Read the following information carefully and answer the given questions.…
2021
Read the following information carefully and answer the given questions.
Assessing women’s access to equal opportunity and resources against the access that men have would be a scientific way of evaluating a nation’s commitment to the advancement of its citizens. But going by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020, released last week, questions can easily be raised about whether this government is doing the right thing by the country’s women. India has dropped four points from 2018, to take the 112th rank on the Index. The Index measures the extent of gender-based gaps on four key parameters — economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Notably, it measures gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries, rather than the actual levels of the available resources and opportunities. Despite a small score improvement, India has lost four positions as some countries ranked lower than India have shown better improvement. The country has reportedly closed two-thirds of its overall gender gap, with a score of 66.8 percent, but the report notes with concern that the condition of women in large fringes of Indian society is ‘precarious’. Of significant concern is the economic gender gap, with a score of 35.4 percent, at the 149th place, among 153 countries, and down seven places since the previous edition, indicating only a third of the gap has been bridged. The participation of women in the labour force is also among the lowest in the world, and the female estimated earned income is only one-fifth of male income. An alarming statistic is India’s position (150th rank) on the very bottom of the Health and Survival subindex, determined largely by the skewed sex ratio at birth, violence, forced marriage and discrimination in access to health. It is on the educational attainment (112th rank) and political empowerment (18th rank) fronts that the relatively good news is buried.
Identify the nearby antonym of the word ‘Alarming’?
- A.
Dread
- B.
Ghastly
- C.
Exonerate
- D.
Unwary
Attempted by 4 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
CONCEPT: An antonym is a word with the opposite meaning of the given word. In a 'nearby antonym' vocabulary task, you choose the option whose meaning is the closest available opposite of the key word among those offered, even if it is not the textbook-perfect antonym. The word 'Alarming' means causing alarm, fear or worry, and it carries the sense of putting a person on alert and making them wary of danger.
APPLICATION: Reverse the sense of 'Alarming'. The opposite of being alarmed and wary of danger is being off-guard, unconcerned and not alert. Among the offered words, 'Unwary' means not cautious, not alert and unsuspecting of danger, so it directly reverses the alert-and-wary sense of 'Alarming'. This makes 'Unwary' the closest available opposite, i.e. the nearby antonym.
CONTRAST: 'Dread' means great fear, so it lies on the same fearful side as 'Alarming' — a synonym, not an opposite. 'Ghastly' means shockingly horrible or frightful, again a synonym, not an antonym. 'Exonerate' means to clear someone of blame, which is unrelated to fear or alertness. None of these three reverses the meaning, so only 'Unwary' qualifies.
RESULT: Among the offered words, the nearby antonym of 'Alarming' is 'Unwary'.