The commissioner thought that the proposal would fall through.

Analyze the question The underlined phrase is "fall through". You need the word or phrase that is OPPOSITE in meaning.

Explain the concept The phrasal verb "fall through" means to fail or not happen, so a plan or arrangement "falls through" when it doesn't materialise. Example: "Our travel plans fell through." For antonym questions, first find the meaning of the phrase, then look for its opposite. Be careful, because some options are synonyms and are there to trap you.

Solution

• Meaning of "fall through": fail, collapse, come to nothing.
• A. succeed: means to work out well. This is the opposite.
• B. be discarded: means to be thrown away. This is close to "fall through", so it is a synonym.
• C. be written off: means to be regarded as a failure or loss. This is also similar to "fall through", so it is a synonym.
• D. fail: this is a direct synonym of "fall through".

Three options (B, C, D) are similar in meaning to "fall through", and only A goes in the opposite direction.

Answer The commissioner thought the proposal would fail, so the opposite is that it would succeed.

Tip In "opposite in meaning" questions, first work out the meaning of the underlined word, then eliminate every option that means the same thing. The option left standing is usually the antonym. Also learn common phrasal verbs such as fall through (fail), call off (cancel) and put off (postpone), as they appear often in JAMB English.