Choosing the Closest Analogy
A pupil is practising verbal reasoning analogies and has to choose the pair with the same relationship. Item 1: HAND : GLOVE :: FOOT : ? Options: sock, shoe, leg, floor. The pupil writes ‘shoe’ because gloves and shoes are both outdoor clothing. Item 2: BOOK : LIBRARY :: PAINTING : ? Options: gallery, wall, artist, frame. The pupil writes ‘wall’ because paintings hang on walls and books sit on shelves. The teacher explains that the test rewards the closest relationship, not just any link. She asks the pupil to compare ‘worn directly on the body part’ with ‘worn outside it’, and ‘a place designed to store or display many items’ with ‘a surface where one item is placed’. The pupil now has to choose again for both items and explain the rule. A third item is DOG : KENNEL :: BEE : ? Options: hive, honey, flower, sting. The pupil must decide whether the relationship is ‘lives in’ or ‘makes’.
1. Resolve Item 1. Which option is best, and what makes the other options weaker?
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Answer: Sock is the best answer.
A glove is worn directly on the hand, covering it. A sock is worn directly on the foot, covering it. The relationship is ‘item worn directly on the body part’. Shoe is tempting because gloves and shoes are both worn outdoors, but a shoe is worn outside the sock, not directly on the foot in the same way. Leg is a body part, not a covering. Floor is a place, not clothing. The pupil’s ‘outdoor clothing’ link is real but looser than the direct covering relationship.
2. Resolve Item 2. Why is gallery stronger than wall?
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Answer: Gallery is stronger.
A library is a place whose purpose is to house and display many books for people to use. A gallery is a place whose purpose is to display many paintings. The relationship is ‘place designed to display a collection of items’. Wall is tempting because paintings hang on walls and books sit on shelves, but a wall is a surface, not a place designed to display a collection. Artist is wrong because an artist makes a painting, not houses it. Frame is wrong because it surrounds one painting, not a collection. Gallery matches the category-and-purpose relationship more closely.
3. For DOG : KENNEL :: BEE : ?, choose and justify your answer. Explain why ‘honey’ is a distractor.
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Answer: Hive is the best answer.
A kennel is where a dog lives or is kept. A hive is where a bee lives or is kept. The relationship is ‘animal and its home’. Honey is a distractor because bees make honey, so there is a real link, but it is a product relationship, not a home relationship. Flower is a food source, and sting is a part or action. Only hive keeps the same ‘lives in’ relationship as kennel.