd tells us that in a collective ownership system, "individual members cannot sell this right".

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