I’m happy to help. First, we note from the question stem that this is a “primary purpose†question. For this type of question, I like to look at the paragraph or portion in question, describe the purpose in my own words, and then see if any answer choice matches that description.
So what is paragraph 3 saying? It starts off with a continuation from paragraph 2 — namely, describing a complaint about the use of custom-made illustrations.
But then we have a key transition indicator word — “butâ€! And what follows the but? A reason to dismiss the complaint of distortion, namely, illustrators striving for accuracy and avoiding inflammatory potential. The paragraph continues with rebutting what came before by explaining why custom may be better than medical textbook illustrations, namely that these images have a different end user. The paragraph concludes with an example of how the illustrations might be different — and why custom may be better.
How would you sum that up in your own words? I would basically call it a rebuttal paragraph to what came before, with examples and explanation.
Answer B says “reply†rather than rebuttal, but that is close! And the “variant†of the objection is indicated by the starting words “It has also been maintained that custom-made illustrations may subtly distort the issues...†We are getting a different variant of the objection to the illustrations: subtle distortion. And then a rebuttal.
That is why answer B is correct. I hope that helps! Please let us know if you have further questions.
