Question

Find the synonym of the underlined word.
The musicians who graduated from that school are adept at playing at least four instruments.
A) Proficient
B) Adjustable
C) Awkward
D) Careful
E) Proverbial

Answer 1

Hint: This question is about synonyms. Synonyms are words which have the same meanings and sometimes, same usages. In simpler terms, those words which may have different spellings and pronunciations but their meanings are the same are termed as “Synonyms”. To answer these types of questions, always focus on the asked word as well its context, as most of the time, the meaning of the word is dependent on its context.

Complete answer:
The statement given above is talking about the ability of the graduated musicians of a particular school to be able to play at least four musical instruments. The underlined word is “Adept”. According to the context, the word “Adept” is referring to the ability of the musicians to be good at playing at least four musical instruments, that is, they are good at playing the instruments.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option (A)- Proficient is correct because it means being skilled at something. This is what the sentence is talking about and hence, is the appropriate choice.
Option (B)- Adjustable is incorrect because it means the ability to adjust or being flexible. This is not in consensus with the given statement and is, therefore, wrong.
Option (C)- Awkward is incorrect because it means to cause difficulty or hard to deal with. This is against the given statement and is inappropriate.
Option (D)- Careful is incorrect because it means showing care, thought or attention, which has nothing to do with the given statement. That’s why it's incorrect as well.
Option (E)- Proverbial- is incorrect because it means to be in the context of an idiom or proverb. This is not in relation to the sentence, therefore, is wrong.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: While working with synonyms, keep in mind the following tips:
- Always keep in mind the different ways one can express the same thought and work accordingly. There are many ways to express one idea, and this is the reason for the existence of synonyms.
- Always try to understand the context of the words because the meaning of any word is directly related to the context of its use. The same word can have different meanings based on the context of speech.