Tradition and the Law

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong2% picked this

   establish the earliest point in time at which fur seals were considered to be on

   Too Strong: brink of extinction Too Strong: earliest point in time Saying "initially" does indicate the earliest point in time, but this first sentence of the 3rd paragraph would only be saying, "the earliest point in time for the prohibition of hunting sea otters was 1910". Just because we're prohibiting hunting sea otters in 1910 doesn't mean we consider them on the brink of extinction. And even if we thought the prohibition did signal that we considered fur seals to be on the brink of extinction, the treaty isn't the first time we considered the danger. We have considered ourselves on the brink of climate crisis for a decade or two now. If we finally pass big climate legislation in 2021, that will not mark "the earliest point in time at which we thought something drastic should be done to address climate change". We've had the thought for decades; this would only mark the earliest point in time at which we enacted major legislation.

   2%
2. B

   Wrong Purpose3% picked this

   indicate that several animals in addition to sea otters were covered by various regulatory exemptions

   The author doesn't have any local agenda of trying to convince us that animals beyond otters were covered by exemptions. The purpose of discussing Fur Seal Treaty is framed by the agenda of ... two recent court cases involving sea otter pelts illustrate the problems that can arise with applying this sense of "traditional".

   3%
3. C

   Wrong Purpose25% picked this

   demonstrate that there is a well-known legal precedent for prohibiting the hunting

   Just like (B), this answer says something that's potentially true, but how does it connect to the author's Local Purpose? Yes, this legislation covered more than just sea otters, but what sentence can we point to that shows the author cares about convincing us of that? Yes, this treaty (can we call a treaty a legal precedent?) is probably well-known, at least within Alaskan legal circles or environmental historians, but what sentence can we point to that shows the author cares about convincing us of that? The purpose of discussing Fur Seal Treaty is framed by the agenda of ... two recent court cases involving sea otter pelts illustrate the problems that can arise with applying this sense of "traditional". It doesn't seem like the author has any motivation to prove to us that there's a well-known legal precedent for prohibiting hunting certain animals.

   25%
4. D

   Unsupported Relationship0% picked this

   suggest that the sea otter population was imperiled by Russian seal hunters and not

   Russian seal hunters are nowhere near this line reference and don't appear until midway through the following paragraph. This style of trap answer I call "Word Salad", meaning that the test writer is just grabbing familiar nouns or phrases from elsewhere in the passage and tossing them together.

   0%
5. E

   Correct71% picked this

   help explain the evolution of Alaska Natives' legal rights with respect to handicrafts

   Why this is right

   The purpose of discussing Fur Seal Treaty is framed by the agenda of ... two recent court cases involving sea otter pelts illustrate the problems that can arise with applying this sense of "traditional". So we instantly like this answer because it's reinforcing the Local Purpose of talking about "traditional" (it's connecting backwards to the claim before it). We can also like the phrase "evolution of legal rights", because that connects forward to the rest of the paragraph (initially, continued, subsequently). The Fur Seal Treaty outlawed the hunting of sea otters, denying Alaska Natives the legal right to make one of their traditional handicrafts, the sea otter pelt. This backstory is crucial for understanding the "two recent court cases that show the problems in applying a definition of 'traditional'."

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

   71%