PrepTest 108, Section 3, Question 3
The local fair held its annual photography contest(32 more words not shown)
Each of the following, if(15 more words not shown)
- AMany more of(12 more words not shown)
- BThe judges in(14 more words not shown)
- CAmateurs tend to(15 more words not shown)
- DEach category in(18 more words not shown)
- EThree times as(12 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Shouldn't the professionals win? That's a reasonable first expectation, but there are several ways amateurs could take most of the prizes without being better photographers overall.
Suppose 500 amateurs enter and only five professionals do. The professionals could be excellent, yet the much larger amateur group could still collect more prizes. Or perhaps some categories are open only to amateurs. A professional can't win a prize in a category they aren't allowed to enter.
What we’re looking for
The passage reports the outcome without claiming that amateurs are better. We're asked to explain that outcome, with one exception. So four answers will help us understand why amateurs won most of the prizes; one will fail to provide that explanation. Keep the comparison fixed: amateurs versus professionals in this contest.
Working the answers
- A
This fits the first possibility we considered. The amateurs submitted many more entries, giving that group more opportunities to win. That doesn't guarantee they would win most prizes, but it makes the outcome easier to understand. We can eliminate A because it helps explain the result.
- B
The judges' preferences favor photographs taken by amateurs. That gives us a direct reason the awards might favor amateurs too. Winning a judged competition depends on what the judges prefer, not just on whether the entrants earn a living from photography.
- C
The entries may not represent the professionals' best work. If amateurs submit their strongest photographs while professionals hold theirs back for clients, the actual contest submissions could favor the amateurs even if the professionals are generally better photographers. We are comparing the work entered, not everything each group is capable of producing.
- D
More categories are open exclusively to amateurs, so there are more categories in which only amateurs can win. That changes the available opportunities. The result need not mean that amateurs beat professionals head-to-head in most competitions; many of the prizes may have been unavailable to professionals from the start.
- ECorrect
This compares the number of amateurs this year with the number in earlier years. It doesn't compare amateurs with professionals in the current contest.
Tripling the amateur turnout could still leave amateurs greatly outnumbered by professionals. Or professional participation could have increased even faster. We aren't given either group's current share of the entries. Unlike A, E does not supply the relative numbers that could explain why amateurs won most of this year's prizes. More amateurs than before is not the same as more amateurs than professionals.
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