Reading Comprehension

PT147 · S2 · P1 · Q3 Muscle Memory

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Passage A Muscle memory is a puzzling phenomenon.

Topic

Muscle memory—why people regain muscle more quickly after losing it

Framework

Answer / Explain (both passages are examining potential explanations for the phenomenon of muscle memory)

Main Point

Both passages explore the question: Why do people quickly regain muscle after a break from training? Passage A proposes neural and psychological explanations, while Passage B presents recent scientific findings about persistent muscle cell nuclei as a potential mechanism for "muscle memory."

**Most Valuable Sentences:** - Passage A: (end P1) - Passage B: (end P3)

P1 (A): Introducing the Mystery of Muscle Memory

Muscle memory is a weird thing that bodybuilders often notice, but scientists barely talk about. After a break, people seem to gain muscle faster the second time—so there must be a real explanation.

P2 (A): Neural Explanation for Muscle Memory

One possible reason is that with training, you get better at using more muscle fibers because your neurons become more efficient. Even after taking a break, your nervous system may "remember" how to activate more fibers, making it easier to get strong again.

P3 (A): Psychological Explanation for Muscle Memory

Or maybe it’s not just physical: the first time you got strong, you were cautious. When you retrain, you’re more confident and push yourself faster, leading to quicker muscle gains.

3.

Passage B, unlike passage A, suggests that the phenomenon of muscle memory might be due to

  1. Correct

    muscle cells' ability to merge

    Why this is right

    This is where muscle cells get their bonus nuclei from, and the bonus nuclei is how Passage B explains muscle memory. Passage A never talks about "stem cells".

    Skill tested: Locate Detail · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    89% picked this

  2. the body's ability to adapt

    Unrelated to Goal

    Passage B says that muscle memory is due to the extra nuclei that muscle cells absorbed from stem cells the first time that person bulked up. Nothing in this answer sounds like it's talking about that. We could possibly make this generic sense of "adapting to training" relate to "absorbing extra nuclei from stem cells", but "adapting to training" is so generic that it would also relate to Passage A.

    0% picked this

  3. psychological factors

    Trap

    Unrelated to Goal Reversed (A, not B) Passage B says that muscle memory is due to the extra nuclei that muscle cells absorbed from stem cells the first time that person bulked up. Nothing in this answer sounds like it's talking about that. It's talking about psychological factors, which is more like how Passage A explained muscle memory.

    0% picked this

  4. a cell death program known

    Unrelated to Goal

    Passage B says that muscle memory is due to the extra nuclei that muscle cells absorbed from stem cells the first time that person bulked up. When someone stops working out and their muscles atrophy, the cell death program known as apoptosis doesn't kill off the extra cell nuclei. So we could say that "you have muscle memory because apoptosis doesn't kill of the extra cell nuclei", but that's not as good an answer as (A). If Patrick mowed Sabrina's lawn for $20, which he then used to buy pizza, would we say "Patrick's ability to buy pizza was due to" (A) mowing Sabrina's lawn (B) the fact that a mugger didn't rob him of his $20 on the way to the pizza shop Technically both are causally related, but it makes more sense to talk about where I got the $20 from (or where the muscle cells got the extra nuclei from) rather than giving credit to something that didn't take it away from me.

    7% picked this

  5. the neurons that stimulate muscles

    Trap

    Unrelated to Goal Reversed (A, not B) Passage B says that muscle memory is due to the extra nuclei that muscle cells absorbed from stem cells the first time that person bulked up. Nothing in this answer sounds like it's talking about that. It's talking about neurons (in the brain). Passage A, not B, talked about neurons as a possible explanation for muscle memory.

    3% picked this

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