WAEC 2011 English Language · Question 97

It took me the whole day to summarize the lecturer's copious notes having been used to … ones

Question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences. It took me the whole day to summarize the lecturer's copious notes having been used to ............ones

In the original paper part of this question is underlined. The underline isn't shown here: see the explanation below.

A.scanty
B.illegible
C.inaccurate
D.coherent

Answer: A. scanty

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question You need a word that (1) is opposite in meaning to the underlined word "copious" and (2) fits the gap in the sentence: "having been used to ............ ones."

Explain the concept "Copious" means plentiful, abundant, or large in quantity. Its antonym is a word meaning small in quantity, meagre, or insufficient.

Step-by-step solution

Meaning of "copious": abundant, plentiful.
The sentence says it took the whole day to summarize the notes because they were copious. The speaker was used to the opposite kind of notes, which were short and brief and so took less time to summarize.
Check each option: • A. scanty: meagre, small in amount. It is the direct opposite of copious and fits the gap: "used to scanty ones." • B. illegible: unreadable. This is about handwriting, not quantity. • C. inaccurate: not correct. This has nothing to do with quantity. • D. coherent: logical and well organized. This is not the opposite of copious.

Answer: The word that is opposite in meaning to "copious" and fits the gap is scanty, option A.

Tip For antonym questions, first decide what the underlined word means, then test each option in the sentence. Words like "copious," "plentiful," and "abundant" are opposed by "scanty," "meagre," and "sparse." Memorize these word groups, as they appear often in WASSCE and JAMB.

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