Unambiguous conceptualization of ‘Analogy and its supplements’ is immensely helpful in critical reasoning questions. Analogy is a logical relationship between a pair of words, sentences, concept etc that are given in the question. The task that is expected from you is to pick out the most appropriate set out of the given options that define the same relationship as the one in the question. The analogy questions are included in the test in order to check the logical skills as well as the vocabulary of the appearing candidate. Analogies help you explain subtle or complex ideas by reference to concepts the reader already understands. They allow you to establish such ideas without much of the intellectual scaffolding required to build them from scratch.To give an example, in physics class, the flow of current through an electrical wire is often explained as being like water flowing through a pipe. A thinner wire can take less current the same as a narrower pipe can take less water. Higher voltage is like higher water pressure.Are water and electrical current the same? Of course not. But in this context, they’re similar enough to be useful.
There can be various sources to establish or justify the relationship between any set of pairs. For instance, relations such as:
- Descriptive: in which one word describes the other word, such as Blue – Ocean.
- Cause and Effect: such as Fire – Scorch and Blizzard – Freeze
- Synonyms: words that have similar meanings, such as Buy – Purchase.
- Antonyms: words that have opposite meanings
- Part to Whole: in which one word is a part or piece of the other, such as Head – Body.
- Steps in a Process: such as Cooking – Serving.
- Symbol and What it Represents: such as Heart – Love.
- Things and Their Functions: such as Scissors – Cut.
- Item to Category: in which one word names something that falls into the group named by the other, such as Lemonade – Beverage.
- Implied Relationships: such as Clouds – Sun.
Logical Understanding along with sustainable vocabulary are what you need:
Critical reasoning questions need to be solved with logical understanding supported by persistence and robust vocabulary. The benefit of using an analogy isn’t just the knowledge that comes bundled with that other thing, it’s the emotion. So, for example, if you write for freelancers and you want to talk about the deep frustration of having first-class skills but no clients, don’t simply describe the feelings – compare the situation to being a superhero who’s forbidden to use their special powers. Find the right analogy and you’ll conjure emotions more quickly and intensely than a simple description could ever achieve. Likewise Some questions in the analogy test may be related to common and rarely used words. These may be especially given in the analogies tests for positions that require candidates to have a comprehensive knowledge and grasp of the spoken and written language. You should read regularly if you’re aiming to improve your vocabulary. These may include books, newspapers and other literary medium. There are various applications, website and books available that include the commonly occurring words in different analogy tests. You should devote some time daily to go through the contents of these in order to add to your knowledge.
Guidelines to be followed
- Try to determine the relationship between the first pair of words.
- Go through tough problems systematically.
- Avoid stop reading the answer choices once they’ve found what seems like a strong match.
- Take another look at the relationship possibilities as described above and try to look for them when trying to solve analogies.
- Any pairs in the answers that do not have a similar type of relationship should be eliminated
- If the meaning of a word is unknown, then try to recollect the context in which you have come across the word.
- Also, consider alternative meanings of words.
- If all else fails, eliminate the unlikely answers and make an educated guess.
- Overall, The only way to score better at verbal analogies is through practice , practice and only practice .