Objective
#4 – draw conclusions &
make inferences about
ideas and information
based on grade-appropriate
texts
Analogies
Thinking out of the Box
To solve an analogy you
must think “outside of
the box”.
You have to think in a
different way.
Analogy questions are
often described as _______
is to _________ as _______
is to
________________.
An example of how an analogy
question would look:
puppy : dog :: kitten : ______
it would be read as “puppy is to
dog as kitten is to ?”
The answer is, of
course, cat.
To figure out the analogy – you might
think of the relationship between puppy
& dog.
A puppy is a young dog.
They are the same, yet
different.
to complete the analogy
Kitten is a small
cat.
This analogy showed a
relationship between two
things.
Other examples of
analogies
Parts to a whole
In this type of analogy, a
pair of words consists of a
part and a whole.
spoke : wheel
(part to the whole)
A spoke
is part of a wheel.
Type and Category
These analogies use pairs
of words in which one
word is a specific type
in a general category.
orange : citrus
An orange is a type
of citrus fruit.
degree of intensity
These analogies test your
ability to find small
variations in the
meanings among a pair of
words.
shower : monsoon
A shower & monsoon
are both rains, but a
monsoon is much
stronger.
function
These questions pair
words that are related
through function.
hammer : build
A hammer is
used to build
things.
manner
This type of analogy
describes the manner in
which an action is
accomplished.
shamble : walk
Shamble means to walk
in an awkward way.
symbol or representation
These analogies pair
words in which one
word is the symbol of
the other.
dove : peace
A dove is a symbol
of peace.
action & significance
In this type of analogy, one
word describes an action
and the other word
indicates the significance
of the action.
cry : sorrow
To cry signifies
sorrow.
Let’s try a few
Sherpa : Tibet ::
Massai : ___________
a.
b.
c.
d.
Bicycle
Kenya
desert
Mountain
answer is c. Kenya
Even if you do not know
the exact meaning of the
words in the question you
might be able to guess the
correct answer.
Even if you were unable to describe the relationship
between the words because they are unfamiliar to you,
you could probably see that Kenya is the only
country offered as a choice. Seeing that Tibet, another
country is the 2nd half of the first pair, you can
figure that a country is necessary to complete the
analogy.
Sherpa are people of Tibet.
Massai are people of Kenya.
Let’s try another one
iron : Fe ::
silver : _______________
a.
b.
c.
d.
Na
Cl
Ag
K
answer is c. Ag
Sometimes factual knowledge is
necessary to answer an analogy
question. Even if you are unfamiliar
with the chemical symbols, as in this
question, you can find them in the
dictionary by looking under the
heading “elements”.
Don’t give up – let’s try
another
About : bout ::
__________ : mend
a.
b.
c.
d.
Amend
Near
Tear
Dismiss
answer is a. amend
In this case, the answer is amend
because that is the word formed by
adding “a” in front of mend. You
will also find anagrams (words
that use the same letters, but in a
different arrangement) in analogy
questions.
Try another???
Tardy : ________ ::
Liberal : generous
What are you looking for in this example?
Liberal and generous are synonyms.
To complete the analogy you would
look for a synonym for tardy.
Antonyms are often used in
analogies, as well.
One more??
Warm : hot ::
________ : hilarious
a.
b.
c.
d.
Humid
Raucous
Summer
amusing
answer is d. amusing
To answer this one you need to figure
out the relationship. This is an
analogy of degrees. Warm is less
intense than hot, therefore, what
answer choice is something less
intense than hilarious?
Some test takers will impulsively
pick “a” (humid) because humid
is related to the 1st word pair
(warm & hot), but it is not part
of the analogy of degrees.
Other test takers will choose “b”
(raucous) because they think
that the word pair, warm : hot, is
a synonym pair.
Choosing “c” summer is a slightly
different case. This is another way
to show how the test taker might be
distracted by a wrong answer
choice. “c” might be selected because
warm : hot reminds the test taker of
summer.
Remember to look at both pair of
words and figure out the correct
relationship.
For our practices you will always
have the opportunity to use a
dictionary to look up any words
unfamiliar to you to help you to
figure out the meaning or
relationship between the words.
Good Luck on