Your problem is asking us to divide 20 by 1/4.
To divide by fractions, you multiply the number by the reciprocal (the reciprocal is the number you multiply a number by to get 1) of the fraction.
(20)/(1/4) turns into (20/1)*(4/1).
Multiply the fractions out and you get 80/1, so your answer is 80 portions of apples.
Another way to do your problem could be to convert 1/4 to 0.25, and then compute 20/0.25 = 80.