Before giving his speech, the chairman … copies of it to the members of the council.

Analyze the question: The sentence needs a verb that fits "copies of the speech" being given out to "members of the council." We are testing word choice (collocation and meaning).

Explain the concept: In English, the verb must match both the object and the action:

• Duplicated means to make an exact copy. It describes making copies, not giving them out.
• Spread is used for things like news, rumours, butter, or disease. It is not used for handing out documents to specific people.
• Circulated means to pass something around among a group of people. It is the standard word for distributing documents, memos, or copies.
• Printed means to produce the copies. It does not say they were given to the members.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The sentence says the chairman did something with copies to the members of the council. This points to distribution.
2. "Duplicated" and "printed" describe making the copies, so "duplicated copies" would be redundant, and neither word fits "to the members."
3. "Spread" sounds unnatural with official documents and a specific group.
4. "Circulated copies of it to the members" is natural and correct. It means he distributed the copies among them.

Correct answer: C. circulated

Tip: When a sentence involves giving documents to a group of people (memos, copies, notices), think circulate or distribute. Also watch for redundancy. If the word already means "make copies," it cannot sensibly take "copies" as its object.