WAEC 2014 English Language · Question 20

In the sentence below, there is one underlined word and one gap.From the list of words lettered A to D, choose…

Question

In the sentence below, there is one underlined word and one gap.From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will at the same time correctly fill the gap in the sentence. Rather than accept the blame, the manager ............ the accusation.

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

A.criticized
B.refused
C.addressed
D.denied

Answer: D. denied

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question

The question asks for a word that does two things:

It fits the gap grammatically and logically in "Rather than accept the blame, the manager ............ the accusation."
It is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word. The underlined word isn't visible in the text you sent, but the structure of the sentence makes it clear. The word is almost certainly "accept" (in "accept the blame"), or possibly "accusation".

Explain the concept

"Rather than X, he did Y" means Y is the opposite of X. So the manager did the opposite of accepting. The opposite of "accept" is "reject", "deny" or "refuse".

Test each option

A. criticized: "Criticized the accusation" is awkward and is not the opposite of accept.
B. refused: "Refused the accusation" is not idiomatic. We refuse offers or requests, but we don't normally refuse an accusation. We deny or reject it.
C. addressed: This means "dealt with" or "spoke about". It is not the opposite of accept.
D. denied: "Denied the accusation" is the correct collocation. It also means the opposite of accepting the blame.

Answer

The word "denied" fits the gap correctly. It is also the antonym of "accept", which is the underlined word. Note that "refused" is the tempting distractor: it is close in meaning, but it does not collocate with "accusation".

Tip

In antonym-plus-gap questions, check collocation as well as meaning. Some verbs go with certain nouns: deny an accusation or charge, refuse an offer or request, reject a proposal. Learning these pairs helps you eliminate close distractors quickly.

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