Analogy

Analogy questions are often described as “blank is to blank as blank is to blank.” So for example, puppy : dog :: kitten : ______, is read “puppy is to dog as kitten is to blank.” The answer is, of course, “cat.” However, the “blank is to blank” format does not really answer the question precisely. More accurately, you might describe the relationship between puppy and dog as “a puppy is a young dog.” To determine the missing word, you might say “a kitten is a young . . .” The key to solving an analogy question is to precisely describe the

Relationship between the pair of words and then apply the same relationship to determine which word completes the analogy.

Most analogy questions rely on your ability to deduce the correct relationship between words and to draw logical conclusions about the possible answer choices. For example in the question “Sherpa : Tibet :: Massai : ______,” you can probably guess the correct answer from the following choices— a. mountain, b. bicycle, c. Kenya,  d.  desert—

even if you do not know the exact meaning of the words in the question. The correct answer is Kenya—Sherpa are people who live in Tibet and Massai are people who live in Kenya. Even if you were unable to describe the relationship between the words because they are unfamiliar, you could probably see that Kenya is the only country offered as a choice. As you know that Tibet, a country, is the second half of the first pair, you can deduce that a country is necessary to complete the second pair.

The relationships that are found in analogy questions fall into several general types.

Part to Whole. In this type of question, a pair of words consists of a part and a whole. For example, spoke : wheel. A spoke is part of a wheel.

Type a n d Category. T h e s e q u e s t i o n s u s e p a i r s o f w o r d s in which one word is a specific type in a general category.

For example, orange : citrus. An orange is a type of citrus.

Degree of Intensity. These questions test your ability to discern nuance of meaning among pairs of words. For example, shower: monsoon. A shower is light rainfall and a monsoon is heavy rainfall.

Function. These questions pair words that are related through function. For example, hammer : build. A hammer is used to build.

Manner. This type of analogy describes the manner, way, or style by which an action is accomplished. For example, shamble : walk. Shamble means to walk in an awkward manner.

Symbol or representation. These questions pair words in which one word is the symbol of the other. For example, dove : peace. A dove is a symbol of peace.

Action and significance. In this type of analogy one word describes an action and the other word indicates the significance of the action. For example, cry : sorrow. To cry signifies sorrow.

Analogy questions can also be used to test word knowledge and factual content. Word knowledge questions are generally pairs of synonyms or pairs of antonyms. For example, tardy: ______:: liberal : generous. Liberal and generous are synonyms, therefore you would

look for a synonym of tardy among the answer choices. Factual content questions demand a certain level of general knowledge, and cannot be deduced from the relationship alone. For example:  Iron : Fe :: silver : ______

a. Na b. Cl c. Ag d. K

In this case you need to know that the chemical symbol for silver is Ag. Even though these questions require some basic knowledge you can still apply logic to the question. For example, if you know that the chemical name for table salt is NaCl, you can eliminate these two answers. This leaves you with Ag and K. If you happen to know that the French word for silver is argent, then Ag would be an excellent educated guess .There is a final type of analogy question that is purely a logic test. These questions pair seemingly unrelated words. The relationship is found in the arrangement of the letters. For example:

about : bout :: ______ : mend

a. amend b. near c. tear d. dismiss

In this case, the answer is amend because that is the word formed by adding an “a” in front of mend. You will also find scrambled words and anagrams in this category of analogies.

At first, there may seem to be many different reasons for getting various questions wrong. At closer look, however, there may be a pattern to your wrong answers.

Test preparers often spend as much time on wrong answer choices as they do the right answer. For instance, let’s consider this analogy and answer choices:

warm : hot :: ______ : hilarious

a. humid b. raucous c. summer d. amusing

wrong answer choices through practice. At first, there may seem to be many different reasons for getting various questions wrong. At closer look, however, there may be a pattern to your wrong answers.

To come up with the correct answer , you must first figure out the relationship. This is an analogy of degrees. Warm is less intense than hot, therefore what answer choice is something that is less intense than hilarious? The right answer is  d

, based on the relationship of amusing being less intense than hilarious. To illustrate how some test takers get led astray by carefully crafted wrong answer choices, let’s

take a closer look at choices  a ,  b , and  c . Some test takers will impulsively pick a because humid is related to the first word pair, warm and hot, but it is not part of the analogy of degree. This choice is offered as an option for the careless reader. Other test takers will choose  b because they have misunderstood the analogy. They may think that the word pair, warm : hot, is a synonym pair, showing faulty reasoning skills. Choosing c is a slightly              different case. Wrong answers may also be chosen because of the test taker’s predisposition. In this example, summer is chosen because warm : hot reminds the test taker of summer. These are all illustrations of ways in which test takers can get thrown off or distracted by wrong answer choices. Careful, close reading, and lots of practice will help you to avoid the wrong answer trap. And remember, as time runs out, you are more prone to make careless mistakes, so read carefully and stay calm. Your reasoning skills and power of logic work better when you are not flustered, so remain in control and stay alert