Realistic many-body wave functions for diamond-structure silicon are constructed for different values of the Coulomb coupling constant. The coupling-constant-integrated pair correlation function, the exchange-correlation hole, and the exchange-correlation energy density are calculated and compared with those obtained from the local density and average density approximations. We draw conclusions about the reasons for the success of the local density approximation and suggest a method for testing the effectiveness of exchange-correlation functionals. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}