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

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "Halima likes to dwell on trivial, rather than ___ matters."

The underlined word is trivial, which means unimportant or of little value. We need the word that is closest in meaning to the opposite of trivial and that also fits the gap grammatically and logically.

Concept

This is an antonym-in-context question. Trivial means small, petty or insignificant. Its opposite is important, serious or significant. The word matters gives a clue, because we normally describe matters as serious, important or weighty.

Solution

• A. strong: means powerful. We don't say "strong matters" to mean important matters, so it is not the opposite of trivial.
• B. popular: means widely liked. This has nothing to do with importance.
• C. weighty: means important, serious and significant. It is a direct opposite of trivial, and "weighty matters" is a common collocation.
• D. heavy: this refers to physical weight. It can be used figuratively ("heavy matters"), but it is less precise, and "weighty" is the better fit for importance.

The sentence reads well as: "Halima likes to dwell on trivial, rather than weighty matters."

Tip

For antonym questions with a gap, substitute each option into the sentence and check two things: that the meaning is opposite, and that the phrase sounds natural. Weighty means "of great importance", so remember "weighty = serious or important" and "trivial = light or unimportant."