5 exercises — practise matching intensifiers and minimizers to the true magnitude of technical results.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
A benchmark shows a 45% latency reduction. Which sentence uses an intensifier that accurately matches this large magnitude?
"Significantly reduced latency" is correct: "significantly" is a strong intensifier appropriate for describing a large, meaningful change such as a 45% reduction. Option A uses "marginally", a minimizer implying a very small, barely-noticeable change, which understates a 45% improvement. Option B uses "slightly", another minimizer that similarly misrepresents the magnitude. Option D uses "somewhat", a moderate hedge that also understates a change this large.
2 / 5
A benchmark shows only a 2% improvement in throughput. Which sentence uses a minimizer that accurately reflects this small magnitude?
"Marginally improved throughput" is correct: "marginally" is a minimizer appropriate for a small, barely-significant 2% change. Option A uses "dramatically", a strong intensifier that would mislead readers into expecting a large improvement. Option C uses "vastly", another strong intensifier that overstates a 2% change. Option D uses "substantially", which likewise implies a much larger improvement than 2% actually represents.
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly places the intensifier "considerably" to modify a comparative adjective describing memory usage?
"Uses considerably less memory" is correct: the adverb "considerably" directly precedes and modifies the comparative phrase "less memory", the standard position for intensifying a comparative. Option B incorrectly places "considerably" after "less", separating the intensifier from the comparative word it modifies. Option C wrongly uses the adjective form "considerable" instead of the adverb "considerably", which cannot correctly modify "less" in this position. Option D misplaces "considerably" before the verb "uses" rather than before the comparative phrase it is meant to intensify, changing and weakening the intended meaning.
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses a minimizer to describe a negligible, statistically insignificant difference between two test groups?
"Fractionally higher...within the margin of error" is correct: "fractionally" is a minimizer appropriate for describing a negligible, statistically insignificant difference, and it aligns with the phrase "within the margin of error". Option A uses "overwhelmingly", a strong intensifier that misrepresents a negligible difference as a major one. Option C uses "enormously", also a strong intensifier inconsistent with a statistically insignificant result. Option D uses "tremendously", another intensifier that would mislead readers about the true (negligible) size of the difference.
5 / 5
A report says CPU usage rose from 40% to 41% under load. Choose the sentence with the degree word that most accurately calibrates this change.
"Rose marginally under load" is correct: a one-percentage-point change (40% to 41%) is a small, marginal increase, and "marginally" precisely calibrates that magnitude for the reader. Option A's "dramatically" wildly overstates a one-point change. Option C's "exponentially" is both a magnitude overstatement and a technical misuse, since the change is linear and tiny, not exponential growth. Option D's "massively" similarly and inaccurately suggests a large increase where only a negligible one occurred.