Why not adopted or acquired?

[Semak]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #88 "Verbal Advantage", question 2

Some of Shakespeare's historical plays are rather long and so there are editions where they are ......... to make them shorter.

(a) abridged
(b) accented
(c) adopted
(d) acquired

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #88 "Verbal Advantage", answer 2

Some of Shakespeare's historical plays are rather long and so there are editions where they are abridged to make them shorter.

Correct answer: (a) abridged
_________________________

Why not adopted or acquired?

Semak

[Alan]

Hi Semak,

The word I wanted in this sentence was abridge which as you can see from the rest of the sentence means to make shorter. Sometimes a long novel is abridged so that it can be shown as a play on tv.

Adopt and acquire wouldn't make sense in this sentence, both of which generally mean to get hold of.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Word Story: Jokes