All SSAT Middle Level Verbal Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Bake is to pie as sauté is to __________.
potato
stew
ice cream
soup
water
potato
One cooks a pie by baking it, so we need to pick out an answer choice that one might cook by sautéing. “Sauté,” when used as a verb, means “fry quickly in fat or grease,” so we can infer that only solid foods can be sautéed. So neither “soup” nor “stew,” or “water” can be the correct answer, because they either involve or are liquids. In choosing between “ice cream” and “potato,” one can infer that if one attempted to fry ice cream with a little hot fat, it would melt, so “potato” is the correct answer, because just as pies can be baked, potatoes can be sautéed.
Example Question #73 : Tool/Use, User/Tool, Actor/Action, Product/Producer, And Subject/Object
Complete this analogy.
Fire is to extinguish as flood is to __________.
burn
drown
water
dam
river
dam
"Extinguish" is an action you take to prevent or eliminate a fire, so to solve this analogy you have to determine which of these answer choices is an action you take when you need to prevent or eliminate a flood. The correct answer is “dam.” To "dam" something means to block or impede it.
Example Question #782 : Analogies
Analogies: Complete this analogy.
Money is to spend as food is to __________.
Mock
Purify
Consume
Absorb
Elicit
Consume
"Money" is an object and "spend" is an action involving the use of that object. Therefore, to solve this analogy, you have to determine which of the answer choices is an action related to the use of the object "food." The correct answer is “consume.” Consume means to eat or to take in. For clarification, "mock" means ridicule or make fun of, "purify" means make pure or clean, and "elicit" means to extract or to obtain.
Example Question #783 : Analogies
Analogies: Complete this analogy.
Ship is to sail as plane is to ___________.
Founder
Fly
Pilot
Sink
Flew
Fly
One sails a ship, so to solve this analogy, you have to determine what action one can do to a plane to control the direction in which it goes. The correct answer is “fly.” Be wary of words in the incorrect tense, like "flew." For clarification, "founder" means sink and often refers to ships.
Example Question #1 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Analogies: Complete this analogy.
Quench is to thirst as satiate is to __________.
poverty
ailment
divide
hunger
sleep
hunger
If you “quench” your thirst, you use a liquid to stop or appease it. When you are full with food, you are “satiated," so “satiate” is related to "hunger" as "quench" is related to "thirst." An “ailment” is an illness, and "poverty" is the state of being very poor and having too few resources.
Example Question #2 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Analogies: Complete this analogy.
Mitigate is to dispute as alleviate is to __________.
crisis
meeting
celebration
performance
display
crisis
A "dispute" is a disagreement. To "mitigate" means to try and solve a disagreement between two or more parties. So, mitigate is an action taken when there is a dispute. To solve this analogy, you have to determine what situation is taking place if the action of alleviating occurs. "Alleviate" means to make better or to pacify, so it is an action that would be taken during a "crisis," a word which means emergency or disaster. So, "crisis" is the correct answer.
Example Question #671 : Determining Meaning From Type Of Relationship
Complete this analogy.
Swing is to bat as dribble is to __________.
basketball
plate
baseball
goal
kick
basketball
One uses a bat by swinging it, so we need to pick out an answer choice that conveys the object that one uses by dribbling it. While all of the answer choices might look like they could be potentially correct because each is a noun that relates to a sport, “dribble,” when used as a verb, can mean “to take a ball forward past opponents with slight touches,” usually when used to describe soccer, field hockey, and basketball. So, because “dribble” refers to how one might interact with a basketball, just as “swing” refers to how one might interact with a bat, “basketball” is the correct answer.
Example Question #1 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Complete this analogy:
Chainsaw is to tree as __________.
axe is to lumberjack
jackhammer is to cement
school is to education
saw is to chair
factory is to car
jackhammer is to cement
A chainsaw is a tool primarily used to cut down or disassemble a tree. Similarly, a jackhammer is a tool primarily used to break (or disassemble) cement.
None of the other analogies have this relationship:
Lumberjacks use axes, an axe is not a tool used to disassemble a lumberjack. A lumberjack is the profession of cutting down trees for lumber.
School is the location where education takes place. The relationship between school and education is different than chainsaw to tree.
Factories produce cars. While cars may be disassembled at factories, factories are not specifically tools to disassemble cars.
A saw can disassemble a chair, however a saw's primary purpose is not disassembling chairs.
Example Question #3 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Complete this analogy.
Inscribe is to book as __________ is to mural.
mend
perform
replicate
paint
demolish
paint
To begin with "inscribe" means write, so one "inscribes" a "book." What does one do to a "mural?" Well, a "mural" is a large painting usually on a wall or the side of a building. So, the correct answer is "paint." Additionally, "mend" means fix; "demolish" means destroy, tear down; "replicate" means copy, reproduce.
Example Question #4 : Action And Object Acted Upon
Complete this analogy.
Annex is to land as __________ is to idea.
resume
surmount
plagiarize
desist
maim
plagiarize
To take land from another country is to "annex" it. So, to solve this analogy you need to determine what it is called when you take an "idea" from someone else. The correct answer is "plagiarize." To "plagiarize" is to steal someone else's idea or work and claim it as your own. Additionally, "surmount" means overcome, defeat; "maim" means cripple, injure, wound, cause to be wounded; "desist" means stop; "resume" means continue.
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All SSAT Middle Level Verbal Resources
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