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 rela-
tionship 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 ques-
tion. 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 coun-
try offered as a choice. As you know that Tibet , a country, is the sec-
ond 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 sev-
eral 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.
■
Ty p e a n d C a t e g o r y. 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 i n
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,
x
501 Word Analogy Questions