Directions : Read the following passage and answer the given questions. When…
2025
Directions : Read the following passage and answer the given questions.
When Company X introduced its online game, the market response was immediate and overwhelming. The very next year, the company earned huge profits and quickly gained users across the globe. Reports revealed that the game generated 50 million dollars worldwide, making it one of the most successful digital launches in recent years. This sudden success was seen as a major hit, granting Company X recognition and dominance in the industry.
Yet, beneath the shining surface of profits and popularity, a darker picture began to emerge. Parents started to raise concerns over the time children were spending on this game. Many young users became addicted, unable to manage their daily schedules, and their studies suffered significantly. Teachers noticed falling grades, a decline in participation, and a visible drop in discipline. At home, the situation worsened as children grew increasingly irritable, spending less time with family and showing signs of inappropriate behavior.
Roommates, on the other hand, reported that their relationships remained smooth only during gaming sessions. Once the console was turned off, interactions were minimal, and genuine conversations reduced. What was marketed as a tool for entertainment and bonding ironically created isolation and
dependency. Parents found themselves struggling to establish healthy routines for their children, often entering into conflicts that left family ties strained.
An independent organisation decided to investigate these growing concerns and carried out a large-scale survey. The data collected and the report submitted revealed an alarming trend. The impact of the game was largely negative, with cases of extreme dependency, reduced academic achievement, and antisocial tendencies being repeatedly recorded. What initially gave the company a toe hold in the international gaming market was now turning into a nationwide social concern.
The report strongly emphasized that while the company’s financial growth was undeniable, the cost to society was far greater. Addiction had begun to reshape the daily lives of thousands of children, disturbing family harmony and disrupting the overall learning environment. Based on the overwhelming findings, the organisation recommended that the game should be banned in the country. The conclusion was clear: no amount of profit could justify the erosion of discipline, values, and future prospects of the younger generation.
Choose the word that is the opposite in meaning to "raise" as used in the passage:
- A.
Boost
- B.
Improve
- C.
Lower
- D.
Distribute
- E.
Elevate
Attempted by 4 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
An antonym is a word whose meaning is the direct opposite of a given word. When a passage uses a target word inside a fixed idiomatic phrase and none of the offered choices opposes that exact idiomatic sense, the choice that reverses the word's separate, well-established core dictionary sense is the one to look for -- and the item's own published answer key is the deciding evidence for which sense is intended.
Application
In the passage, "raise" appears in the phrase "raise concerns" (to bring up or voice a concern). None of the five choices -- Boost, Improve, Lower, Distribute, Elevate -- opposes this specific "voice/bring up" sense (a word such as "suppress" or "withhold" would be needed for that, and none is offered). "Raise" also carries a separate, well-established core sense: to move something UP -- to lift, increase, or elevate. Among the offered choices, "Lower" is the only one that opposes this core sense -- to bring down, reduce, or decrease.
Cross-check
This is exactly how the question's own published answer key (IBPS SO Pre 2025) resolves it: "Lower" is the officially keyed correct answer. Independently, three major English thesauri (Merriam-Webster, Oxford, Collins) each list "lower" as the primary antonym of "raise" in its core sense, confirming this is the intended and best-supported reading among the choices offered -- even though it is a looser fit for the exact idiomatic collocation "raise concerns" used in the passage.
Contrast
"Boost" -- to increase or push up; same upward direction, so a synonym.
"Improve" -- to make better in quality; an upward, positive sense, so a near-synonym.
"Elevate" -- to lift to a higher level; almost identical to "raise", so a synonym.
"Distribute" -- to give out or share; unrelated to up/down direction, so neither synonym nor antonym.
Given the option set and the item's own official key, "Lower" is the best-supported answer.