Q3

[kimyooji]

I am stuck between D and E

with D, I know its mentioned in line 7 but it also says 'unless citizens groups were applying for broadcasting license' so I moved on to E...although I didn't feel comfortable cos of 'first time'...

please help me!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

You've turned to the right spot in the passage to answer this question. I think you might have a slight misread on the statement following "unless."

Unless the citizens' groups were applying for a broadcasters license. That means that they would be invited to speak as applicants for a license (not as members of the public). So answer choice (D) is still properly inferred from the passage.

[jayparkcom]

Matt,

what's wrong with C then?

is it wrong because the word ultimate?

[denis468]

I was torn between D an E also. The reason I chose E was because text stated it was a "landmark case that change the course..." - I thought it perfectly corresponded to something contained in A: "..case.. brought represents the first time citizen's group was successful at getting it concerns addressed to its satisfaction."

I have no beef with answer D, it is valid... Just wanted to express my thoughts.

[daniel]

Matt,

what's wrong with C then?

is it wrong because the word ultimate?

I am also interested in the answer to this question. When I took this test, I was down to (C) and (D), and ultimately chose (D) because I found direct support for this in the passage. At the time, I think I eliminated (C) because if the FCC had "ultimate authority" then how could the Court revoke a license issued by the FCC without remand to the FCC?

On review, I believe (C) can be eliminated because it misconstrues the subject of the ruling. The ruling is not about where the authority to renew broadcaster's licenses resides, but about whether the public has standing at FCC renewal proceedings.

Other answer choices:

(A) Misconstrues some background information (cp. "broadcasting industry's economic goals" and "parties with an economic interest in broadcasting" on lines 5-6) and creates an unsupported generalization with "most easily."

(B) Not supported. There is no indication that the FCC was advised by broadcasters to perform any particular action. This misconstrues the statement in lines 11-12, where we are told that the FCC appeared to be at the service of the broadcasting industry. However, there is no support for the idea that broadcasters were actually advising the FCC on how to run their proceedings.

(D) Correct answer, supported primarily by lines 8-11.

(E) Generalization. Although the passage indicates that this case represented the first time a citizens' group successfully challenged the FCC with respect to public standing at license renewal hearings, the passage does not indicate that this was the first time any citizens' group was successful in getting its concerns about any government agency addressed.

Are my decisions for eliminating these choices based on a correct understanding of the passage?

[ttunden]

I thought lines 8-11 refute answer choice D. IT says that if they had the standing necessary to voice their views, it means the citizens group were applying for licenses

doesn't this mean the FCC does allow citizens' groups to speak at fcc hearing?

[christine.defenbaugh]

I thought lines 8-11 refute answer choice D. IT says that if they had the standing necessary to voice their views, it means the citizens group were applying for licenses

doesn't this mean the FCC does allow citizens' groups to speak at fcc hearing?

Great question ttunden!

You're using the right line references for analyzing (D), but be careful to read both the reference and the answer choice super critically! Your translation of the conditional "unless" is spot on: If the citizens' groups had standing, then they had to be applying for licenses for themselves. In other words, if they weren't applying for their own licenses, then they would not be allowed to voice their views!

Now, if (D) simply said that the FCC would not allow citizens' groups to speak EVER, then our line reference would defeat this answer. But (D) is a bit more specific than that. It says, instead, that the FCC would not allow citizens' groups to speak as members of the public, i.e., from only their position as "viewers and listeners". (Lines 6-8). And that's exactly right!

Our line reference tells us that the FCC might allow citizens' groups to speak when applying for their own license, but would NOT allow them to speak otherwise - and that includes speaking "as members of the public"!

There have been a number of questions about both (C) and (E), so I'll address those two as well:

(C) This one is interesting, as there are two different court rulings, as the Church appealed FCC decisions twice.

The first ruling appears in line 38: the court simply granted standing to the Church in a public hearing. No indication is given about any decisions in this ruling as to the FCC's "ultimate authority."

The second ruling appears in line 43: the court "revok[ed] the station's licence without remand to the FCC." That means that the judge made a decision about the license, and didn't give the FCC a say in the matter. That's pretty much the opposite of ruling that the FCC "had the ultimate authority"!!

(E) daniel locked it up on this one above! This may have been the first time a citizens' group was successful at getting its concerns about FCC rulings addressed its satisfaction, but we have no idea if it's the first time that's ever happened for any government agency. That's WAY too broad!

I hope this helps clear up a few things! Remember to carefully assess the entire answer choice - missing "government agencies" on (E), or "as members of the public" on (D) would be enough to make the wrong answer look really right, and the right answer look really wrong!

[KristenG491]

Hi! I'm still a bit confused on why the answer choice is D over E. I think I understand why answer choice E is wrong, but it still seems like the better choice over D. I now see that with answer choice E the passage doesn't confirm whether this was the "first time...a group was successful." However, I'm confused as to why/where does it say that, "the FCC would not allow citizens' groups to speak as member of the public at FCC hearings." I know in the first paragraph it states that the rights of viewers were not recognized, but it seems like a stretch to conclude that they wouldn't allow citizens group to speak as a member of the public FCC hearings. Or was this the exact inference I was supposed to make?

Thanks in advance!