Critics note that the ordinance describes city officials as having broad latitude when reviewing building proposals. In fact, the text specifies the outcome for nearly every possible set of circumstances, leaving officials little more to do than identify which provision applies. The ordinance’s grant of discretion is thus largely ______.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
For a Words-in-Context question, identify contrasts and cause-and-effect relationships before considering the choices. Paraphrase the exact idea required by the blank, then distinguish choices that merely relate to the topic from the one that precisely expresses that idea.
Hints
Compare the claim with the reality
Contrast the ordinance’s description of officials’ authority with what officials actually do when reviewing proposals.
Focus on independent judgment
Ask whether officials truly choose among possible outcomes or merely apply outcomes that the ordinance has already determined.
Check what the blank modifies
The blank describes the ordinance’s “grant of discretion.” Look for a choice that characterizes the practical substance of that grant, not merely the type of work officials perform.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the contrast
The ordinance describes officials as having “broad latitude,” but it also specifies the outcome for nearly every set of circumstances. This contrast indicates that the apparent grant of discretion has little practical substance.
Paraphrase the needed meaning
Officials do not make many independent decisions; they mainly determine which fixed provision applies. The blank therefore needs a word meaning that the discretion exists chiefly as a label or formal claim rather than as a genuine power.
Compare the choices
“Administrative” describes work related to management or official duties, “exhaustive” means complete or thorough, and “interpretive” refers to explaining or determining meaning. None captures the contrast between the ordinance’s stated grant of discretion and the lack of actual choice. “Nominal” means existing mainly in name, so it most precisely completes the text.