Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions: His thirst ______ knowledge…
2019
Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions:
His thirst ______ knowledge left him no leisure ______ anything else.
- A.
by, by
- B.
on, on
- C.
at, at
- D.
for, for
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A preposition is governed by the noun or verb it depends on, and that pairing (its collocation) is fixed by idiom rather than by logic. When a noun expresses a desire or names a purpose, English idiom typically completes it with "for" — the preposition that points to the object of a wish or the goal an activity serves.
Application — first blank: "Thirst" here is used figuratively for a strong desire. The desired object of such a desire is introduced by "for", giving the standard idiom "a thirst for knowledge".
Application — second blank: "Leisure" means free time, and the purpose that the free time is available to serve is again introduced by "for", giving "no leisure for anything else".
Contrast: "by" marks an agent or means, "on" marks a surface, topic or date, and "at" marks a point in place or time — none of these express the desire-for / time-for relationship, so they break the idiom in both blanks.
Result: Both blanks take the same preposition, "for", so the sentence reads "His thirst for knowledge left him no leisure for anything else."