Reading Comprehension

PT127 · S4 · P3 · Q17 Roma Minority Group

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Passage A There is no universally accepted definition within international law for the term “national minority.” It is most commonly applied to (1) groups of persons—not necessarily citizens—under the jurisdiction of one country who have ethnic ties to another “homeland” country, or (2) groups of citizens of a country who have lasting ties to that country and have no such ties to any other country, but are distinguished from the majority of the population by ethnicity, religion, or language.

Topic

The challenges in defining "minority" in international law, focusing on the Roma (Gypsies), and how various definitions impact their status.

Framework

Problem / Solution (with elements of Challenge Position)

Main Point

International law’s vague and sometimes exclusionary definitions of "national minority" make it especially hard for the Roma to be recognized and protected as a minority group—even though they clearly fit empirical criteria, the citizenship requirement unfairly excludes them. Most Valuable Sentences: - Passage A, P2: - Passage B, P1: - Passage B, P2:

P1 (Passage A): Introducing Definitions and Complications

This paragraph highlights that terms like "national minority," "people," and "nation" are badly defined, making it tough to apply them, especially since their definitions seem to shift based on context and may tie in power, land, or sovereignty.

P2 (Passage A): Spotlight on the Roma

The paragraph points out that these definition issues are especially tough for the Roma, since they don’t fit traditional molds: they lack a homeland, many aren't citizens anywhere due to a nomadic lifestyle, and yet they have strong internal, ethnic, and linguistic ties.

P1 (Passage B): Criticism of Citizenship Criterion

Here, Capotorti’s minority definition is described, emphasizing one legal element—citizenship—which is especially "problematic" for the Roma because it lets states arbitrarily deny them minority status, disregarding the practical aspects that clearly make them a minority.

17.

The term "problematic" has which one of the following meanings in both passage A (beginning of the second paragraph) and passage B (middle of the first paragraph)?

giving rise to intense debate
Out of Scope: intense debate
There doesn't seem to be any talk of "intense debate" anywhere in the passage, and the two mentions of minority-definitions being problematic for the Roma were definitely not saying that they cause the Roma to have intense debate.
2% picked this
confusing and unclear
Weaker Match
This answer is tempting, but it doesn't swap into the place of "problematic" as successfully as the correct answer does. We can't match this with passage A very well. It would be saying "the lack of clear definitions for minority, people, and nation is particularly confusing/unclear for the Roma". The definitions themselves might be confusing and unclear, since we're being told that we lack clear definitions. But this is saying "the lack is confusing and unclear". The passage is saying "Because there are no clear definitions for these terms (there are only confusing and unclear terms), the Roma in particular have a problem." Confusing / unclear is the source of the problem, but the actual problem is that the Roma don't qualify for minority status. We could possibly say that "problematic" in Passage B means something like confusing and unclear, since the first paragraph of B is saying that some states deny the Roma citizenship and thus minority status. So the legal criterion that "they be citizens of the state in question" can be problematic/confusing/unclear, if the Roma are confused / unclear on whether or not they are considered citizens of a given state. But by the end of the first paragraph of B, the author is saying, "it seems patently unfair that this problematic 4th part should be included in the definition". So problematic seems to mean more like "unfair" than "unclear".
16% picked this
Correct
resulting in difficulties
Why this is right
This is really just what "problematic" means in its most obvious definition: creating problems / resulting in difficulties. It's very odd to see the correct answer be our most common association with a word, but this answer seems to best fit the two usages. In passage A, we're saying, "the lack of a clear definition for certain terms involved in minority status classification is particularly likely to result in difficulties for the Roma". In passage B, we're saying, "the fourth part of the definition of minority, that the group must be citizens of the state in question, can result in difficulties, given that the Roma's citizenship could be denied by the state and thus the state has the power to decide if the Roma constitute a minority."
Skill tested: Meaning in Context · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
73% picked this
difficult to solve
Bad Match
This answer is trying to appeal to our dictionary sense of "problematic / problem", as in something requiring a solution. But this would mean that Passage A was saying, the lack of clearly defined terms for the legal definition of minority is particularly difficult to solve for the Roma. That doesn't make any sense. The Roma aren't tasked with solving this problem. They are just particularly victimized / adversely affected by this problem.
6% picked this
theoretically incoherent
Too Strong: incoherent
The authors complain that the definitions of minority are at times unclear or give too much leverage to individual states to decide whether to grant citizenship / minority status, but neither author is saying the definitions of minority are incoherent, which is a really strong accusation that someone is speaking nonsense.
3% picked this

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