PASSAGE 4 (Questions 1-5)

Child psychology is certainly not a strong point with most Indian schools, why else would it inflict a double trauma on a student faring badly in the pre-boards by banning her from taking the exams.

Often with fatal results as evidenced by reports of student suicides in the run-up to the board. Now the Central-Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has stepped in and put the brakes on the CBSE. This is good news for parents and students, many of whom have had to live with the threat performance-linked department.

While the schools' logic is that in order to attract talented students, need to maintain their performance records at high levels. The assumption that a student faring poorly in the pre boards will replicate this at the boards is faulty.

Chances are that the student will be spurred to work doubly hard, On the other hand, the threat of department will almost certainly impact adversely her performance. Of course, linking pre-boards to the boards is only one of the problems with our school system. 

[SBI (PO), 2003]

Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word Spur as used in the passage.