Tuesday, May 7, 2013

How to excel in MAT test and some free sample questions

Free and New MAT Practice Test Sample Questions 2013-14


After the success of my blogs on Wonderlic Test Sample Questions, Auditing jobs, Administrative Jobs question, Accounting Jobs and SAT now I want to create this blog for readers to do well in MAT exam. In my first part in this blog you learn little bit about MAT exam and later you will see free MAT tests.

What is MAT test?

This means The Miller Analogies Test.

Why MAT test?

Hundreds of graduate schools and programs in North America rely on The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) as an admissions/aptitude exam for applicants.
The MAT exam is very challenging, and there are complaints by some groups that it is actually too difficult, and should be scrapped, as it keeps many people from pursuing their dreams of going to graduate school because their Miller Analogies score is too low. However, graduate schools and programs are very reluctant to quit using the exam, and they have a very good justification for their continued reliance on it. The plain fact is that the MAT is very good at predicting which candidates are likely to achieve success in a graduate program and in a professional career, and which ones aren’t.
 

What is good or bad about MAT TEST?

There are far more applicants for grad school admissions every year than there are openings, there is no way graduate programs can admit everyone who applies. Also, many applicants simply don’t have the intellect required to do graduate level work. These two facts make it absolutely necessary to use an effective screening test and the Miller Analogies exam serves this purpose very well. One of the reasons it’s so effective at predicting academic success in graduate school is that it’s radically different than the average standardized test. Many of these other exams focus mostly on measuring how much information and/or skills a student has acquired. In many ways, taking one of these tests is about the same as appearing on the TV quiz show Jeopardy, because persons who have memorized lots of facts, figures and formulas will do very well. These tests have their place, as minimum levels of acquired knowledge are essential for success in any academic pursuit, but they are limited.
In contrast, the MAT measures a person’s ability to do analytical thinking and capacity for verbal comprehension, instead of one’s skill at memorizing facts. While acquired knowledge is important (and essential for success on the MAT test), the ability to reason logically is even more important for success in grad school. Repeated studies have demonstrated this conclusively. Other studies have proven that using analogies is the best way of testing for analytical reasoning abilities. A person who performs poorly on the Miller Analogies Test is extremely likely to have a great deal of difficulty doing graduate level academic work, and a person who achieves a high MAT score is very likely to excel at graduate study. These are the reasons that use of the MAT has become so widespread, and why it will almost certainly continue to be a common grad school application requirement for the foreseeable future.

Breakdown of MAT Test

 
The Miller Analogies Test (MAT) is an analytic ability test utilizing analogy problems.
 Primarily verbal analogies are tested, but a few quantitative analogies will also be on the MAT. There are a total of 100 partial analogies that must be completed in 50 minutes. The MAT will test your ability to determine relationships between words, mastery of the English language, and a general knowledge of fine arts, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, and science.

The MAT consists of 120 partial analogies that must be completed within 60 minutes.

Twenty of the items on the test are un-scored. Experimental items used for the development of future tests. The test-taker will not be able to determine which of the items are experimental.
The analogies on the MAT may be either semantic, classification, association, or logical/mathematical. Semantic analogies involve the definitions of the terms involved, and may be divided up into the following groups: synonyms/definitions; antonyms/contrasts; degrees of intensity; or word part and meaning. Classification analogies depend on an understanding of the way words and concepts are placed in a hierarchy. These analogies may have to do with category, membership, or the relation of whole and part. Association analogies are the most common type of analogy; they have to do with the relationship between two ideas. Association analogies may depend on the characteristics of an object, the order of something, or a cause-and-effect relationship. Finally, logical/mathematical analogies may contain equations, fractions, multiples, negation, or letter and sound patterns. The ability to complete all of the analogies will require competency in the English language, as well as specific knowledge in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics. A score report will be mailed to the test-taker two to three weeks after the completion of the exam. The score report will include a scaled and percentile score. The scaled score is placed on a range of 200 to 400, and is derived from the raw score, which is the number of questions answered correctly. The MAT can be taken either on a computer or on paper. The Miller Analogies test can be taken any-time of year at over 500 locations around the world; to register, visit the MAT website.

Free MAT Test Sample Questions 1-10

 

Choose the analogy that best matches the example provided.

Q 1
 DRIP: GUSH

A. CRY : LAUGH
B. CURL : ROLL
C. STREAM : TRIBUTARY
D. DENT : DESTROY
E. BEND : ANGLE

Q 2
WALK : LEGS

A. GLEAM : EYES
B. CHEW : MOUTH
C. DRESS : HEM
D. COVER : BOOK
E. GRIND : NOSE

Q 3
 ENFRANCHISE : SLAVERY

A. EQUATION : MATHEMATICS
B. LIBERATE : CONFINE
C. BONDAGE : SUBJUGATION
D. APPEASEMENT : UNREASONABLE
E. ANATOMY : PHYSIOLOGY

Q 4
UNION JACK: VEXILLOLOGY
A. TOAD : ORNITHOLOGY
B. TURTLE : MICROBIOLOGY
C. GYMNOSPERMS : BOTANY
D. FRIEND : HOME ECONOMICS
E. ALGAE : ZOOLOGY

Q 5
 TOPAZ: YELLOW

A. DIAMOND : CARAT
B. JEWELER : CLARITY
C. SAPPHIRE : RED
D. AMETHYST : PURPLE
E. AMBER : BLUE

Q 6
LUMEN: BRIGHTNESS

A. CANDLE : LIGHT
B. DENSITY : DARKNESS
C. NICKEL : METAL
D. INCHES : LENGTH
E. COLOR : HUE

Q 7
 MACERATION : LIQUID

A. SUBLIMATION : GAS
B. EVAPORATION : HUMIDITY
C. TRAIL : PATH
D. EROSION : WEATHER
E. DECISION : DISTRACTION

Q 8
CLUMSY : BOTCH

A. WICKED : INSINUATE
B. STRICT : PAMPER
C. WILLFUL : HEED
D. CLEVER : ERADICATE
E. LAZY : SHIRK

Q 9
 FUGITIVE: FLEE

A. PARASITE: FOSTER
B. BRAGGART: BOAST
C. SAGE: STIFLE
D. BYSTANDER: PROCURE
E. FIREBRAND: QUIBBLE

Q 10
 CHRONOLOGICAL: TIME

A. VIRTUAL: TRUTH
B. ABNORMAL: VALUE
C. MARGINAL: KNOWLEDGE
D. ORDINAL: PLACE
E. COINCIDENTAL: HEALTH

Answers and Explanations- Free MAT Test Sample Questions 1-10
1. D: Denting is minor damage and destroying is major; dripping is minor liquid flow and gushing is major. Cry and laugh (A) are antonyms. Curl and roll (B), stream and tributary (C), and bend and angle (E) are all pairs of synonyms.

2. B: Walking is a movement of the legs and chewing is a movement of the mouth. Eyes may gleam (A), but this is not a movement. Dress (C) is a whole, of which hem is part; Cover (D) is part of the whole, book. There is an expression, "Keep your nose to the grindstone;" but grind is not a movement of/upon the nose (E).

3. B: Enfranchise is to set free/liberate, and slavery is the opposite-i.e. to enslave/confine. Both sets are antonyms. Equation is part of mathematics (A). Bondage and subjugation (C) are synonyms (for each other and slavery). Appeasement and unreasonable (D) are unrelated. Anatomy and physiology (E) are related subjects.

4. C: The Union Jack (British flag) is part of vexillology, the study of flags; gymnosperms are part of botany, the study of plants. Toad is not part of ornithology (A), the study of birds. Turtle is not part of microbiology (B), the study of microscopic organisms. Friend is not part of home economics (D), the study of cooking, sewing, and other home skills. Algae, plants, are not part of zoology (E), the study of animals.

5. D: Topazes are yellow and amethysts are purple. Carats (A) are measures of the weight of diamonds, not their color. Jewelers (B) inspect gems for clarity, a quality other than color. Sapphires (C) are blue, not red. Amber and blue (E) are two different colors; neither is a gem.

6. D: Lumens measure brightness and inches measure length. Candles do not measure light (A) but emit it. Density does not measure darkness (B) but may create it. Nickel does not measure metal (C) but is a type of metal. Color does not measure hue (E); these are synonyms.

7. D: Liquid causes maceration as weather causes erosion: both break things down. Gas does not cause sublimation (A) but is subject to it, as humidity is subject to evaporation (B). Trail and path (C) are synonyms. Distraction interferes with a decision (E), rather than causing it.

8. E: One who is clumsy may botch a job; one who is lazy may shirk work. One who is wicked may or may not necessarily insinuate (A); a better adjective for insinuating something might be sly or subtle. One who is strict does not pamper (B), but the opposite. One who is willful does not heed (C) warnings/directions. Clever, i.e. ingenious or smart, is unrelated to eradicate (D), to eliminate.

9. B: A fugitive flees; a braggart boasts/brags. A parasite does not foster (A) or promote anything, but lives off another. A sage is one who is wise, not one who stifles (C), i.e. suppresses, anything. A bystander does not procure (D) or obtain anything, but stands by and may observe an event. A firebrand incites others to action but does not quibble (E), i.e. dispute, anything.

10. D: Chronological means in order of time, as ordinal means in order in place. Virtual means essential, implicit, practical, or almost; not in order of truth (A). Abnormal means not normal and not in order of value (B). Marginal means minimal or peripheral, not in order of knowledge (C). Coincidental means by chance/occurring together, not in order of health (E).


 

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