Guide is to direct as reduce is to

The correct answer is A. decrease.

A guide is someone who leads or directs someone or something. To reduce something is to make it smaller or less in amount, number, or degree. So, the answer that best completes the analogy is “decrease.”

The other options are not as good matches. To maintain something is to keep it in good condition or to keep it from changing. To increase something is to make it larger or greater in amount, number, or degree. To preserve something is to protect it from harm or destruction.

Here are some examples of how the word “guide” is used:

• The tour guide led the group through the museum.
• The GPS guided me to my destination.
• The teacher guided the students through the math problem.

Here are some examples of how the word “reduce” is used:

• The company reduced its workforce by 10%.
• The doctor reduced the patient’s dosage of medication.
• The recipe called for reducing the sauce by half.