Free Test Prep GRE-Verbal-Reasoning Exam Questions

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American history scholars generally attribute formation of the League of Indian Nations to Degandawida, who convinced the warring and fiercely autonomous Iroquois nations to embrace his radical idea for a league by tying it to familiar Iroquois customs and institutions. He associated the notion of peace and partnership with the Iroquois custom by which the families of slain warriors adopted war prisoners into the tribe. He invoked unquestioned social institutions as symbols, comparing the League to the traditional Iroquois clan in which several families share a "Longhouse" and Iikening the Great Council, comprised of representatives from each nation, to the Longhouse’s ever-burning Council Fire. And he assigned to each nation specific duties in order to assuage its fear of losing national identity. (For instance, he assigned to the Onondagas, who were centrally positioned geographically, the role of perpetual hosts.) Perhaps most persuasive, however, was how Degandawida’s League replicated the power structure of the traditional Iroquois clan. Each of the five Iroquois nations was comprised of matriarchal totemic clans in which the chiefs were men, the clan heads were women, and the chief’s children were considered members of his wife’s clan. Degandawida determined that the heads of each nation should select their League representatives, thereby effectively precluding the possibility of League representatives passing their power on to their sons, as well as decreasing the likelihood that a pro-war representative would be appointed. Iroquois unification under the League lasted about two centuries, when disagreement as to whether to become involved in the American Revolutionary war dMded the Iroquois. The revo|utionaries’ success and their subsequent encroachment upon Iroquois lands forced many Iroquois to resettle in Canada, while those who remained behind lost respect from other Indian nations. The introduction of distilled spirits led to widespread alcoholism and, in turn, to a rapid decline of the culture and population. The Quakers’ influence impeded, yet in another sense contributed, to this decline. By establishing schools for the Iroquois and by introducing them to modern technology for agriculture and husbandry, the Quakers instilled some hope for the future yet undermined their sense of national identity. Ironically, it was the alcoholic halfbrother of Seneca, Cornplanter, the most outspoken proponent among the Iroquois for assimilation of white customs and institutions, who revived the Iroquois culture. Around 1800, Handsome Lake, a former member of the Great Council, established a new religion among the Iroquois that tied the more useful aspects of Christianity to traditional Indian beliefs and customs. Lake’s teachings quickly became firmly entrenched among the Iroquois, sparking reunification and renewed confidence while also curbing rampant alcoholism. Lake’s influence is still evident today: many modern- day Iroquois belong both to his religion and to one or another Christian sect Assuming that the reasons asserted in the passage for the decline of the Iroquois culture are historically representative of the decline of cultural minorities, which of the following developments would most likely contribute to the demise of a modernday ethnic minority? and write in both their traditional language and the language prevalent in the present culture to improve efficiency active role

While there will always be a need for social programs geared toward alleviating the poverty of indMduals, the community is perhaps the more relevant level for public policy intervention, especially in rural areas. It has been recognized that social isolation within urban ghettos is a structural characteristic of urban poverty, but rural poverty is marked by physical isolation as well. This uniqueness makes rural community poverty particularly intractable, requiring policies that account for the cost of isolation. It is possible to provide vocational training for indMduals anywhere, but if there are no jobs within the community for those indMduals, the training is largely wasted. The current transition to a service-based economy and deregulation in transportation (resulting in disproportionately higher transportation costs for relatively isolated areas) have only exacerbated the growing social and economic distress in rural America, underscoring the need to redefine poverty and redirect the focus of our funding agencies and policy-makers in accordance with the new definition. What’s needed is a more holistic view on an aggregate level, where poverty is properly seen as a condition of the local social structure, with income only one of the salient parameters. The author seeks to draw which of the following distinctions between urban ghettos and impoverished rural communities?

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