All SSAT Middle Level Verbal Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #11 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
DETEST
frighten
ask
hate
invent
cease
hate
Detest is most similar to hate, as in "Although I like most meats, I detest veal."
Example Question #11 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
ECCENTRIC
peculiar
shrewd
gigantic
agreeable
splendor
peculiar
"Eccentric" most nearly meanspeculiar or odd, as in "The lady who owned ten cats was eccentric in her ways."
Example Question #13 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
SANCTITY
rapturous
even-tempered
durable
rational
holiness
holiness
The word most similar to "sanctity" isholiness, as in "The site of the grave was a place of sanctity for the soldier's family."
Example Question #14 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
TENET
domain
doctrine
industry
abuse
knowledge
doctrine
The word most similar to "tenet" isdoctrine, as in "The tenets of Catholicism assert that the Pope is leader of the Catholic church."
Example Question #12 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
MISGIVING
destruction
doubt
grateful
apparatus
distribution
doubt
"Misgiving" most nearly meansdoubt, as in a feeling of doubt or apprehension about the result of something. A student who did not do well on an exam may have some misgivings about his or her final grade.
Example Question #13 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
APLOMB
religion
composure
weather
effect
zeal
composure
"Aplomb" most nearly meanscomposure as in self-confidence or assurance, especially during a stressful situation. For example, you might say that "the hostages showed great aplomb while trapped in the bank."
Example Question #17 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
EGREGIOUS
furtive
pristine
somber
terse
flagrant
flagrant
"Egregious" most nearly meansflagrant, as in something that is very bad and obvious. You might say that "the egregious typos in the story made the plot hard to follow."
Example Question #18 :Synonyms
The following question consists of one word followed by five words or phrases. You are to select the one word or phrase whose meaning is closest to the word in capital letters.
RECLUSE
tactic
waft
hermit
restitution
jargon
hermit
"Recluse" most nearly meanshermit. A recluse is someone who likes to be alone and leads a solitary life.
Example Question #1 :Analogies
Sweater is to yarn as __________.
snowball is to snow
fine is to charge
sugar is to candy
petal is to flower
coyote is to rabbit
snowball is to snow
A sweater is typically made of yarn, so we need to pick out an answer choice in which the first word is an object and the second word a material one would expect to make up that object. While “snowball is to snow” and “sugar is to candy” might each look like a potentially correct answer, “sugar is to candy” cannot be the correct answer because sugar is not made up of candy—the answer choice’s words are in the incorrect order relative to the example, so it cannot be the correct answer. One might correctly expect a snowball to be made of snow, though, just as one might expect a sweater to be made of yarn, so “snowball is to snow” is the correct answer.
Example Question #2 :Analogies
Water is to droplet as snow is to __________.
blizzard
storm
flake
drift
snowman
flake
“Droplet” is a noun defined as “a very small drop of a liquid,” so water might be measured in droplets as its smallest unit visible to the naked eye. So, we need to pick out a noun that conveys the smallest unit of snow that one might observe with the naked eye. While “flake” and “drift” might each look like a potentially correct answer, “drift” refers to “a large mass of snow, or leaves piled up or carried along by the wind,” not a single small unit of snow, so it cannot be the correct answer. “Flake,” however, when used as a noun, can mean “a snowflake,” which is “a flake of snow, especially a feathery ice crystal, typically displaying delicate sixfold symmetry.” So, because a flake is the smallest unit of snow visible to the naked eye, just as a droplet is the smallest unit of water visible to the naked eye, “flake” is the correct answer.
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