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Difficulty: EasySecondary and High-Frequency Alternative Meanings

During the prolonged expedition through the arid plateau, the logistics coordinator emphasized that the researchers must carefully husband their remaining fuel supplies to ensure the generators could run until the supply convoy arrived.

As used in the sentence above, which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "husband"?

  1. conserveAnswer
  2. B
    marry
  3. C
    exhaust
  4. D
    ignore
  5. E
    surrender

Answer

The word 'conserve' is the correct meaning of 'husband' in this passage.
In formal academic English, the word 'husband' can be used as a verb meaning to manage prudently or use frugally. In the passage, the researchers need to make their limited fuel last until relief arrives, so 'conserve' accurately captures this intended meaning.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the sentence context for structural and thematic clues.
The researchers are on an expedition in an 'arid plateau' with 'remaining fuel supplies' and need them to last 'until the supply convoy arrived.'
Context dictates that the action performed on the fuel supplies must prolong their availability.
2
Determine the part of speech and secondary meaning of the target word 'husband'.
'Husband' is used as a verb here, which means to manage prudently, economize, or conserve.
The primary definition of 'husband' as a noun (spouse) does not fit the grammatical structure or meaning of the sentence.
3
Evaluate the answer choices against the contextual meaning.
'Conserve' directly matches the secondary verb definition of managing resources carefully.
Conserving fuel ensures that the generators can operate until relief arrives.

Key Concept

Secondary meanings of common words (polysemy in context)
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Topics

Secondary and High-Frequency Alternative Meanings

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