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Difficulty: Very hardVocabulary and Word Meaning in Context

Read the passage excerpt below carefully:

'Faced with an unprecedented decline in national oil revenue, the finance committee advised the executive council to husband the remaining external reserves through strict austerity measures rather than embarking on speculative capital investments.'

In the passage excerpt above, which of the following best captures the meaning of the word husband as used by the author?

  1. A
    marry off strategically
  2. B
    control authoritatively
  3. conserve prudentlyAnswer
  4. D
    domesticate completely

Answer

The word 'husband' in this context means to conserve prudently or manage resources frugally.
In the passage, 'husband' is used as a verb meaning to manage or save resources with care and frugality. Given the context of falling national revenue and strict austerity measures, the finance committee is urging the council to conserve remaining external reserves wisely.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the surrounding context of the passage excerpt.
The text references an 'unprecedented decline in national oil revenue' and advocates for 'strict austerity measures rather than embarking on speculative capital investments'.
Contextual clues indicate a situation demanding restraint, careful management, and preservation of assets.
2
Identify the grammatical role and specific sense of the highlighted word.
'Husband' functions here as an infinitive verb meaning to manage, use, or save resources with frugality and care.
Polysemous words often shift grammatical category and meaning based on syntactic position.
3
Evaluate the choices to select the syntactically and semantically appropriate substitution.
Substituting 'conserve prudently' preserves the precise meaning of safeguarding financial reserves under austerity.
Distractors either rely on unrelated noun definitions or introduce unwarranted inferences of political dominance.

Key Concept

Contextual Word Meaning of Polysemous Verbs
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Vocabulary and Word Meaning in Context

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