The main batch we had problems with was the analogy section.
Choose the answer that best completes the analogy.
DURABLE:FRAGILE::__________:____________
A.
cold:frigid
B.
sturdy:concrete
C.
dwindle:increase
D.
trustworthy:friend
I presented you with a few ways to approach these questions. Each pair of words have a relationship that you are supposed to divine and then extend to another pair of words. The four most common catagories for identifying analogy relationships are:
Opposite
Level of intensity
Similarity
Cause/effect
Take, for example, the following question.VERBOSE:BRIEF::__________:____________
A.
rambling:concise
B.
talkative:chatty
C.
social:converse
D.
shy:quiet
We can see that verbose and brief are opposites. Therefore we will look for a pair of opposite to complete the analogy, which, in this case is A.
ANCIENT:OLD::__________:___________
A.
youth:age
B.
cool:cold
C.
child:young
D.
boiling:warm
This analogy is based on a level of intensity since ancient and old both describe age. Ancient, however, is a more extreme form of age than old is. So we will look for an answer based in level of intensity.
We find ourselves with two options: B: cool:cold, and D. boiling: warm. Therefore we need to find one more similarity between the root analogy and the correct choice. We discover that ancient precedes old in the root analogy, the more extreme preceding the less extreme. Cool is less extreme than cold, so that does not fit the root analogy. However, boiling is more extreme than warm, so we choose D.
LAUD:SUCCESS::_________:__________
A.
chastise:misbehavior
B.
start:argument
C.
represent:reward
D.
scars:hide
This one was more difficult for us because few of us knew what laud means. However, we can still look for patterns that give us the clues we need. For example, the relationship between chastise and misbehavior is that you chastise a person when he or she misbehaves. So misbehavior causes chastisement (cause and effect). However, an argument does not cause a start. Reward and represent don't seem to have much in common at all, they are not opposites, they are not similar, they aren't related to each other through levels of intensity, and one does not cause the other (however, the test writers did try to trick you by making reward a similar word to success). So we can eliminate that one. Similarly, hiding does not cause a scar.
So we are left with just one pair of words that seem to have a relationship: chastise and misbehavior. This is the correct answer. Laud means to praise. When someone is successful, we praise (laud) him or her. Similarly, when someone misbehaves, we chastise him or her. So this analogy is based in cause and effect.
The best strategy to use when confronted by analogies is to look for patterns: opposite, level of intensity, similarity, and cause/effect.
