Analogies are a staple of standardized tests. The PSAT, ACT, GRE, TOEFL exam, SSAT, and FCAT, to name a few, contain significant analogy sections on the tests. The analogy questions measure reasoning ability, vocabulary skills, and familiarity with the analogy format.
It has been said, “Building vocabulary is far more than memorizing words. Ideally, children should be brought up in a rich language environment which is language- and word- conscious. Children take up attitudes and learn from their parents so building vocabulary starts as a family affair. Children are greatly influenced generally by the amount of conversation, by the nature of the conversation (and the vocabulary used), and the “word awareness” of the family.There are a great number of families where vocabulary word games are played with the children as an ongoing game to build vocabulary and “word awareness” skills including phonemic awareness. These games can build vocabulary and phonemic awareness.”
Keep reading to better understand the basics of how analogy questions are structured.
An analogy question asks students to select the answer that best mirrors the relationship between the two words in the question. As a simple example, the question might start with: “Hot is to cold.” The reader should note that hot is the exact opposite of cold and look for a pair of words in the answer choices where the words are also opposites. Here is a complete analogy example question:
Hot is to cold as:
The reader should see that inside is to outside is the only pair of opposites and select it as the correct response.
Analogies are revealing test questions causing the reader to hypothesize the relationship between the example words and then finding the best match for that analogy. Common types of analogies used on standardized tests with examples:
Analogy questions are not riddles or puzzles in the sense that the “field of play” is the meaning of words. Some students think to look outside the meaning of words. As far as I know, none of the standardized tests will base analogies on alliteration.
Desk is to door as
A student, unfamiliar with these types of questions, might reason like this: “Desk and door both start with the letter D and have four letters. So, wind and wall are four lettered words that start with the same letter. I’ll pick it.” Directions, on the test, should state: “Find the answer choice that best matches relationship between the meanings of the two primary words.”
The key to students successfully completing an analogy is for them to first realize they need to link their familiar experiences with these new ideas that are presented to them. Once they have used the already learned concept, they can apply this same concept to the other word pairs. This helps them develop higher level thinking processes.
When students understand that analogies are all based upon relationships, they can work on overcoming analogy apprehension and even develop their own analogies.
Students also need to build their vocabulary base to have a better understanding words introduced in analogous relationships.