Select the word pair that best represents a similar relationship to the one expressed in the pair of words given below. (The words must be considered as meaningful English words and must not be related to each other based on the number of letters/number of consonants/vowels in the word) Presence : Abundance
- (a)Nourish : Neglect
- (b)Abstract : Concrete
- (c)Infinite : Cosmic
- (d)Concise : Verbose
Answer
Why
Correct — C. Settle the direction of the given pair before looking for a shade of meaning.
Rule: the two words point the same way — presence is something being there, and abundance is that same thing in large measure.
Options (a), (b) and (d) are all straight pairs of opposites: nourish against neglect, abstract against concrete, concise against verbose.
A same-direction pair cannot be matched by an opposition, so all three go.
That leaves option (c). Infinite and cosmic both speak of boundless extent, and the pair is not an opposition.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Nourish : Neglect — Nourish is to feed and sustain, neglect is to fail to attend to. The two words pull in opposite directions, where presence and abundance pull the same way.
- (b)Abstract : Concrete — Abstract and concrete are a textbook antonym pair, the intangible set against the tangible. Presence and abundance are not set against each other at all.
- (d)Concise : Verbose — Concise is brief and verbose is wordy, another plain opposition. It tempts because both words measure quantity, as presence and abundance do.
Concept
A word-pair analogy is decided by the relation, and the first thing to settle about a relation is its direction: do the two words agree, or oppose?
Presence and abundance agree. Both assert that something is there, with abundance saying it more strongly.
Once the direction is fixed, an antonym pair cannot be the answer however tidy it looks. Three of these four options are antonym pairs, so the elimination is quick and does not depend on grading the surviving pair precisely.
The stem instructs that the words be treated as meaningful English and not matched on letter or vowel counts, which closes off the mechanical shortcuts.
Presence : Abundance and Infinite : Cosmic are not identical in shade — the match is 'same direction, larger scale' rather than strict synonymy. The item is settled by elimination, because the other three pairs are outright opposites.
Key facts
- Nourish and neglect are opposites.
- Abstract and concrete are opposites.
- Concise and verbose are opposites.
- Presence and abundance are not opposites, which is what separates the keyed pair from the other three.
Study next
Common traps
- Hunting for the exact shade of meaning before checking whether the pair is an opposition.
- Picking concise and verbose because both words measure quantity, as the given pair does.
- Matching on letter or vowel counts, which the stem explicitly forbids.
SSC states in the stem that the relation must be semantic rather than based on letter counts, and then loads the options with antonym pairs when the given pair is not one.
The fastest route is to label each option 'same' or 'opposite' before reading it closely.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.