Qualities and Features - SSAT Upper Level Verbal

“Metallic” is an adjective that means “of, relating to, or resembling metal or metals.” So, something that is metallic can be made of metal, meaning that we need to pick out an answer choice that describes the material that something that is “ceramic” consists of. While all of the answer choices except for “bowl” refer to materials, “ceramic” specifically means “made of clay and hardened by heat,” so “clay” is the correct answer.

A philanthropist is someone who is charitable so the relationship can be established as the following: Charitable behavior is something that would be expected of a philanthropist so what kind of behavior is likely to be expected of a priest? This should lead to the correct answer which is “spiritual.” For clarification, "spiritual" means focused on religious or divine matters; "miserly" means not generous and is an antonym of charitable; "temerity" is a type of boldness or audacity; "eloquent" refers to a type of speech that is stylish and easily understood.

A glutton is someone who is greedy and selfish; restraint means ability to control oneself and prevent oneself from over-indulgence. A glutton is someone who would not show restraint so to solve this analogy you must identify what kind of behavior a braggart would be unlikely to demonstrate. A braggart is someone who boasts and is arrogant (think “brag”) so you can determine that a braggart would not demonstrate “modesty.”

An oration is a speech, often one given at a ceremony. It comes both from the Latin for to pray as well as more distantly from the word for mouth. (Think of words like “oral” and “adore.”) Thus, an oration is a type of spoken communication. We could write a bridge sentence like, “As an oration is something that is spoken, so is a transcript something that is X.” A transcript is a written version of some communication. For instance, a transcript of a television show is the written version made for people to read after the show has aired.

A pedant is a person who shows a great deal of learning to the point of being tedious and boring—going through every detail almost in a ridiculous fashion. Thus, “tedious” is an adequate description for a pedant. Someone who “transgresses” goes beyond the boundaries of the law. The “trans-” prefix means across (as in “transfer,” meaning, to carry across), and the “-gress” comes from the Latin for to step. It is related to many words like “grade,” “gradual,” “progress,” and “digress.” The options “judged” and “sentenced” might apply to a transgressor after a court case that acknowledges the guilt. In any case, a transgressor in general can be said to be guilty even before this is acknowledged in a court. This is the best description among those provided.

A pedestrian is someone who travels by walking. You likely use the word to describe people walking in a town in contrast to those who are using motor vehicles or bicycles. The word actually comes from the Latin for “foot” and is related to the similar sounding beginning of the word “podiatrist”—a doctor specializing in care of the foot. Thus the bridge sentence for our analogy could be written as, “Just as a pedestrian travels by walking, so a mariner travels by X.” A “mariner” is a sailor. The word is derived from the Latin for “sea” and is related to the English words “marine” and “submarine.” A sailor travels by sailing.

The word “credence” means belief in the truth of something. If someone is "trustworthy," we are likely to give credence to his or her words or claims. Something "malicious" is evil or ill-intentioned and harmful. Such a thing or person deserves to be feared, which adequately fulfills the parallel for this analogy.

A shield could be used by someone to defend themselves, so it could be described as “defensive,” or “used or intended to defend or protect.” So, we need to pick out an answer choice that is an adjective that describes a sword. While “protective” and “offensive” might each look like a potentially correct answer choice, “protective” means “capable of or intended to protect,” and does not describe a sword, so “protective” cannot be the correct answer. “Offensive,” however, is an adjective that can mean “meant for use in attack” when being used of a weapon, and because “offensive” aptly describes a sword just as “defensive” aptly describes a shield, “offensive” is the correct answer.

The word “pulmonary” comes from the Latin word for the lungs. It is used to in English to describe physical conditions related to these organs, as when someone has pulmonary embolism, which is a type of blockage of blood to the lung. Just as “pulmonary” describes the lungs, “cardiac” describes conditions related to the heart.

Someone who is “laconic” uses few words. “Shy” is not necessarily synonymous with “laconic,” so a good way to understand this analogy is to form a sentence like, “As someone who is shy is likely to be laconic, so is someone who is depressed likely to be X.” The word “lachrymose” means tearful or likely to weep. The word is taken from the Latin for tear or to cry. The “tear ducts” that produce fluid in the eye are called the lacrimal glands. To be “depressed” is not synonymous with being “lachrymose,” but just like the case with shyness and being laconic, it is likely that someone who is depressed will be given to weeping.

Someone who is “gauche” lacks social capacities and thus can be said to lack grace. Such a person is likely awkward in public, not knowing how to be subtle when he or she needs be or how to be polite in a tactful manner—though no harm is intended by their tactless actions. The bridge sentence could be constructed, “As someone who is gauche lacks grace, so does someone who is corrupt lack X.” A corrupt person is, among other things, likely to lack honesty—at least about reality itself, for he or she will try to twist and corrupt all things to his or her perverse will.

When someone is neglectful, they do not care or provide care where it is needed. The analogy could be expressed as a lack: “As something neglectful lacks care, so does something adulterated lack X.” Although we use the term “adultery” to describe someone who has committed an act against marriage, the word “adulterate” comes from the Latin meaning to corrupt, in the sense of to ruin the purity of. We could adulterate a sample of water by adding foreign elements (and so forth). Thus, something that is adulterated lacks its appropriate purity.

When something is "sterilized," it is completely clean and thus does not have any bacteria on or in it. (Something “sterile” is likewise so completely clean.) Thus, the analogy could be written, “As something sterilized has no bacteria, something disrobed has no X.” The word “disrobed” is as obvious as it appears. It merely means having taken off one’s clothes, meaning that such a person lacks clothes.

The word “immaculate” comes from the combination of the “i-” prefix used as a privation (i.e. not) to the root which means stained, spotted, or dirty. Thus, the word means not stained, and generally is used to mean completely clean. Thus, the analogy could be rewritten, “Just as something immaculate lacks any dirt, so does something innocent have no X.” An innocent person lacks guilt, which is the best answer among those provided.

A vacuum is a space lacking matter. Thus, the analogy could be rewritten as, “Just a vacuum lacks matter, so does something unintelligible lack X.” When something is unintelligible, it makes little or no sense and cannot be understood. It could thus be said to lack meaning for someone trying to understand it.

"Feral" means wild and untamed and is a quality generally associated with a wolf so to solve this analogy you have to determine which of these answer choices is generally associated with a dog. A dog is generally “domesticated” which means accustomed to living with or near people. For clarification, the other four answer choices are all loosely synonyms of feral.

Euphony is a pleasing sound, so to solve this analogy you have to determine which of these answer choices is an unpleasant sound. The correct answer is “vociferous,” which means loud and unpleasant noise. For clarification, mellifluous is a synonym of euphony; adulation is praise; exalt means to praise or celebrate.

One might describe a cat as fast. Therefore, the correct answer will be a trait that a sloth has. Sloths do not move very much, and so they are "sedentary," which means lacking movement, stationary, or inactive.

The word "nomadic" can be a characteristic of a tribe. Therefore, the correct answer will be an answer choice that can be described as "permanent." The word "permanent" is used as the opposite of "nomadic," so in this context it means non-moving or consistently located in the same location. The noun that is best described by this word is "city," which is therefore the correct answer.