Bunuel wrote:
A number of serious amateur photographers have tested the new Apheron digital camera. With it, they observed that the camera took photographs with much finer detail both in bright and low light situations than with the 10-megapixel Norwich, even though the Norwich cameras offer a higher resolution at 10 megapixels than the 8-megapixel Apheron cameras. Given these amateur photographers’ observational findings, any serious photographer ought to choose the Apheron if she or he is buying a digital camera for both bright and low light situations.
The argument proceeds by
(A) describing how a testing situation approximates the real-life conditions of ordinary use
(B) using the claims of a subset of a group to make a recommendation to the larger group
(C) evaluating the credibility of a recommendation made by a particular group
(D) distinguishing between the actual reasons why a certain group did a particular thing and the best reasons for doing that thing
(E) placing an experience in a wider context in order to explain it
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
Answer: B
STEP 1: Read the question and identify your task.This is a variation of a Describe question—a Describe How the Argument Proceeds question. It asks you to find the answer that describes how the argument “proceeds,” that is, how it comes to its conclusion.
STEP 2: Read the argument with your task in mind.Based on the experience of “a number” of amateur photographers with a particular camera, the argument urges “any” ( = all) such photographers to
choose that camera.
STEP 3: Know what you’re looking for.The correct answer will describe how the argument applied the assertions of a small group (the amateur photographers with the Apheron camera) to make
a suggestion to a larger group (all amateur photographers).
STEP 4: Read every word of every answer choice.Answer A talks about testing conditions, while the argument makes no mention of testing conditions, so it is off the mark. Answer B says that the argument uses a subset to make a recommendation for a larger group, and this meets your criteria. The amateur photographers are the subset and the “any” photographers are your larger group. With answer C the credibility of the amateur photographers is accepted as a given and is not part of the argument. For answer D, the motivations for buying the camera are never discussed in the argument. The experience of the smaller group of photographers is not given any wider context. It is only used to recommend the camera to a larger group, so answer E is incorrect. The correct choice is answer B.