Analogy Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The pair with the same relationship is Rocket : Propellant.

Diesel is the fuel that a train burns to produce the power that moves it. In the same way, a propellant is the fuel that a rocket burns to drive itself forward. Both pairs are 'vehicle : the fuel that powers it'.

A wheel is a part of a car, not its fuel. Steam is produced by a boiler, the reverse direction of the relation. A pedal is the part of a bicycle through which the rider applies force, a part rather than a fuel. So the other three pairs have different relationships.

Answer: A

The pairs with the same relationship are I and II.

Oafish (stupid, clumsy) and astute (shrewd) are opposites, and so are simpleton and sage (I). A fine is the lighter penalty and imprisonment the heavier, just as a misdemeanour is the lesser offence and a felony the graver one (II).

Bail and bond are related ideas of security for release, not a lesser and a greater penalty (III), and wise and smart are near-synonyms, not opposites (IV).

Answer: B

The related number is 90.

Each number is the product of two consecutive integers: 42 = 6 × 7 and 56 = 7 × 8, so 42 and 56 are consecutive terms of this pattern. Likewise 72 = 8 × 9, and the next term is 9 × 10 = 90.

81 is a square, and 92 and 100 are not products of consecutive integers following 8 × 9.

Answer: D

FNV is related to GOW.

BJR becomes CKS by moving each letter one place forward in the alphabet: B→C, J→K, R→S.

Applying the same rule to FNV gives F→G, N→O, V→W, which is GOW.

The other options do not follow the rule. ELS moves F and N backwards, CIQ moves every letter back by several places, and UNG reverses the order and changes the letters, so none keeps the +1 shift in each position.

Answer: B

The answer is Brush.

The relationship is professional and the instrument he works with: a doctor uses a stethoscope to examine patients, and a painter uses a brush to paint. The pair must keep the same relationship on both sides.

Painting is what the painter produces, not his tool; the matching term on the doctor's side would be something like a cure. Exhibition is where paintings are shown, and art is the field the painter works in. Neither is an instrument.

Answer: D

The answer is Bird.

Psychology is the study of the mind, and ornithology is the study of birds, from the Greek ornis, bird.

The study of mammals is mammalogy, the study of coins is numismatics, and Sanskrit is a language, not a subject of such a 'study of' pair.

Similar pairs often tested are entomology (insects), ichthyology (fish), herpetology (reptiles) and mycology (fungi).

Answer: A

The related group is VWXU.

In BCDA the first three letters are consecutive (B C D) and the last is the letter just before the first (A). STUR follows the same rule (S T U, then R), and so does KLMJ (K L M, then J).

VWXU fits: V W X, then U, the letter before V. EFHG breaks the consecutive run, SRTU starts out of order, and QSRP skips R.

Answer: D

Entomology is related to insects.

Botany is the scientific study of plants, and in the same way entomology is the scientific study of insects (from Greek entomon, insect).

The other options have their own sciences: germs (microorganisms) are studied in microbiology or bacteriology, snakes in herpetology (or ophiology), and birds in ornithology. Entomology is sometimes confused with etymology, the study of word origins, but neither is about germs, snakes or birds.

Answer: D

'Bunny' is related to Rabbit.

A cub is the young of a lion, and in the same way a bunny is a young or pet name for a rabbit. The relation is between an animal and the word for its young.

The young of a horse is a foal, of a goat a kid, and of a wolf a cub or pup, so none of them is called a bunny.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Reformation

The relation is extreme form : its moderate counterpart. A radical wants sweeping change where a moderate wants gradual change; a revolution sweeps the old order away where a reformation repairs it from within. Peace is not a form of change at all.