Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word.
The speaker emphasized that the cooperation in the project we were to undertake was of utmost importance.

A) Accentuated
B) Downplayed
C) Discussed
D) Displayed
E) Bragged

Answer 1

Hint: Synonyms are words that have the same meanings. Emphasized is a past form of the verb, emphasize which means to make something more noticeable and prominent.

Complete answer:

From the hint given to us, we know that synonyms are the words that have the same meanings. We also know that emphasized is a past form of the verb, emphasize which means to make something more noticeable and prominent. Thus, we can infer that the synonym of emphasized must have the same meaning.
Accentuated is a past form of the verb, accentuate which means to make something more prominent or to highlight it. We observe that it matches the meaning of emphasized. Both the words belong to the same part of speech, that is, verb and are of the past form. Hence, option A is possibly the correct answer.
Downplayed is a past form of the verb, downplay which means to undermine something. We observe that it does not match the meaning of emphasized. Hence, option B is not the correct answer.
Discussed is a past form of the verb, discuss which means to talk about a particular subject with a given set of people. We observe that it does not match the meaning of emphasized. Hence, option C is not the correct answer.
Displayed is a past form of the verb, display which means to show or present. We observe that it does not match the meaning of emphasized. Hence, option D is not the correct answer.
Bragged is a past form of the verb, brag which means to exaggerate. We observe that it does not match the meaning of emphasized. Hence, option E is not the correct answer.
Hence, we can conclude that option A, accentuated is the correct answer.

Note: Synonyms belong to the same part of speech and tense as otherwise, their meaning will differ.