ANALOGIES I

ANALOGIES I

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Analogy II

In analogy questions, the relationship between the words ismore important than the meanings of the words themselves.The analogy section of the GRE is one of the easiest partsof the test to improve on. Before You Look at The Answer-Choices, Think of a Short Sentence That Expresses The Relationship Between The Two Words.

Example: FISH : SCHOOL ::
How are FISH and SCHOOL related? Well, a group of fish is called a school.

Example: JOURNALIST : TYPEWRITER ::
Paraphrase: A journalist uses a typewriter as a tool of histrade.

Example: ORCHESTRA : MUSICIAN ::
(A) story : comedian
(B) band : singer
(C) garden : leaf
(D) troupe : actor
(E) government : lawyer
Paraphrase:"An ORCHESTRA is comprised of MUSICIANS." Now, aSTORY is not comprised of COMEDIANS. Eliminate (A). A BANDmay have a SINGER, but a BAND is not comprised of SINGERS:there may be a drummer, guitarist, etc. Eliminate (B).Similarly, a GARDEN is comprised of more than just LEAVES.Eliminate (C). But a TROUPE is comprised of ACTORS. Theanswer, therefore, is (D). If More Than One Answer-Choice Fits Your Paraphrase, Make Your Paraphrase More Specific.
Example: CLUB : GOLF ::
(A) type : book
(B) ball : soccer
(C) glove : baseball
(D) racket : tennis
(E) board : chess
Paraphrase: "A CLUB is used to play GOLF." However, thisparaphrase eliminates only answer-choice (A). A morespecific paraphrase is: A CLUB is used to strike a ball inthe game of GOLF. Similarly, a RACKET is used to strike aball in the game of TENNIS. The answer is (D).
Note: The parts of speech are consistent throughout ananalogy problem. Hence, if the given pair is an adjectiveand a noun, then each answer-pair will be an adjective and anoun, in that order. This helps you determine the intendedmeaning when one (or both) of the given words has more thanone part of speech.

Eliminate Answer-Choices That Do Not Have A Clear And Reasonably Necessary Relationship.Educated guessing is a very useful technique on the GRE. If you can eliminate one or more answer-choices, you will probably increase your score by guessing.
Example: CORROSION : IRON ::
(A) sloth : energy
(B) disease : vision
(C) atrophy : muscle
In choices (A) and (C) there are clear and reasonablynecessary relationships between the words of each pair: aSLOTHFUL person lacks ENERGY, and ATROPHY means "the wastingaway of MUSCLE." But in choice (B) there is no necessaryrelationship between the words: most DISEASES have no effecton VISION. Hence, eliminate choice (B). The correct answeris (C) since CORROSION is the wasting away of IRON, just asATROPHY is the wasting away of MUSCLE.
Note: Be careful when eliminating answer-choices to hardanalogy problems because the relationship may not be strong,or it may actually be between esoteric (rare) meanings ofthe words. This is often what makes a hard analogy problemhard.

Watch Out For Eye-Catchers
Unfortunately, the writers of the GRE often set traps byoffering an answer-pair that reminds you of the original pair but has a different relationship. The correct answer-pair, of course, will have the same relationship as the original pair, but the words in the answer will typically be in an entirely different category. The following diagram indicates how the relationship functions between the original pair and the correct answer, and how the relationship functions between the original pair and the eye-catcher.

MONARCHY is an eye-catcher since it reminds one ofGOVERNMENT--it's a type of government. Now, a paraphrase forANARCHY : GOVERNMENT is ANARCHY is the absence ofGOVERNMENT. Similarly, FREETHINKING is the absence ofDOGMATIC thought. Notice that GOVERNMENT and DOGMATIST arein different categories: a DOGMATIST is not a GOVERNMENT.
Example: EXCERPT : NOVEL ::
(A) critique : play
(B) review : manuscript
(C) swatch : cloth
(D) foreword : preface
(E) recital : performance
Notice how in answer-choice (B) MANUSCRIPT reminds you ofNOVEL: a manuscript could be an unpublished novel. However,a REVIEW is not part of a manuscript. Whereas, an EXCERPT ispart of a NOVEL. (What is the other eye-catcher in thisproblem?) The answer is (C).

In Hard Problems, Eliminate Any Answer-Choice That RemindsYou (However Vaguely) Of The Original Pair. Eye-catchers are sometimes the answer to easy problems;rarely are they the answer to medium problems; and virtuallynever are they the answer to hard problems. When an averagestudent guesses on a hard problem he chooses an answer thatreminds him of the original pair. But if the eye-catcherwere the answer, then the average student would get theproblem correct and therefore it would not be a hard problem.
Example: EXORCISM : DEMON ::
(A) matriculation : induction
(B) banishment : member
(C) qualm : angel
(D) heuristic : method
(E)manifesto : spirit
This is a hard problem. Hence, eliminate any answer-choicethat reminds you (however vaguely) of DEMON. A DEMON is aSPIRIT. So eliminate choice (E). Next, choice (C) is notstrictly speaking an eye-catcher. But an ANGEL does remindone of a DEMON, and this is a hard problem. So eliminatechoice (C). Now, to EXORCISE a DEMON means to drive it away.Similarly, to a BANISH a MEMBER of a group means to drivehim or her away. The answer is (B).