Question

Find the synonym of the underline word.
Watermelon crops must be rotated periodically with other crops to avoid fungal disease.
a. constantly
b. simultaneously
c. regularly
d. rarely
e. eternally

Answer 1

Hint: Periodically comes from the word periodical. A period of time means a certain amount of time. So after a period of time means after a certain amount of time. Let us find a synonym for it, that is, a word that can be used to replace the word ‘periodically’ without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Complete answer:
If we say that she cleans her cupboard periodically, it means she cleans her cupboard from time to time or at regular intervals. According to this meaning, the most appropriate synonym is option c, regularly. Thus, option c is the correct answer.
Option a is constantly. Constantly refers to something which always happens. There are hardly any time intervals between events happening constantly. The synonym for constantly is always.
Option b is simultaneously. Two things that are happening simultaneously are happening at the same time. Crops cannot be rotated simultaneously since it is only one event.
Option d is rarely. If I party rarely, it means I party very less, for example, once in six months. Crops if rotated rarely will catch a fungal disease.
Option e is eternally. If something lasts eternally, it lasts forever or permanently. The synonym of eternally is forever.

Thus, we can see that the most appropriate synonym is option c, regularly. It matches the context of the sentence as well.

Note: The most effective way of finding synonyms is by placing them in the given sentences and seeing if they make sense. Students may also think ‘constantly’ to be a synonym for periodically. However, constantly is used for events that happen very quickly, one after another. When we place it in the sentence, we can see that it does not make sense because crops do not need to be rotated constantly. They can be done after a certain amount of time. Thus, the word ‘regularly’ is the most appropriate.