Logical reasoning PrepTest 129 · Section 2 · Question 2

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Argument Completion

Stimulus Summary:
Associative strategies—Focus on physical sensations; require concentration that leads to multi-day exhaustion
Dissociative strategies—Ignore physical sensations; don't require concentration that leads to multi-day exhaustion
It's important for runners to enter a race mentally refreshed, so __________.

Answer Anticipation:
The stimulus spends a lot of time discussing and comparing two strategies used by long-distance runners—associative and dissociative strategies. It then transitions to a "Since" premise, which directly supports the conclusion, so to anticipate the completion to this argument, we should start there and see if that premise builds off of any of the others.

That premise establishes an important consideration—long-distance runners have to enter a race mentally refreshed. Looking at the earlier premises, we can see that mental freshness was earlier discussed—associative strategies require concentration and lead to multi-day mental exhaustion, whereas dissociative strategies don't ("unlike dissociative ones"). Since long-distance runners don't want to be mentally exhausted the day of a race, and associative strategies leave one mentally exhausted for multiple days after using them, then it follows that long-distance runners shouldn't use associative strategies the day before a race.

Note that it wouldn't be valid to conclude that they should use dissociative strategies the day before a race because it's not established that they should use any strategies the day before the race—maybe it's best they take a day off. However, there'll likely be a trap answer with this conclusion, so let's be careful.

Answer Explanation:
This answer reflects that runners should make sure they're mentally fresh the day of the race, and associative strategies make one mentally exhausted for at least one day after using them, so it completes the argument.

Key Takeaway:
First, most Argument Completion questions bring all the information together. Interestingly, this one doesn't—the entire discussion of dissociative strategies is there merely to distract, not to build to the correct answer.

Second, "Since" premises lead straight into a conclusion. When you're trying to focus on the most direct premise, this type of statement is a great place to look.

Incorrect. The stimulus provides no information about what strategy is best to use during a race.

Incorrect. There's no discussion of what methods will maximize the benefit of training, or that alternating strategies is beneficial at all. While it may be the case that associative strategies leave one mentally exhausted, that doesn't mean that a runner should alternate to dissociative strategies—it's possible training through a state of constant mental exhaustion is the best!

Incorrect. The stimulus doesn't provide any information about the breakdown of the long-distance running population as far as how many use which strategy, so an even split is unsupported.

Incorrect. The stimulus never compares the effectiveness of the strategies, so this answer is out of scope.