Take over vs buy up

[kevin]

Test No. incompl/inter-1 "Applying for that Job", question 7

You should have ......... those shares when they were cheap.

(a) taken out
(b) sold off
(c) bought up
(d) taken over

Test No. incompl/inter-1 "Applying for that Job", answer 7

You should have bought up those shares when they were cheap.

Correct answer: (c) bought up

Your answer was: incorrect
You should have taken over those shares when they were cheap.
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Why the answer is not "take over" which means when the shares are cheap you should buy?
Thank you!

[Torsten]

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks for your question. Let me give you an example as to how we can use the phrasal verb 'to take over' in a business context:

Mircrosoft took over (bought) Hotmail in order to get a foothold in the web based email market.

Hotmail was taken over (bought) by Microsoft a couple of years ago.

Let us know if you have any other questions. Regards. Torsten
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[lily]

iI still cant understand when to use "take over" and when "buy up"

[Alan]

Hi Lily,

The big problem with phrasal verbs is that they can mean different things in different situations. Take over in its first sense means take control. For example if you are learning to drive and your instructor sees you are in difficulties, they could say: Let me take over. Buy up means buy all the things that are available. For example if all the bakers in the town are on strike/not working, people would try and buy up all the bread that is still in the shops.

Hope this helps

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Phrasal Verbs/bring