English Quiz (Part 98)

'latter' Meaning

• near or towards the end of something; (the latter)the second of two people, things, or groups previously mentioned

• to be extremely good at something; (excel yourself)to do something better than you usually do

• providing support or help; additional, or providing additional support or help

Answer explanation

Example:

1. Building the new library should begin in the latter part of next year.

2. In the latter stages of the fight, he began to tire.

3. She offered me more money or a car, and I chose the latter.

4. He directed "The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone with the Wind," receiving an Oscar for the latter.

'excel' Meaning

• the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole; the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another; used in a number of phrases to mean importance and seriousness

• providing support or help; additional, or providing additional support or help

• to be extremely good at something; (excel yourself)to do something better than you usually do

Answer explanation

Example:

1. Rebecca always excelled in languages at school.

2. The British team excelled this year to reach the finals.

3. The woman who did the flower arranging had excelled herself that day.

4. We came fifth in the competition, so we didn't exactly excel ourselves.

'ancillary' Meaning

• providing support or help; additional, or providing additional support or help

• the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole; the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another; used in several phrases to mean importance and seriousness

• to be extremely good at something; (excel yourself)to do something better than you usually do

Answer explanation

Example:

1. ancillary staff/workers

2. an ancillary role

3. Campaigning to change government policy is ancillary to the charity's direct relief work.

4. In the last ten years, we have developed several ancillary services that have grown out of our core business.

'proportion' Meaning

• to be extremely good at something; (excel yourself)to do something better than you usually do

• providing support or help; additional, or providing additional support or help

• the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole; the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another; used in several phrases to mean importance and seriousness

Answer explanation

Example:

1. Children make up a large proportion of the world's population.

2. A higher proportion of men are willing to share household responsibilities than before.

3. The report shows that poor families spend a larger proportion of their income on food

4. The proportion of women to men at my college was about five to one.

5. The chart shows how weight increases in proportion to height (= the increase in weight depends on the increase in height).

6. The level of crime in an area is almost always in direct proportion to the number of unemployed.

7. Your legs are very much in proportion to (= the right size for) the rest of your body.

8. His feet seem very small in proportion to his body.

9. My head was much nearer the camera than the rest of me, so I was all out of proportion.

'tenuous' Meaning

• the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole; the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another; used in several phrases to mean importance and seriousness

• A tenuous connection, idea, or situation is weak and possibly does not exist; weak, unimportant, or in doubt.

• the process of getting something; the process of gradually learning something or gaining something such as a skill; something that someone buys, often to add to a collection of things; something such as a building, another company, or a piece of land that is bought by a company, or the act of buying it; the right to sell or publish something, such as a particular work or work by a particular author, that is bought or obtained by a company or person; the act of buying or obtaining this right; the act of obtaining or beginning to have something, or something obtained

Answer explanation

Example:

1. The police have only found a tenuous connection between the two robberies.

2. The aging dictator’s hold on power is tenuous.

'acquisition' Meaning

• the process of getting something; the process of gradually learning something or gaining something such as a skill; something that someone buys, often to add to a collection of things; something such as a building, another company, or a piece of land that is bought by a company, or the act of buying it; the right to sell or publish something, such as a particular work or work by a particular author, that is bought or obtained by a company or person; the act of buying or obtaining this right; the act of obtaining or beginning to have something, or something obtained

• A tenuous connection, idea, or situation is weak and possibly does not exist; weak, unimportant, or in doubt.

• the number or amount of a group or part of something when compared to the whole; the correct or most attractive relationship between the size of different parts of the same thing or between one thing and another; used in a number of phrases to mean importance and seriousness

Answer explanation

Example:

1. The acquisition of huge amounts of data has helped our research enormously.

2. Their main methods of food acquisition were hunting and fishing.

3. Education is not merely about the acquisition of knowledge.

4. Anxiety can interfere with the acquisition of new skills.

5. Language acquisition starts at a very young age.

6. like your earrings - are they a recent acquisition? (= Did you get them recently?)

7. The museum's latest acquisition is a four-million-dollar sculpture.

8. She worked on mergers and acquisitions, specializing in asset valuation.

9. The company is considering a number of acquisitions.

10. Several small media companies are his next likely targets for acquisition.

11. They are very pleased with another new acquisition, a biography of the former Prime Minister.

12. He built the firm into a leading publisher with his clever acquisitions, including Robert Louis Stephenson's "Treasure Island".

13. The museum has made several recent acquisitions.

14. The acquisition of a new language requires a commitment of time and effort.