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 opp...
Assessment:WAEC SSCE - English Language - 1999 (Objective)Subject:English Language
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.
To encourage productivity we must reward industry and ...........laziness
Answer Details
The word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to "industry" is "laziness". In the given sentence, the speaker is advocating for the need to reward "industry" to encourage productivity. Therefore, to fill the blank, we need a word that is the opposite of "industry", which is "laziness".
Among the given options, the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to "reward" is "punish". However, the sentence requires a word that can be paired with "industry". The words "withhold" and "withdraw" do not fit the context as they are not typically used in conjunction with "industry". The word "oppose" is also not a suitable choice as it does not convey the intended meaning of the sentence.
Therefore, the correct answer is "punish".