Tips to use analogies for gat test
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Number one is Direction :In each of the following questions, a related pair of words
or phrases is followed by five lettered pairs of words or
phrases. Select the pair that best expresses a relationship
that exists between a word and its dictionary definition.
Two is Analysis:It is important that you focus on understanding the relationship
between the original pair of words, because this is really what you
are trying to parallel.
First, you should find the primary relationship first, then look for a
secondary or closer relationship. The idea is to select the BEST
answer or most similar relationship.
Types:Many types of relationships are possible in GRE analogies. The stem
words may be related by:
Category
Example
Synonyms
end: terminate
Antonyms
artificial: real
Worker and Tool Used
photographer: camera
Tool and Object Its Used Upon
scissors: paper
Worker and Object He Creates
poet: poem
Cause and Effect
negligence: accident
Effect and Cause
tsunami: earthquake
Material Used and End Product
lumber: house
Function of a Tool
saw: cut
Part to Whole
leaf: tree
Person and What He Looks For
mineralogist: ore
Person and What He Avoids
student: failure
Masculine and Feminine
host: hostess
Age
infant: adolescent
Person and Closely Related Adjective
commander: competent
Person and Least Related Adjective
commander: coward
Symbol and What It Stands For
rose: love
Mathematical Relationship
seven: forty-nine
Measurement
mile: distance
Classification and Type
dog: greyhound
Degree of Intensity
cold: pneumonia
Tips for Answering Analogies
1: To find the relationship between the stem words (the words in capital
letters), form a simple sentence that links the two words and illustrates
their meaning. Then plug in the choices.
2: If more than one choice fits your sentence, go back and make your
sentence more specific or look for a nuance that you missed.
3: You can automatically eliminate any answer choice containing a
triangular nonrelationship. In a triangular nonrelationship, the two words
are related to a third word, but not directly to each other. For example:
WEIGHT:AGE
SALT:PEPPER
IRRIGATIONS:FERTILIZER
LEMON:ORANGE
In each word pair, both are related to something, but not to each other.
4: You can automatically eliminate any answer choice containing words
that are not related in a clear and necessary way.
5: Never initially eliminate a choice if you are uncertain of the meaning
of either word in it. You cant be positive that two words are unrelated if
you have no idea what one of the words means.
6: When you dont know the meaning of one of the words in the stem,
work backwards from the choices.
7: You can improve the effectiveness of working backward by using
information in the problem to decode the unknown word in the stem.
8: If you know both words in the stem, you can sometimes eliminate a
choice even if you dont know one of the words or the way u think its
important, by determining whether any word could create a relationship
like the stem relationship.