Geez, on the SATs it's at least multiple choice.

this appears to be a question planted by your Mr Ashcroft's TRIPS programme in the Berkeley area. Suffice it to say that it is fortunate that your son did not answer "REVOLUTION"

Rotate?

Look at this as an opportunity to get in touch with your Calvin side-- make up a word.

I think perhaps everyone is forgetting that the test is aimed at nine-year-old children. Is it possible that they are simply looking for a synonym for "spin" that is seven letters long? "Revolve"?

I think perhaps everyone is forgetting that the test is aimed at nine-year-old children. Is it possible that they are simply looking for a synonym for "spin" that is seven letters long? "Revolve"?

hmmm, how about "rationalize" or "justify" ?

Thinking on, if these nine-year-old children were considered to be exceptionally gifted, then maybe an answer like "joyride" would be more appropriate?

I'm really glad I'm no longer nine.

This is easy. First, "trip" and "journey" are simply synonyms. Second, remember the basic writer's trick: to indicate the degree of education of a character, use the appropriate ratio of Latin- to Germanic-origin words in their dialogue. "Journey" is Latin and "trip" and "spin" are Germanic. Latin synonyms for "spin" include rotate (but not revolve - this implies a center of rotation outside the object, e.g. the earth spins or rotates about its axis but revolves around the sun), protract, obfuscate, and (for physicists) rotational angular momentum (thrice Latin).

And people think these kinds of tests simply check a kid's intelligence. Hah! The answer's probably "Revolve", or maybe "Rotate," but if you ask me it should be "Drive". Journeys are long, trips are short. Drives (in the car) are long. Spins (in the car) are short. Least they were when I was growing up. Though I don't think Americans use the phrase "Going for a spin in the car."

Two quibbles; "Journey" is Norman French and only very distantly Latin, and the engine of my car turns over at 2000 revolutions per minute, not rotations.

Regarding "revolve", mea culpa. In physics it's quite helpful to use the meanings of "rotate" and "revolve" that are distinct, but, as is typical in language, there are multiple meanings of "revolve", and one is a synonym for "rotate" or "spin".

Regarding "journey", my dictionary says it comes from "diurnus" ... I'm no linguist but it looks pretty direct to me.

Kieran,

"but if you ask me it should be "Drive". Journeys are long, trips are short. Drives (in the car) are long. Spins (in the car) are short. Least they were when I was growing up. Though I don't think Americans use the phrase "Going for a spin in the car."

That was my first reaction, but, on checking it out, it appears that "a trip" in the sense of a short journey is more British English than American English. In addition, I really could not think of a word to cover something longer than "a spin", apart that is from "journey." You're absolutely correct though, "drive" is perfect.

twirl

OK, I see it like this:
Journey is 7-letter, 2-syllable lame 80's band that had one hit album and is now on the county fair circuit. By subtracting the number of letters in the words journey (7) and trip (4) you get 3. This signifies the number lame albums released. Journey released one hit album, had the audacity to then release a Best of Album, followed by a recent album in an attempt to hang on. Since spin also has 4 letters. We need to find a 7-letter, 2-syllable lame 80's band that has 3 albums, an initial hit, a best of, and a pathetic current release that is on the county fair circiut. Hmmm...WARRANT! So there you have it.

journey is to trip as warrant is to spin

Perhaps the spin has a political meaning. It could be journey is to trip as dissemble is to spin.

Journey is to Trip as Rolling Stone Magazine is to Spin.

BEM has a brilliant answer. If, however, you want to go with a blogger's approach, spin has a wholly different context. Perhaps leak or hype might fit better than twist, rotate, or revolve...

Seems pretty obvious to me -- "journey" is just the unnecessarily fancy-pants way of saying "trip", so we're looking for the unnecessarily fancy-pants way of saying "spin" -- namely, "rotate". (Heh. Thought you were pretty smart, didn't you, you fancy-pants egghead Berkeley professor, huh? Huh?)