[Vocabulary] chance

[Silverobama]

Hi,

Here is a question quoted from the test TEM4 (Test for English Major):

Victoria bumped into her brother quite by chance in the supermarket. The underlined word means:

a)risk
b)opportunity
c)possibility
d)luck

I chose C but the answer is D, why?

 

[emsr2d2]

There is always the possibility of bumping into someone in the supermarket but when we say "by chance" we mean accidentally, unplanned, without pre-arrangement. For me, none of the four choices really imply the same thing but of course you have to use one, and the word "luck" comes closest to "chance".

Poker is a game of chance. It is a question of luck whether or not you are dealt a good hand.
The lottery is a game of chance. If your numbers come up, you are lucky and if they don't, you're unlucky. Try your luck next time!
I was looking for a person to fix my car and, by chance, a flyer arrived through my door from a local mechanic. That was lucky!

 

[Silverobama]

There is always the possibility of bumping into someone in the supermarket but when we say "by chance" we mean accidentally, unplanned, without pre-arrangement. For me, none of the four choices really imply the same thing but of course you have to use one, and the word "luck" comes closest to "chance".

Poker is a game of chance. It is a question of luck whether or not you are dealt a good hand.
The lottery is a game of chance. If your numbers come up, you are lucky and if they don't, you're unlucky. Try your luck next time!
I was looking for a person to fix my car and, by chance, a flyer arrived through my door from a local mechanic. That was lucky!

Your answer is really helpful, Emsr. But I think the sentence is redundant, isn't it. "Bump into" has the connotation of "accidentally, unplanned and without pre-arrangement", right?

 

[magimagicE]

Hi,

Here is a question quoted from the test TEM4 (Test for English Major):

Victoria bumped into her brother quite by chance in the supermarket. The underlined word means:

a)risk
b)opportunity
c)possibility
d)luck

I chose C but the answer is D, why?

Bumped into defines an event that has occurred. By luck implies that this event occurred by some strange phenomenon that is in your favour.

The possibility of them bumping into each other does not define an event that has occurred.

Hence, D is the nearest correct answer.

 

[SoothingDave]

There is always the possibility of bumping into someone in the supermarket but when we say "by chance" we mean accidentally, unplanned, without pre-arrangement. For me, none of the four choices really imply the same thing but of course you have to use one, and the word "luck" comes closest to "chance".

Poker is a game of chance. It is a question of luck whether or not you are dealt a good hand.
The lottery is a game of chance. If your numbers come up, you are lucky and if they don't, you're unlucky. Try your luck next time!
I was looking for a person to fix my car and, by chance, a flyer arrived through my door from a local mechanic. That was lucky!

There is an element of luck in poker, but there are other elements of the game that involve skill.