PrepTest 129, Section 2, Question 2
Long-distance runners use two different kinds of cognitive(54 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(5 more words not shown)
- Along-distance runners should(16 more words not shown)
- Bunless they regularly(12 more words not shown)
- Cmaximizing the benefits(12 more words not shown)
- Dlong-distance runners are(19 more words not shown)
- Ein long-distance running,(15 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
One strategy has the runner pay close attention to bodily sensations. The other has the runner mostly tune those sensations out. That difference alone does not tell me which strategy is better. Perhaps concentrating closely helps someone run well; perhaps ignoring discomfort helps. We need to see what consequence matters here.
Associative strategies leave the runner mentally exhausted for more than a day. Is that necessarily a problem? If you finish a marathon and feel mentally exhausted the next day, that fact by itself does not show you chose badly during the race.
What we’re looking for
But the final sentence gives us the relevant timing: runners need to enter a race mentally refreshed. Now the pieces fit. Using an exhausting strategy the day before the race could leave the runner exhausted when the race begins. My completion would advise avoiding heavy reliance on associative strategies in training that day. We do not need to decide which strategy is best in every situation.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This places the recommendation exactly where the evidence supports it: training on the day before a race. The mental exhaustion from associative strategies lasts more than a day, so relying heavily on them then would interfere with starting the race refreshed.
- B
This tells runners what to do during a race and makes the recommendation depend on how they regularly train. The passage gives us neither that condition nor that comparison. Our concern is how training beforehand affects the runner's mental state upon entering the race.
- C
Why would runners need to alternate frequently? Nothing tells us that switching back and forth maximizes the benefits of training. A runner might use dissociative strategies consistently, or choose strategies on some other basis. The passage supports a precaution about the day before a race, not a general alternating schedule.
- D
We have no count of how many runners use either strategy during races. Knowing that two strategies exist does not tell us that the population splits evenly between them. This also fails to draw a recommendation from the importance of entering mentally refreshed.
- E
Less mental exhaustion does not establish greater effectiveness for every day's training. Associative strategies might have other benefits. The evidence supports avoiding their lingering exhaustion just before a race, without establishing which strategy generally produces better training results.
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