📖Definition
In these questions, you are given two pairs of words and five answer options. You must choose the answer that has a similar meaning to both pairs of words.
✏️Example
( shrink condense ) ( agreement commitment )
reduce dedication compress contract accord
Knowledge Required
A good vocabulary is needed and also knowledge of the different word types.
✅How To Answer
These are quite straightforward. You might spot the answer straightaway, if not, working through each of the 5 answers should reveal it.
First, look at the words in the first brackets. What types of words are they? They're verbs.
And in the second brackets... they're nouns. So, we're looking for a word that can be both a verb and a noun.
Here's a reminder of the four main types of word:
Verb - action word Adverb - word describing a verb Noun - an object or thing Adjective - word describing a noun
Verb - action word Adverb - word describing a verb Noun - an object or thing Adjective - word describing a noun
OK. Let's look at the possible answers now.
reduce. This is a verb. Can it be a noun? No, so it's not the right answer.
dedication. This is a noun. Can it be a verb? No, so it's not the right answer.
compress. This is a verb AND a noun so we need to compare its meaning to our given words.
To 'compress' means to make smaller as do 'shrink' and 'condense' so, its meaning works with the first pair of words. As a noun, a 'compress' is a pad, or pack of ice you put on an injury so that doesn't match the second pair so 'compress' is not the right answer.
contract. This is a verb and a noun so let's look at its meanings. As a verb it means to get smaller so that works. As a noun, a contract is a document between two or more parties so that works and so 'contract' is the right answer.
reduce. This is a verb. Can it be a noun? No, so it's not the right answer.
dedication. This is a noun. Can it be a verb? No, so it's not the right answer.
compress. This is a verb AND a noun so we need to compare its meaning to our given words.
To 'compress' means to make smaller as do 'shrink' and 'condense' so, its meaning works with the first pair of words. As a noun, a 'compress' is a pad, or pack of ice you put on an injury so that doesn't match the second pair so 'compress' is not the right answer.
contract. This is a verb and a noun so let's look at its meanings. As a verb it means to get smaller so that works. As a noun, a contract is a document between two or more parties so that works and so 'contract' is the right answer.
Variances
Some papers ask you to find a word that goes best with the given words. This means it's NOT necessarily going to be the same word type.
Work through the example to see how to solve this type.
✏️Example
( arrow archer ) ( bend submit )
point curve bow allow shoot
As we can't eliminate any wrong answers because they don't match the word types of those in brackets, we'll have to go straight to checking the meanings.
point. In the first brackets, this goes with 'arrow' because an 'arrow' has a point. It doesn't go with 'archer' though, so reject.
curve. This goes with neither 'arrow' nor 'archer' so reject.
bow. An 'archer' uses a 'bow' and 'arrow' so it works with the first pair.
As a verb, 'bow' means to 'bend' or to give in, ie. 'submit', so it works with the second pair and is therefore the answer.