NDA (I) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 15 of 149

Correct — C, 'denied'. To corroborate a statement is to support it with further evidence, so the reverse is to declare it untrue. The witness in the sentence backs the victim word for word; a witness who denied the account would be doing the exact opposite.

• (a)accepted — Accepting a statement comes close to agreeing with it, which repeats the sense rather than reversing it.
• (b)confirmed — This is the nearest synonym of 'corroborated' and therefore the classic decoy on an antonym item.
• (d)repeated — Repeating describes saying the same words again and passes no judgement on whether they are true.

'Corroborate' means to give supporting evidence for a statement, strengthening somebody else's account.

Two options here — 'confirmed' and 'accepted' — stand on the same side as the underlined word, which is how the item is built. The phrase 'word for word' then tempts a reader towards 'repeated', but that describes the manner of speaking rather than the support being offered.

• 'Corroborate' is common in legal English for evidence that supports other evidence.
• 'Deny' means to state that something is not true.
• Antonym blocks routinely seat a strong synonym among the four choices.

• Selecting 'confirmed', which means almost the same as 'corroborated'.
• Being pulled towards 'repeated' by the phrase 'word for word'.

Asked as an antonym item — choose the word most opposite in meaning to the underlined word.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word most opposite in meaning to 'corroborate'.

  • (a)support
  • (b)verify
  • (c)contradict
  • (d)endorse

  Answer(c) contradict — to corroborate is to support a statement, so its opposite is to contradict it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'substantiate'.

  • (a)doubt
  • (b)prove
  • (c)delay
  • (d)conceal

  Answer(b) prove — to substantiate is to back a claim with evidence.