About Question enthuware.ocpjp.v8.2.1825 :

[UncleF]

I think the explanation is a little bit misleading here for option 2.
You actually can specify generic types for methods, the only problem is it should be _after_ the dot, not _before_ it.
This will work:
PlaceHolder<String, String> ph1 = PlaceHolder.<String>getDuplicateHolder("b");

[admin]

Updated.
thank you for your feedback!
Paul.