# Questions from the PSAT's
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 23, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563 "2002-10-23T18:45:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/1 "2002-10-23T18:45:03Z")
My kids took the PSAT tests last week, and they report a question from the Analogies section that I can’t figure out. It goes like this:
Rind is to orange as
a) bark is to tree
b) peel is to banana
I don’t know what the other options were, but these seem equally valid and correct. Me, my kids, and their friends are all stumped.
Has anyone else ever heard this analogy?
Is there any way to get more info from the PSAT folks?
Might it just be an experimental questio?n (i.e., it doesn’t count towards one’s score, but they might have it as a regular question in a future year; i know they do that with the regular SAT, but I don’t know about the PSATs)
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/2 "2002-10-23T19:11:16Z")
Peel/banana is a much closer analogy than bark/tree. Peels and rinds cover fruits, enclose them completely, and are simply a protective covering. Bark covers the bulk of an entire organism, does not enclose it, and contains its vascular system.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/3 "2002-10-23T19:21:35Z")
By the way, I’ll bet the instructions asked for the best/closest/most similar match. When more than one answer seems correct, the challenge is to sort out which is more correct. Even without any botanical knowledge, peel and rind are more like each other then either is to bark.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/4 "2002-10-23T19:56:31Z")
This former Merit Scholar couldn’t agree more.
🙂
Hey, I don’t get much chance to trot that one out. Don’t be too harsh.
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### Author:  [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/5 "2002-10-23T23:21:39Z")
I took the PSATs too, and the answer is rind:orange::peel:banana. This is because they want the BEST answer, and the best answer is the one most like the question. (I have been doing analogies since 5th grade, and am in 10th grade now.)
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/6 "2002-10-24T04:47:58Z")
As my ninth-grade English teacher told us, no analogy is perfect. You’ll get three answers that are 5% correct, and one that is 10% correct, and your job is determining the one that’s most correct.
In this case, I think, it’s different. I’d say you have one that’s 95% correct, and three that are 85% correct. If you keep in mind that some answers work, though not quite _as_ well, you’ll go less insane.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/7 "2002-10-24T05:18:46Z")
monica: you failed the correct smiley-use test.
Report to my office for your spanking.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/8 "2002-10-24T14:51:07Z")
Hey, **KTK,** if you can trot that out, can I trot out my PSAT score of 203, highest ever at my school? 😉
Oh, and I concur with the previous posters.
Scarlett, who made good use of her National Merit Scholarship
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/9 "2002-10-24T15:41:57Z")
I always remove the bark from a tree before eating it.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/10 "2002-10-24T15:43:16Z")
Moreover - banana and orange both have 6 letters …
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### Author:  [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/11 "2002-10-24T15:52:51Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \*
> **Hey, KTK, if you can trot that out, can I trot out my PSAT score of 203, highest ever at my school? 😉**
Did they change the scoring system for psat? When I took it in 93 it was the same as the SAT, out of 1600. I know they were planning changes to it, but not having any kids of that age(and not planning on having kids around that age for close to 2 decades from now), I didn’t pay attention to the details.
Oh and I got a 1400 out of 1600 on mine 😉
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### Author:  [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/12 "2002-10-24T16:39:57Z")
thanks all!
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/13 "2002-10-24T17:00:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Nanook of the North Shore \*
> **Did they change the scoring system for psat?**
Hmm, good question. I took it in 1983, and at that time a score over 200 was extremely rare (or so I was told). I don’t remember what the possible maximum was.
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Oh and I got a 1400 out of 1600 on mine 😉 \*\*
If that compares to the SAT, then you beat me by 10 points. Damn! 😉
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/14 "2002-10-24T17:02:33Z")
Just found a [site](http://www.edudata.com/PSAT,SAT_scores.html) that describes PSAT scoring as I remember it, with a max score of 240.
Wonder how we can explain the score you got, **Nanook** – anyone? Anyone? I’ve gotta get back to work.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/15 "2002-10-24T17:06:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \*
> can I trot out my PSAT score of 203, highest ever at my school? 😉
> [@](#):
>
> I took it in 1983, and at that time a score over 200 was extremely rare
I took it in 1984 (my school believed in giving us a practice round) and then for real in 1985, and my score on the one that counted was 1520. I don’t remember what the score deal was in '84.
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### Author:  [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/16 "2002-10-24T17:06:21Z")
🙂 : ☹ :: 😃 :
a) :rolleyes:
b) :eek:
c) :mad:
d) :wally
e) :smack:
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/17 "2002-10-24T17:21:19Z")
c) :mad:
Two reasons:
(1) Obvious up/down relationship
(2) Complementary colors
(God, I’m a geek)
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/18 "2002-10-24T17:28:29Z")
I can see from **Scarlett** ’s linked site that I’m going to have to dig out my score sheet (yes, I still have it, and yes, I have some self-esteem issues, so what?) to see what is wrong with my memory on this score issue.
I hope I don’t have to give that money back.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/19 "2002-10-24T17:43:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \*
> **I took it in 1983, and at that time a score over 200 was extremely rare (or so I was told). I don’t remember what the possible maximum was.**
I took it around the same time as you, and it was out of 240. I got 207 and my brother (the smart one) got 215. Neither of us got to be Merit Scholars, though, only finalists.
gigi, who stil remembers being confronted by “plethora” on antonyms, a word she had never seen before :mad:
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### Author:  [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-from-the-psats/133563/20 "2002-10-24T17:50:07Z")
To continue the hijack…
When _I_ took the PSAT, back in … 1997 - 1998, the scoring was the same as for the SAT, only scaled down by a factor of 10. So, Scores ranged from 20 - 80 for Verbal and Math each (instead of 200 - 800).
By this measure, **Nanook’s** score makes perfect sense to me, but I can’t fathom **Scarlett’s** score – maybe it’s a difference between raw scores and converted scores? (I only skimmed the link.)
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