Analogical Reasoning | The Complete SAT Course - Class 10 PDF Download

What's on the test?

• Which choice describes a scenario most similar to that described in lines 12-15?

You might notice that the choices for these questions feel off-topic. For a passage about baseball, you might be offered analogy choices that talk about cooking or politics. But don't let the surface differences distract you from the task at hand: your job will be to identify how situations are similar despite their different subject matter.

Common Errors

• Similar subjects but different ideas: These tempting wrong choices include language, situations, or subjects that remind you of the topic of the passage. You might be tempted to select one of these wrong choices because you're uncomfortable selecting a choice that features a different context or scenario from that of the passage. To avoid this common pitfall, focus on the idea that's being compared, not the details.
• Near misses: Wrong choices can often be almost right. They feel right as you begin to read them, but then they might include a word or phrase that doesn't work. These "off" words or phrases invalidate the choice—that is, they make the entire choice wrong! For example, a wrong choice might offer a scenario that's somewhat similar to the one in the passage, but then slightly alter a key relationship, or make the claim a bit stronger than the one we're supposed to match. Be sure to read choices carefully and completely to avoid these errors.

Tips and Strategies

1. Top tip: Use your own words—but lose the details!
To answer analogical reasoning questions successfully, we need to practice seeing beyond the immediate context and simplifying the key idea of the scenario we're trying to find a match for. After reading the scenario, try to express that idea in your own words, but avoid mentioning surface details from the text: just focus on the big picture. [Show me!]

2. Top tip: Find the pattern
Analogical reasoning questions focus on scenarios. These scenarios frequently involve a relationship between two ideas, events, or entities. They might involve cause/effect relationships or chronological sequences of events. It's this relationship that the answer will need to match. If we can identify the underlying pattern, it will be much easier to find an analogous scenario in the choices.

3. Top tip: Disprove the choices
Go through the choices one-by-one and use process of elimination. For each one, ask yourself—does this choice match the idea, relationship, or scenario that I’m looking for? Eliminate choices where you find points of disagreement. The correct choice will be the one you can’t eliminate.

4. Top tip: Consider skipping the question
Analogical reasoning questions are generally more advanced and usually take more time to solve than other question types. If you are usually pressed for time during the Reading Test, consider skipping these questions entirely—you may spend your limited time more productively on easier questions. If you go this route, don't forget to guess—you might get lucky!