📖Definition
In these questions, you're given two sets of three words. You must find the two words, one from each set, that are the closest in meaning.
✏️Example
( discovered obvious close )
( reflective bright clear )
Knowledge Required
A good vocabulary and a knowledge of word types.
✅How To Answer
Method
Look at the words and see if the answer jumps out at you. If it doesn't, you'll have to take a more methodical approach and consider each possible combination.
Start with the first word in the first set and compare its meaning with that of each word in the second set. Repeat this using the second word in the first set and finally the third word.
Diagram
We've eliminated all the possibilities apart from one, obvious and clear so those are the two answers you should choose.
Be careful you do select both answers and not just one.
Variation
Let's try a slightly different example.
✏️Example
( joke happy funny )
( laugh amusing foolishly )
Looking at the words, they all seem quite similar. A joke is amusing and it makes you laugh. Behaving foolishly can be funny.
In this instance we need to look at the word types as well as the meanings.
Verb - action word
Adverb - word describing a verb
Noun - an object or thing
Adjective - word describing a noun
So, let's see what each of our given words is.
Diagram
The words that are closest in meaning will be the same word types so, we can eliminate foolishly as there is no adverb in the first group to go with it.
Then we only need consider possible pairings of the same word types. Our list is:
Diagram
And our answers are funny and amusing.