Hello! Great question! In the first question, in natural English, you wouldn't use either. You would say "Now a days, drivers show "very little" respect for traffic rules. Meager and scant are most commonly used to define material things that you have low quantity of, not usually emotions or feelings. With the second one, you could use either one, but it would depend on what your talking about. To "like" something is to say its something that you casually accept, and it isn't truly important to you. For example, you "like" ice cream, you "like" television. When you "value" something, it has great importance to you. You "value" your family, you "value" you education, you "value" learning English. Hope this helps!!

1. Now-a-days drivers of motor vehicles show SCANT respect for traffic rules. Because 'scant' is a synonym of 'little'. 'Meagre' is not a synonym of 'little'. 'Meagre' often means 'poor', which makes little sense here, in this isolated sentence. 2. He could not possess the very thing which he VALUED most. a. liked b. valued Either word works, but 'valued' seems to fit better. Additionally, we very often would say, "...which he valued/liked THE most" or "most OF ALL." 'What type of ice cream do you like the most/most of all?' 'What thing about life do you value the most/most of all?'