In a passage discussing renewable energy storage, the author asserts: 'Batteries are no longer the Achilles' heel of solar power.' What does the allusion 'Achilles' heel' mean?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. A vulnerable point or crucial weakness
- Step 1: The myth of Achilles tells that his mother dipped him in the River Styx, leaving only his heel unprotected, which proved fatal.
- Step 2: In modern English, an 'Achilles' heel' refers to a vulnerable flaw or critical weakness in an otherwise strong system.
Answer
A vulnerable point or important weakness.
Why not the others: 'A newly discovered advantage' is the opposite of a fatal vulnerability; 'An expensive component' misinterprets the idiom; 'A mythological measurement unit' takes the phrase literally.
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