An often-used trick by the makers of the GRE is to provide answers choices for analogy questions that are in the wrong order, but otherwise are correct. For example, consider the following questions:
| CONDUCTOR : TRAIN |
| |
principal : supermarket |
| |
classroom : teacher |
| |
apple : garden |
| |
carpenter : mill |
| |
flower : vase |
First, you make a sentence with the provided words. "A conductor works in or on a train". Okay, simple enough. Now we go through the choices. Does a principal work in a supermarket? No. Does a classroom work in or on a teacher? No, but notice that a teacher works in a classroom. However, the order of the relationship needs to be the same, so choice 2, classroom:teacher, is incorrect, although the relationship is valid if read in reverse order. Does an apple work in a garden? No. Does a carpenter work in a mill? Yes. Does a flower work in a vase? No. So, carpenter:mill is the answer, because it follows the same relationship as the capitalized words.
Test Tip |
The order of the relationship is important. For example, if the capitalized words are of type verb:noun, then the answer must be also verb:noun, and not noun:verb. This is a subtle rule that's easy to follow, so keep an eye out for it because such little tricks appear often on the GRE. |