IBPS RRB Assistant 29 Sep 2013

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Govind’s father was a rich landlord, who was loved and respected by all his tenants. When he died. he left large tracts of land to Govind. But Govind did not spend a single day looking after his land. He had a funny idea, that there existed a magic potion which, if it was poured on any object would turn it into gold. He spent all his time trying to learn more about this potion. People took advantage of him and cheated him. His wife grew anxious. Given the amount of money Govind was spending, she was sure that they would soon be paupers.
One day, a widely respected sage who had been to the Himalayas came to their town. Govind asked him about the potion. To his surprise the sage answered, “I have learnt how to brew such a potion. But it is a difficult process.” -Fell me!” insisted Govind, hardly able to believe his luck. “You have to collect the dew which settles on the leaves of a banana tree every morning during.winter. There is a condition though. The tree should be planted and watered regularly with your own hands. Store the collected dew in an earthen vessel and when you have five litres, bring it to me. I will recite a sacred mantra to transform the dew into the potion. A drop of the potion will be sufficient to change any object into gold.” Govind was worried. “Winter is only for a few months in the year. It will take me years to collect the dew.” “You can plant as many trees as you want.” replied the sage. Govind went home and after talking to his wife, began clearing the large fields which has been lying vacant for years. He planted rows of banana saplings. He tended them with great care. His wife helped him too. She would take the banana crop to market and get a good price. Over the years the plantation grew and finally after six years Govind had live litres of dew. He went to the sage who smiled, uttered a mantra and sprinkled a few drops of dew on a copper vessel. To Govind’s dismay, nothing happened. “You have cheated me!” he shouted at the sage.
The sage however smiled. Govind’s wife then came forward with a box. The sage opened it and revealed stacks of gold coins inside. Turning to Govind he said, “You worked hard on your land and created a plantation. Your wife sold ‘the produce in the market. It was your hard work which created this wealth, not magic. If I had told you this earlier, you would not have listened.” Govind understood the wisdom behind the sage’s words and worked even harder from that day on.

Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.