1) In the early years of television, Vladimir
Zworykin was, at least in the public sphere, recog-
nized as its inventor. His loudest champion was his
boss, David Sarnoff, then president of RCA and a man
that we regard even today as "the father of television."
Current historians agree, however, that Philo
Farnsworth, a self-educated prodigy who was the first
to transmit live images, was television's true inventor.
2) In his own time, Farnsworth's contributions
went largely unnoticed, in large part because he was
excluded from the process of introducing the invention
to a national audience. Sarnoff put televisions into liv-
ing rooms, and Sarnoff was responsible for a domi-
nant paradigm of the television industry that continues
to be relevant today: advertisers pay for the program-
ming so that they can have a receptive audience for
their products. Sarnoff had already utilized this con-
struct to develop the radio industry, and it had, within
ten years, become ubiquitous. Farnsworth thought the
television should be used as an educational tool, but
he had little understanding of the business world, and
was never able to implement his ideas.
3) Perhaps one can argue that Sarnoff simply
adapted the business model for radio and television
from the newspaper industry, replacing the revenue
from subscriptions and purchases of individual news-
papers with that of selling the television sets them-
selves, but Sarnoff promoted himself as nothing less
than a visionary. Some television critics argue that the
construct Sarnoff implemented has played a negative
role in determining the content of the programs them-
selves, while others contend that it merely created a
democratic platform from which the audience can
determine the types of programming it wants.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) correct public misconception about Farnsworth's role in developing early television programs
(B) debate the influence of television on popular culture
(C) challenge the current public perception of Vladimir Zworykin
(D) chronicle the events that led up to the invention of the television
(E) describe Sarnoff's influence on the public perception of television's inception, and debate the
impact of Sarnoff's paradigm
2. It can be inferred &om the third paragraph of the passage that
(A) television shows produced by David Sarnoff and Vladimir Zworykin tended to earn negative
reviews
(B) educational programs cannot draw as large an audience as sports programs
(C) a number of critics feel that Sarnoff's initial decision to earn television revenue through adver-
tising has had a positive or neutral impact on content
(D) educational programs that are aired in prime time, the hours during which the greatest number
of viewers are watching television, are less likely to earn a profit than those that are aired during
the daytime hours
(E) in matters of programming, the audience's preferences should be more influential than those of
the advertisers
3. Which of the following best illustrates the relationship between the second and third
paragraphs? '
(A) The second paragraph dissects the evolution of a contemporary controversy; the third para-
graph presents differing viewpoints on that controversy.
(B) The second paragraph explores the antithetical intentions of two men involved in the infancy
of an industry; the third paragraph details the eventual deterioration of that industry.
(C) The second paragraph presents differing views of a historical event; the third paragraph repre-
sents the author's personal opinion about that event,
(D) The second paragraph provides details that are necessary to support the author's opinion, which
is presented in the third paragraph.
(E) The second paragraph presents divergent visions about the possible uses of a technological
device; the third paragraph initiates a debate about the ramifications of one of those
perspectives.
4. According to the passage, the television industry, at its inception, earned revenue from
(A) advertising only
(B) advertising and the sale of television sets
(C) advertising and subscriptions
(D) subscriptions and the sale of television sets
(E) advertising, subscriptions, and the sale of television sets
5. The passage suggests that Farnsworth might have earned greater public notoriety for his
invention if
(A) Vladimir Zworykin had been less vocal about his own contributions to the television
(B) Farnsworth had been able to develop and air his own educational programs
(C) Farnsworth had involved Sarnoff in his plans to develop, manufacture, or distribute the
television
(D) Sarnoff had involved Farnsworth in his plans to develop, manufacture, or distribute the
television
(E) Farnsworth had a better understanding of the type of programming the audience wanted to
watch most
Short BUT tough. OA Later.
Thanks for discussion
_________________
KUDOS is the good manner to help the entire community.
close
) and the essence of the third paragraph is "Radio-like model led to bad TV?" This matches (E) fairly closely.
