单选题 As far as the rank of position is concerned, an associate professor is ______ to a professor, though they are almost equally knowledgeable.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题A项意为“附属的”；B项意为“辅助的、附属的、补充的”；C项意为“先前的、在前的”；D项意为“地位较低的、较差的”常与介词to连用；根据题意和句子结构，答案为D。句意是：虽然教授和副教授在知识上几乎不相上下，但就职务等级而言，副教授低于教授。