00:01
This brings us to a type of
thinking known as analogical thought.
00:06
We don't want to look for a
direct similarity in a passage
that can be identified
in a question stem.
00:12
To answer these
types of questions,
we're going to need to
distinguish the concepts
of likeness,
similarity and analogy.
00:21
We'll create a few analogies of
our own and discuss the difference
between abstract language
and concrete logic.
00:29
So likeness, similarity analogy, how do
you use these words in everyday life?
Let's see if we can distinguish them based
on how the test writers want us to do so.
00:41
Likeness would be the most
broad word we could use
to compare the information
introduced in the question stem
with the passage for reasoning
beyond the text questions.
00:51
Similarity would be a direct and inherent
commonality between the two things.
00:57
So if the passage mentioned
one type of airplane,
and then that same type
of airplane were mentioned
in the question stem
that would be similarity.
01:08
But analogy is where
the good stuff starts.
01:12
This emerges when we take two
seemingly different things,
but identify a common underlying
feature between the two.
01:20
This might be like recognizing that
both an airplane in the passage
and the butterfly in the
question stem have wings,
even though they are
very different concepts.
01:32
With that airplane-butterfly
inspiration,
let's create a few more analogies
between form and function.
01:39
Obviously, many other types
of analogy exist as well.
01:43
Let's think for a moment,
both rooms and envelopes have corners.
01:49
Both sinks and rivers run.
01:53
Both doors and mouths open.
01:57
All very distinct concepts,
but something in analogy between them.
02:02
Indeed, most of these examples form
the cultural basis for riddles.
02:08
I always encourage you to dissect the
CARS passage after you've taken it,
and break it down into its constituent
components to understand it a bit better.
02:16
See if you can spot the analogies
between the passage and the information
introduced for reasoning beyond the text
questions when you perform this exercise.
02:27
At the root of what we've
been discussing is logic.
02:31
Reasoning beyond the text
questions will ask you to consider
the significance or
symbolism of something.
02:37
We want to operationalize an otherwise
non-logical statement when possible.
02:44
We follow the directions
based on the question stem,
based on how we can understand
how a passage is strung together.
02:52
We boil things down that are
asked about in the passage
into a concrete form
of their abstract idea.
03:00
And then we can more easily work with
that to apply towards an answer choice.
03:05
So for instance,
if this airplane we've been referring to
is something that symbolizes the
modernization of our culture,
then you need to boil that abstract
language down into this concrete logic,
and then apply that concrete
logic to the answer choices.
03:23
You need to apply the
significance of the airplane
to the answers rather than
simply the airplane itself.