Read the passage excerpt below carefully:
"During the fiscal downturn, the regulatory agency moved to curtail non-essential operational expenditure. Critics cautioned that this measure might impair ongoing infrastructure projects, but administrators maintained that it was vital to consolidate remaining assets and safeguard the nation's economic resilience."
Match each bolded word from the passage to its precise contextual meaning.
- curtailreduce or restrict
- impairdamage or weaken
- consolidatecombine and strengthen into a unified whole
- safeguardprotect or defend
Answer
The correct matches based on passage context are: 'curtail' matches with 'reduce or restrict', 'impair' matches with 'damage or weaken', 'consolidate' matches with 'combine and strengthen into a unified whole', and 'safeguard' matches with 'protect or defend'.
Each bolded term is defined by its precise function in the passage context: 'curtail' refers to restricting spending, 'impair' describes damaging project operations, 'consolidate' means unifying remaining assets, and 'safeguard' denotes protecting national resilience.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Vocabulary and Word Meaning in Context