What kinds of property rights apply to Algonquian family hun

[garimag807]

What kinds of property rights apply to Algonquian family hunting territories, and how did they come to be? The dominant view in recent decades has been that family hunting territories, like other forms of private landownership, were not found among Algonquians (a group of North American Indian tribes) before contact with Europeans but are the result of changes in Algonquian society brought about by the European-Algonquian fur trade, in combination with other factors such as ecological changes and consequent shifts in wildlife harvesting patterns. Another view claims that Algonquian family hunting territories predate contact with Europeans and are forms of private landownership by individuals and families. More recent fieldwork, however, has shown that individual and family rights to hunting territories form part of a larger land-use system of muitifamilial hunting groups, that rights to hunting territories at this larger community level take precedence over those at the individual or family level, and that this system reflects a concept of spiritual and social reciprocity that conflicts with European concepts of private property. In short, there are now strong reasons to think that it was erroneous to claim that Algonquian family hunting territories ever were, or were becoming, a kind of private property system.

2. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) provide an explanation for an unexpected phenomenon
(B) suggest that a particular question has yet to be answered
(C) present a new perspective on an issue
(D)defend a traditional view from attack
(E)reconcile opposing sides of an argument

[garimag807]

OA: C
My pick : B

Totally confused.
Don't know why, always miss Main Point Questions

I picked B thinking that question raised in 1st line is yet to be answered however, strong claim can be made but sure shot answer is yet to be given...

a- unexpected phenomenon ( nothing of this sort is mentioned)
c- i felt this was just a part of the passage
d- huh.. seriously.. never felt so
e- where is an argument here and opposing sides :O


not sure.. if my POE is correct...

[RonPurewal]

the best way to figure out the main point—especially in shorter passages—is to ignore all the specifics, and pay attention only to the words that connect them.

if we do that here, we get this:

Blah blah blah QUESTION blah blah blah?

The dominant view has been ___________.

Another view claims that ___________.

More recent work, however, has shown that ___________.
So there are now strong reasons to think that ___________.

the point becomes pretty clear: "People have thought X for a while... BUT NOW we should start thinking Y."

[RonPurewal]

and B is wrong because the question HAS been answered. in fact, counting the author's point of view, it has now been answered in 3 different ways!

'yet to be answered' would mean that NO answer has ever been given.

it does NOT mean that there are answers among which disagreement exists... because, in that situation, there are still answers!