UNILAG English Language 2014/2015 Past Questions

From the list of words lettered A to D choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentence:
The management has neither..... nor denied the rumour that is was going to lay of some workers.

Instead of ......... the issue, the speaker digressed to unimportant matters.

The telephone booths were ......... and I had t o wait for more than ten minutes for one to become vacant.

While the first battalion halted its march at nightfall, the second.......to the barracks

His father is an .......... driver but he is only a novice