Simulations of reading comprehension problems are hard to write without risk of copyright infringement ! Therefore, it is highly preferable to study using the official material so that you don’t end up accustomed to a different writing style and off-topic texts.

Practice a real, high-level text from the Official Guide 2017 (questions 467, 469, 472, 473) here:
Official Practice Text

Then, check out the explanations below for strategies and tips!

Explanation

Let’s first make sure we can accurately summarize the text:

Two bases for establishing water rights of American Indians:

1. Winters ruling: American Indians retain rights to water flowing in their reservation (even though original treaties did not explicitly grant water rights).

2. Traditional use of water prior to U.S. acquisition of territory.

·      Example: Rio Grande pueblos- not formally a reservation, but Winters applies anyways because they are reservations in practice.

467. According to the passage, which of the following was true of the treaty establishing the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation?

Question Type: Detail Question

Strategy: Use key word/s from the question to locate and repeat the relevant information presented in the text.

Key word: treaty; Fort Berthold Indian Reservation- “Although this treaty did not mention water rights, the Court ruled that the federal government, when it created the reservation, intended to deal fairly with American Indians by reserving for them the waters without which their lands would have been useless.”

(A) Nowhere in the text is it written that the treaty was challenged.

(B) Nowhere in the text is it written that the treaty was rescinded.

(C) Nowhere in the text is it written that the treaty cited use of the land’s resources.

(D) Correct: It is written explicitly that the treaty “did not mention water rights.”

(E)  The treaty was applied, not modified, in Arizona v. California.

469. Which of the following most accurately summarizes the relationship between Arizona v. California in lines 38–42, and the criteria citing the Winters doctrine in lines 10–20?

Question Type: Purpose Question

Strategy: Identify the relationship between the information cited and the idea that immediately precedes it (one or two sentences earlier): “This fact [the Rio Grande Pueblos are not formally reservations], however, has not barred application of the Winters doctrine. What constitutes an American Indian reservation is a question of practice, not of legal definition, and the pueblos have always been treated as reservations by the United States. This pragmatic approach is buttressed by Arizona v. California (1963), wherein the Supreme Court indicated that the manner in which any type of federal reservation is created does not affect the application to it of the Winters doctrine.”  Arizona v. California is a case in which the Winters doctrine was applied to a place that was not formally recognized as a reservation.

(A) Nowhere in the text is it written that Arizona v. California abolishes the criteria of the Winters doctrine.

(B) Correct: Arizona v. California applied the Winters doctrine to a place that was not formally a reservation.

(C) Arizona v. California represents one, not the only, example of an exception to the criterion that the Winters doctrine be applied to reservations. Note: ‘sole’ is too extreme.

(D) Arizona v. California applied the Winters doctrine.

(E)  Arizona v. California applied the Winters doctrine to the pueblos, which were not officially federal land. Note: ‘only’ is too extreme.

472. The primary purpose of the passage is to

Question Type: Main Idea/Purpose/Structure Question

Strategy: Decide on the topic covered by at least 75% of the text: Each paragraph presents a basis for establishing American Indians’ water rights.

(A) The text does discuss water-right laws, not laws establishing reservations.

(B) Correct: The text presents the two bases (the Winters doctrine and traditional use) for American Indians to lay claim to water rights.

(C) Nowhere does the text cast doubt on legal criteria used to establish water rights.

(D) The earliest date at which the federal government recognized the water rights of American Indians is not at issue.

(E)  Different types of American Indian reservations are not the point at issue.

473. The passage suggests that the legal rights of citizens other than American Indians to the use of water flowing into the Rio Grande pueblos are

Question Type: Inference Question

Strategy: Use key word/s from the question to locate and repeat the relevant information presented in the text.

Key word: citizens — “Therefore, the reserved water rights of Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens’ water rights as of 1848, the year in which pueblos must be considered to have become reservations.”

(A) According to Arizona v. California, the water rights of other citizens are overridden by the rights of the Pueblo Indians.

(B) Nowhere is it written that other citizens lose all water rights. Note: ‘abolished’ is too extreme.

(C) The Pueblos were not established under a treaty.

(D) The rights of other citizens were deprioritized, not guaranteed.

(E)  Correct: If Pueblo Indians have priority over other citizens’ water rights, then other citizens’ water rights are limited.