Use these examples after reviewing an answer. The methods support our original practice; they do not replace your school’s current familiarisation materials.
Choose the word with the closest meaning in context. Some choices may be associated with the word but do not mean the same thing.
Rapid and swift both mean fast. A loud movement may also be fast, but loud is not a synonym for rapid.
Identify the meaning first, then choose the opposite along the same dimension. Do not confuse a different meaning with an opposite meaning.
Expand means become larger; shrink is its opposite. Move is related to change but is not the opposite of expand.
Put the first relationship into a short sentence, then apply exactly the same relationship to the second pair. Keep the direction of the relationship the same.
A glove covers a hand; a sock covers a foot. The relationship is covering and body part, rather than any two related objects.
Find a property shared by all but one of the items. Compare the meaning or category of each choice rather than only its spelling.
Copper, iron and silver are metals. Paper is not, so it is the item that does not belong to that category.
Join the proposed word to both given words in the stated order. Both results must be familiar words with the intended spelling.
Snow can go before both ball and board: snowball and snowboard. A choice that works for only one is not enough.
Insert the same letter or letters in every blank and check both completed words. Preserve the order of the inserted letters.
Adding oa to c__st and t__st makes coast and toast. The same pair must work in both words.
Use only the stated rules. A statement beginning all does not imply the reverse; some means at least one, not necessarily all. Write ordering clues as a chain.
All robins are birds does not mean all birds are robins. If Ada is before Bo and Bo before Cy, the order is Ada, Bo, Cy.
Write out the alphabet or letter values. Apply every part of the code in the stated order, including wrapping from Z to A or a final reversal.
Moving CAT one place forward gives DBU. If the code then reverses the result, the answer becomes UBD.
Turn letters into alphabet positions if helpful and compare the jumps. Check for constant jumps, alternating sequences or increasing differences.
B, E, H, K has positions 2, 5, 8, 11. Adding 3 again gives 14, the letter N.
