Thanks all for the very helpful input.
I am not surprised that the terminology in the question is considered obsolete. I am using a current textbook, but also digging through some random questions from a question bank that I am told is the vintage that will be used for the exams in my jurisdiction.
I am using the questions as a learning vehicle - converting any I don't get into a mini project - doing a bit of research and writing-out a detailed description. That seems to be working well for me in solidifying my understanding, but this question had me stumped. Thanks all for helping me to grasp the bigger picture.
This prompts me to introduce some major thread drift...in this process I have done a lot of work on NDBs and VORs, there seems much interest in the questioners about interpreting instrument readings and using them to orient yourself. Reasonable enough priority I guess (even in these days of GPS?!), but I must say, I still don't get how it is that a much more sophisticated VOR is actually so much more useable/useful than a simple NDB! To my simple mind, the NDB is exactly like a lighthouse or other feature that sailors typically use for close-in pilotage, you just keep it on one particular bearing, and travel down that bearing until something else happens - eg another thing starts to bear on a value >x degrees. This works brilliantly because, as long as you have done your prep work properly, you don't need to know exactly where you are at any given moment, just that you are somewhere along a safe line.
My question is (other than the simple differences in accuracy) how is knowing the bearing of an NDB any worse/different from knowing which VOR radial you are on?