What does the word 'motivated' mean in the following phrase? 'Highly motivated students can thus ……..'

In the context of the passage, 'motivated' refers to students who have a strong drive or interest in learning the language. The closest synonym among the options is 'interested', because motivated students are those who are keen and interested in the subject. 'Intelligent' refers to cognitive ability, 'resourceful' refers to being creative with resources, and 'muddled' means confused. Hence option (4), interested, is the best meaning.