Lesson: Analogies - 09
Analogies: How to make guessing
Make Educated Guesses About the Meanings of Unfamiliar Words
Prefixes, suffixes, and roots of words help a lot to apply this technique.
Either of the following might provide a understanding about the meaning of an unfamiliar word in an Analogy question.
- Another word that resembles the word in any way
- The word’s root or prefix
To underscore this point, here’s a -style Analogy in which both capitalized words provide clues about what they mean:
Practice Questions
Example
HETEROGENEITY : ASSIMILATION
- pride : jealousy
- deformity : birth
- punctuality : attention
- delay : obstacle
- contention : victory
Example Solution
HETEROGENEITY : ASSIMILATION
pride : jealousy- deformity : birth
- punctuality : attention
- delay : obstacle
contention : victory
Explanation
The correct answer is (E). The word HETEROGENEITY contains the prefix
hetero-, which means “different.” The word ASSIMILATION adds a prefix and a
suffix to the common word similar. Based on this information, it’s probably a good
bet that the meanings of the two words run contrary to each other. On this basis
alone, you can easily eliminate choices (A), (B), and (D). As for choice (C), the
words punctuality and attention are not closely related to each other.
That leaves choice (E). For the record, ASSIMILATION (absorption) typically
results in homogeneity (sameness or similarity); that is, it serves to reduce or
eliminate HETEROGENEITY (diversity in character). Similarly, victory for one
means defeat for another; so victory often eliminates contention (rivalry) between
two foes. The analogy, though not perfect, is strong enough.
Next to display next topic in the chapter.
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