In the early years of television, Vladimir Zworykin was, at least in

Question

In the early years of television, Vladimir Zworykin was, at least in the public sphere, recognized 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.

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 living rooms, and Sarnoff was responsible for a dominant paradigm of the television industry that continues to be relevant today: advertisers pay for the programming so that they can have a receptive audience for their products. Sarnoff had already utilized this construct 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.

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 newspapers with that of selling the television sets themselves, 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 themselves, while others contend that it merely created a democratic platform from which the audience can determine the types of programming it wants.   1 
 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 
 2. It can be inferred from 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 advertising 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 
 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 paragraph 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 represents 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 
 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 
 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

rjacobsMGMAT · Accepted Answer

Sure! Question 5 asks "The passage suggests that Farnsworth might have earned greater public notoriety for his invention if..."

Well I can't answer that unless I know why he didn't gain a lot of public notoriety in the first place: because Sarnoff gave Zworykin the credit. So basically, Zworykin got the notoriety because he worked for Sarnoff (and ostensibly that work involved developing/manufacturing/distributing the TV). If Farnsworth had been in that position instead of Zworykin, then Farnsworth would have gotten the credit. So (D) is the answer.

PUNEETSCHDV · Answer

hello R jacobs just want to discuss 3rd ques with u . . i think it cannot be E because E refers to details in the paragraphs and not the essence of paragraphs . . for 2nd my notes said sarnoff was responsible for the widespread use of television and for 3rd para the authors opinion is in first line itself

" but Sarnoff promoted himself as nothing less
than a visionary."

" but Sarnoff promoted himself as nothing less
than a visionary."

avi12345 · Answer

Could someone please explain Question # 5?

rjacobsMGMAT · Answer

Yes, this was the toughest for me as well! Here's how I broke it down: The second paragraph presents divergent visions about the possible uses of a technological device; OK, this works: the device is the TV, the divergent visions are Sarnoff's (radio-like business model) and Farnsworth's (educational tool). the third paragraph initiates a debate about the ramifications of one of those perspectives. I started with the phrase "one of those perspectives" - whose perspective are they talking about? Well, clearly Sarnoff's. Then I asked myself, "Are any ramifications discussed?" This was harder to answer, but it does seem like the ramifications were either that the Sarnoff model led to poor programming or that it led to a democratic platform. I did think "initiates a debate" was a little too strong, but then I asked myself, "If I were a high school teacher, would I be able to lead a discussion about whether Sarnoff's model had a negative or neutral impact on programming?" I think I would, so this paragraph does actually initiate a debate, or at least leave room for it. I actually disagree that E talks only about specifics - for me, the essence of the second paragraph for me is "Farnsworth (nerd) vs. Sarnoff (MBA)" (sorry, a little MBA humor here :-D

) and the essence of the third paragraph is "Radio-like model led to bad TV?" This matches (E) fairly closely.

Skywalker18 · Answer

Hi Carolyn  MagooshExpert ,
In the real world, when one says
"Some television critics argue that the construct Sarnoff implemented has played a negative role in determining the content of the programs themselves" - Statement 1
we can infer the below
a number of critics feel that Sarnoff's initial decision to earn television revenue through advertising has had a positive or neutral impact on content - Statement 2

but since the word  some  can take any value from 1 to 100, can we be sure that statement 2 MUST be true(what if the some in statement 1 takes the value of 100)?

MagooshExpert · Answer

Hi Skywalker18 ! Thanks for clarifying

In the real world, the word "some" implies "not all", and usually "less than half" (otherwise we would use the word "many"). So if there are 100 total critics in the world, we can assume that Statement 1 implies that 1 < x < 100 (or more likely 1 < x < 50) critics assume that Sarnoff had a negative impact. That means that at least one critic, and likely at least 50 critics, thought that Sarnoff had a neutral or positive impact. While you're correct that "some" on its own refers to an indeterminate number, "some of " implies a part of the whole (not the whole thing). See this definition of "some": one indeterminate quantity, portion, or number as distinguished from the rest So there is an implied "rest" of the group, that is not included in the "some". Here, the "rest" would refer to the critics that did not think Sarnoff had a negative impact. Does that make sense? If not, let me know!

-Carolyn

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. It can be inferred from the third paragraph of the passage that

Explanation

(A) Television shows produced by David Sarnoff and Vladimir Zworykin tended to earn negative reviews.

There is no information in the passage regarding the reviews of television shows produced by Sarnoff and Zworykin. The passage focuses on their contributions to the invention of television and the business model implemented by Sarnoff, rather than the quality or reception of their shows. Therefore, this option cannot be inferred from the passage.

(B) Educational programs cannot draw as large an audience as sports programs.

The passage does not make any direct comparison between the audience sizes of educational programs and sports programs. It only mentions Farnsworth's belief that television should be used as an educational tool, but it does not provide any information about the relative audience sizes of different types of programs. Therefore, this option cannot be inferred from the passage.

(C) A number of critics feel that Sarnoff's initial decision to earn television revenue through advertising has had a positive or neutral impact on content.

This option is correct. The passage states that  "Some television critics argue that the construct Sarnoff implemented has played a negative role in determining the content of the programs themselves, while others contend that it merely created a democratic platform from which the audience can determine the types of programming it wants."  This indicates that there are differing opinions among critics about the impact of Sarnoff's decision to fund television programming through advertising. Some critics believe it has had a negative impact on content, while others see it as a positive or neutral factor. Therefore, it can be inferred that a number of critics feel that Sarnoff's initial decision to earn television revenue through advertising 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.

The passage does not provide any information or comparison between the profitability of educational programs in prime time versus daytime hours. The passage mentions Farnsworth's belief that television should be used as an educational tool, but it does not discuss the profitability of educational programs. Therefore, this option cannot be inferred from the passage.

(E) In matters of programming, the audience's preferences should be more influential than those of the advertisers.

While the passage mentions that Sarnoff's construct created a democratic platform from which the audience can determine the types of programming it wants, it does not explicitly state that the audience's preferences should be more influential than those of the advertisers. The passage presents contrasting viewpoints regarding the impact of Sarnoff's decision, but it does not take a definitive stance on whether the audience's preferences should outweigh those of the advertisers. Therefore, this option cannot be inferred from the passage.

In conclusion, option (C) is the correct answer because it is supported by the passage, while the other options cannot be directly inferred based on the information provided.

Answer: C

In the early years of television, Vladimir Zworykin was, at least in

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In the early years of television, Vladimir Zworykin was, at least in

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