HSPT Verbal : Cause and Effect
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for HSPT Verbal
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Cause And Effect
"Camera" is to "images" as "microphone" is to __________.
programs
recording
waves
music
sounds
sounds
A camera is said to “capture images.” The implication is that it takes pictures and stores them in some medium. For this reason, the implication of the analogy is that a microphone also captures something, namely sounds. While “waves” might be tempting, note that cameras also capture light waves. The analogy is speaking more of the representation that is recorded by the instrument—images, not merely waves. The waves could be recorded as a chart of scientific data if one so wished, and that would not be exactly the same as saying that an “image was captured.”
Example Question #2 : Cause And Effect
Smugly is to smirk as exuberantly is to __________.
grin
amazing
maniacally
energetic
simper
grin
When someone smirks, he or she smiles in a self-satisfied manner, generally because he or she is smug, that is, prideful in some accomplishment. The bridge sentence could be written, “As someone acting smugly would smirk, so would someone acting exuberantly X.” Exuberance is the state of having a great deal of energy, often in a cheerful manner. Such a state would likely lead one to grin.
Example Question #3 : Cause And Effect
Oscillating is to pendulum as swinging is to __________.
hinge
alteration
sway
tremble
flapping
hinge
Something that is oscillating swings back and forth in a regular pattern. A pendulum does just this—as in the pendulum in a grandfather clock. The simple word “swinging” must therefore be paired with something that has a swinging movement (just as a pendulum has an oscillating movement). Among the options provided, only the word “hinge” denotes a “thing.” This alone weighs heavily in its favor. Likewise, the word does describe the small joint of a door that is the tiny origin of the swinging motion of the larger door surface.
Example Question #4 : Cause And Effect
Choose the word that best completes the comparison.
Advance is to forward as retreat is to __________.
defeat
victory
soldiers
backwards
battle
backwards
One can "advance" in a "forward" direction, just as one can "retreat" in a "backwards" direction.
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