Exercise: Deferred prepositions
Prepositions usually come before their noun (or pronoun): after the war, people with money, look after this, we talked about my problems. But sometimes they are 'deferred', that is, they come after their noun or pronoun:
They are looked after, What did you talk about?
Complete the sentences below with suitable prepositions. Example. John is afraid OF spiders. Then practise using prepositions after their complements by asking what-questions about John's brother Andrew. Example: WHAT TS ANDREW AFRAID OF?
1 John is very interested ..............all sorts of sport
2 He's good ............ athletics.
3 He's keen .............. football.
4 He worries .............. his progress
5 He had to contend ............... a back injury last season
6 He is currently suffering ....................... exhaustion.
7 He's hoping .................. an improvement in his game.
8 He is fond ................ tennis.
9 He objects ................ the commercialization of the game.
10 But he believes .................. sponsorship.
11 He depends ............... help from his family.
12 He longs ................. the day when he can turn professional.
Complex prepositions (ORG 9.2.2)
Most prepositions consist of just one word (at, in, without) but there are also complex prepositions consisting of two or more words: because of, in addition to, by means of.
Exercise: Two-word prepositions
Use the words from the first list (once each) plus a word from the second list to make complex prepositions, and then use them to complete the passage.
according
along
apart
as
because
contrary
except
instead
irrespective
out
prior
thanks
for - from - of - to - with
Is global warming a serious problem?
(1) ACCORDTNG TO a recent report, there may be no need to worry about 'global
warming'. (2) ................. the popular belief that (3) ...................... rising
temperatures, the polar icecaps are about to melt, flooding vast areas of the world,
it is now estimated that (4).................. the west Antarctic ice sheet, the world's
ice sheets are safe.
Even if the earth warmed up by 6_C, it would take 10,000 years to melt the
Greenland icecap. (5) .....................the east Antarctic, that would need
temperatures to rise by 20_C before it melted.
Quite (6) ...................... these estimates, there is another more startling
prediction. This is that (7) ................ getting warmer, the world may actually
be getting cooler. (8) .................. to our own century, there was a Little Ice Age,
that lasted intermittently from the sixteenth century. The cause was reduced solar
radiation - less heat came (9) ........................ the sum.
Many astronomers - ( 10) ........................ other scientists - believe that something
similar could happen again. The twenty-first century, (11) .................... changes
in the sun, may be colder than the twentieth. So, (12) .................... where you
live, you may soon be needing warmer clothes.
Exercise 87 Three-word prepositions
Can you complete these sentences as they were originally written? Use the following three-word prepositions:
in case of - in spite of - in comparison with - in touch with - by means of - by way of - on behalf of - on account of - for the sake of - in exchange for - in addition to - with reference to
1 IN CASE OF fire, break the glass.
2 Dear Sir, .....................your query of 24 September, my daughter will not be
accompanying me, as she is currently in her third year at university.
3 It is particularly ..................., this part of my experience, which I take to be
relevant to the work, that I am applying for the position.
4 I should like to point out that ...................... this experience, I also have the
necessary paper qualifications.
5 It hardly seems worth while sacrificing so much that is exciting or amusing
.................. what is dull, indecisive and boring.
6 The division into older and newer parts is made largely ................ .. clarity,
and does not imply actual chronological succession.
7 If ..................... all your precautions you do have a burst pipe, it is safest to
get a plumber in immediately.
8 The disadvantages are really quite small ............................. the very real
advantages.
9 Do not hesitate to get ........................ us if you have any problems.
10 We aim to inform, educate, publicize, demonstrate and advance the aims of the
Association ...............................exhibitions, lectures, films and meetings.
11 I enclose a copy of my CV ...................... application.
12 We act .................. the above company, which has consulted us on various
matters involving you and our client.
Exercise: Prepositions mainly of place and time
Complete the following using suitable prepositions.
the Rails
A $299 rail ticket took Ted Botha (I ) ................ a six-week tour (2) ............... America
Doug, (3) ..................... Goshum, Indiana, could have been a character (4)
............... the book (5) ..................his side. It was a novel called Chili Dawgs
Don't Bark (6) .................. Night. He was a parks and recreation expert (7)
............... his way (8) ................ a conference (9) ................ Phoenix,
Arizona.
He had brought (10) .................. him countless brochures (I I) ................ the
places we were going to pass (12) ................. We met ( 13) ................ the two
days it took the Southwest Chief to go ( 14)............. Chicago(15)..................
Los Angeles.
Doug only had four days to reach Phoenix, attend the conference and return
home, but he loved travelling (16) ...............train. My journey was less hurried,
more extensive. (17) ................... $299 I'd bought one (18) ...................
Amtrack's tickets that allowed you to spend six weeks cries-crossing the country.
You could cover, as I did, 7,721 miles (19) ..................... leaving the country.
I had begun my journey (20) .............. Penn Station (21)................. New
York (22) .................. a warm day (23) ..................September.
We passed places (24) .................... Sugar Creek, Missouri, where Jesse James
had his headquarters, and Maxwell, New Mexico, named(25) ...............
Lucien B Maxwell, a famous hunter and trapper.
Most places were indistinguishable (26)............... one another. (27)
............... the absence (28) ................. much to do, food became important.
Hours were determined (29)................. meals. The last call (30)......................
breakfast had hardly been made when the first lunch call went up.
In (31)................. meals, there were video showings (32)............... the
lounge car. It was strange watching a video (33) ................. 65 mph. You never
knew whether to watch the story (34) .................. screen or the one unfolding
(35) .............. the window.
(36) .............. the time we reached Albuquerque it was mid morning. Gary,
a Navajo joined us. He told us (37) ................ the Indian reservations, and
pointed out a plant which is used (38) .............. medicinal purposes, and the
snakeweed, used (39) ............... an antidote (40) ............ snakebite (41)
............... sheep.
People got on (42) ............. stations (43) ............ the middle (44)
................. of nowhere, (45) .......... papers tucked (46) ........... their
arms. There was a huge T-shirted father (47) ................ huge arms who carTied
his two sons everywhere he went. There was an old lady whose aunt had fallen
(48) .............. a ladder and ever (49) ................. then couldn't remember
anyone's name (50) .................. her brother's. And then of course there was
Doug.
Prepositional phrases
Rewrite the sentences below by using the right preposition + the word indicated. In some cases you will need to make other changes. If necessary, consult a dictionary.
Example: I realized immediately that something was wrong. (once)
Answer: I realized at once that something was wrong.
1 I don't know them to speak to, (though I've seen them). (sight)
2 He never arrives punctually. (time)
3 But on this single occasion he did. (once)
4 Their children seem quite uncontrollable. (hand)
5 What I want more than anything is peace and quiet. (all)
6 I think you are partly right. (point)
7 I didn't mean to break it. (purpose)
8 What are you doing these days? (present)
9 I'm not doing anything special this evening. (particular)
10 I'll be with you very soon. (minute)
11 No way. It just cannot even be considered. (question).
12 We must allow for the fact that he's very old now. (all)
13 Everything is neat and tidy and ready. (order)
14 Incidentally, have you seen Andrew lately? (way)
15 If you go on trying, you'll manage eventually. (end)
Nouns + prepositions
Certain nouns are almost always followed by the same one or two prepositions. Fill in the gaps here with the right ones. If necessary, consult a dictionary.
The Research Defence Society say that the (I) case FOR using animals in medical
research is overwhelming, and that such (2) experiments ............. animals
make an important (3) contribution .................. the relief of suffering.
But there are of course (4) arguments ................. such research, and there is
fierce (5) opposition ................. it from various animal rights croups, who say
there is no possible (6) just)fication ..................... inflicting pain on animals. They
maintain that there must be (7) alternatives ............ such methods, and that
(8) cures ............ human diseases should be sought elsewhere. Their (9) anger
........ what they regard as deliberate cruelty and their (10) sympathy
.......... the animal kingdom is commendable, but in the more extreme
activists this is accompanied by an almost total (11) disregard ............ their
fellow human beings.
There have been numerous (12) attacks ............. universities and research
laboratories involved, and people thought to have a (13) connection ...............
the work have been singled out for attacks.
Animal rights campaigners have also targeted fur shops - so succesfully that
falling fur sales have had a devastating (14) impact ............. communities,
such as the seal hunters of northern Canada, whose (15) dependence ...............
the fur trade was their main source of livelihood.
In so far as animal rights campaigners have raised our (16) awareness ...............
the moral issues involved in our (17) dealings ................ animals, well and
good. There should be no (18 ) quarrel ............... that. But there is no (19) excuse
............... the violence and the (20) threats ............... human life which we
have seen. The people responsible must not be allowed any (21 ) escape ...............
the (22) consequences ............ their actions.
Putting prepositional phrases in the right place
Prepositional phrases have various functions in a sentence. Sometimes a
prepositional phrase is adverbial:
He is going to plant a tree in the front garden. [This tells us where he is going to plant a tree.]
Sometimes it follows a noun phrase, and is rather like a relative clause:
The tree in the front garden is two hundred years old.
So there are sometimes problems if a prepositional phrase gets separated
from the word(s) it really belongs to.
Think about the prepositional phrases underlined in the following authentic newspaper reports, and move them or rewrite the sentences - to bring out the probable meanings.
Example: The man accused of the 'bodies in the car' murders confessed to killing his girlfriend and her flat-mate while in prison awaiting trial, the court heard yesterday.
Answer: The man accused of the 'bodies in the car' murders confessed, while in prison awaiting trial, that he had killed his girlfriend and her flat-mate.
Or: While in prison awaiting trial, the man ...
[The meaning must be that he confessed, rather than killed, while he was in prison. So the original sentence reads awkwardly.]
I Since then there have been no reports of the growing tension in the official media, although the new China News Agency quoted the head of Nanking's Hehai university yesterday as calling on foreign students to return to class.
2 An earlier report that he had seen Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy kidnapped in January 1987, was described as a misunderstanding by Lambeth Palace. [news item, 1990. Lambeth Palace is the Archbishop's London home. Terry Waite was freed in 1991.]
3 The third [man], a nephew of the Senator, has not made himself available on the advice of his lawyer.
4 He was forced to abandon his attempt to be the first person to sail the Atlantic both ways on Monday afternoon.
5 Detectives arrested the girl's father after watching the Pennsylvania flat he had rented for two days.
6 Advice to backache sufferers: Don't pick up heavy weights like groceries or children with straight legs. [you will have to rewrite this completely]