ANALOGY

warm : hot :: ______ : hilarious

a. humid
b. raucous
c. summer
d. amusing
To come up with the correct answer, you must first figure out the
relationship. This is an analogy of degrees. Warm is less intense than
hot, therefore what answer choice is something that is less intense
than hilarious? The right answer is d, based on the relationship of
amusing being less intense than hilarious. To illustrate how some test
takers get led astray by carefully crafted wrong answer choices, lets
take a closer look at choices a, b, and c. Some test takers will impulsively
pick a because humid is related to the first word pair, warm and
hot, but it is not part of the analogy of degree. This choice is offered
as an option for the careless reader. Other test takers will choose b
because they have misunderstood the analogy. They may think that
the word pair, warm : hot, is a synonym pair, showing faulty reasoning
skills. Choosing c is a slightly different case. Wrong answers may
also be chosen because of the test takers predisposition. In this example,
summer is chosen because warm : hot reminds the test taker of
summer. These are all illustrations of ways in which test takers can
get thrown off or distracted by wrong answer choices. Careful, close
reading, and lots of practice will help you to avoid the wrong answer
trap. And remember, as time runs out, you are more prone to make
careless mistakes, so read carefully and stay calm. Your reasoning
skills and power of logic work better when you are not flustered, so
remain in control and stay alert.