WAEC 2020 English Language · Question 93

The newspaper reported that … everybody died in the accident.

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences. The newspaper reported that________everybody died in the accident.

A.hardly
B.almost
C.scarcely
D.barely

Answer: B. almost

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "The newspaper reported that ____ everybody died in the accident." We need the word that fits meaningfully with "everybody."

Explain the concept

Some adverbs of degree look similar but behave differently:

Almost means "very nearly." It goes with words like all, everybody, everyone, always, every. Example: "Almost everyone came."
Hardly, scarcely, barely have a negative meaning ("only just" or "almost not at all"). They go with any, anybody, ever, not with everybody. • "Hardly anybody died" means very few people died. • "Hardly everybody died" is not natural English.

Step-by-step solution

Test A: "Hardly everybody died" does not make sense. ✗
Test B: "Almost everybody died" means nearly all the people died. ✓
Test C: "Scarcely everybody died" is unidiomatic. ✗
Test D: "Barely everybody died" is unidiomatic. ✗

Correct answer: B. almost

Tip: Remember the pair "almost + every-/all" (almost everybody, almost all, almost always). Use "hardly/scarcely/barely + any-/ever" (hardly anybody, scarcely ever, barely any). If the word means "nearly," choose almost.

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