"‘The longer it takes for a food to go from the field to your plate, the more it may deteriorate in terms of nutrient content,' explains Mary Lee Chin." As used in the sentence, deteriorate most nearly means

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"‘The longer it takes for a food to go from the field to your plate, the more it may deteriorate in terms of nutrient content,' explains Mary Lee Chin." As used in the sentence, deteriorate most nearly means

a) to improve

b) to adjust

c) to get worse

d) to recover

As used in the sentence, "deteriorate" most nearly means:

c) to get worse.

Explanation:

The verb "deteriorate" means "to become progressively worse". However, even if we did not know its meaning, it wouldn't be difficult to assume what it was through the context. We all know that food eventually goes bad if it not consumed. Even if you store it in the fridge, the process of spoiling will take longer, but will still happen. Therefore, if the sentence is talking about food taking a long time to go from the field to the plate, we can safely assume deteriorate means go bad, or get worse.