Appropriate Prepositions

1. Fill in the blanks of the following text with prepositions from the box. 0.5x8=4

Once  (a) — a time there was an honest and pious man. His name was Abu Ben Adhem. He was once sleeping peacefully. Suddenly he woke  (b) — and saw an angel. The angel was writing the names  (c) — persons who loved God. He asked the angel if his name was there.  (d) — reply the angel said that his name was not there. Abu then requested him  (e) — put his name in the list because he loved mankind and his fellow brothers. The angel took  (f) — his request and went  (g) — . He again appeared the next night and showed Abu that his name was  (h) — the top of the list.

A snake lived in a hole at the foot of a tree. High  (a) — on its branches was the nest of a crow. The crow had four young chicks in its nest. Whenever the crow would leave the nest to bring food  (b) — its chicks, the snake would climb  (c) — and eat one. In this way the snake ate up three of the chicks. The crow at last thought of a plan to get rid  (d) — its enemy. It stole an expensive necklace of the princes  (e) — the royal palace and dropped it  (f) — the snake's hole after scattering a few rubies here and there. The king became very angry  (g) — the loss and sent out men to look for the necklace. In course of time they noticed the scattered rubies  (h) — the hole. They dug the hole, killed the snake, and took the necklace.

3. Fill in the blanks of the following text with prepositions from the box. 0.5x8=4

Once there lived a beggar  (a) — a city. He could not earn much  (b) — begging. So he thought how he could add  (c) — his income. One day an idea crossed his mind. He thought that he would have more money if he pretended  (d) — be dumb. So one day he painted the word 'dumb'  (e) — a board. He hung it  (f) — his neck. Another beggar also lived in the city. He was very jealous  (g) — him. He wanted  (h) — teach him a good lesson.

Once upon a time there lived a young man named Androcles. He was caught  (a) — a slave merchant who sold him  (b) — a rich man. His master was very bad and inflicted heavy torture  (c) — him. Androcles was very home-sick. One day he fled  (d) — his master's house and took shelter  (e) — a cave. In the evening a lion entered the cave. The lion seemed wounded as it was groaning. It came  (f) — Androcles and lifted its paw. He took the lions paw in his hand and removed a big thorn  (g) — it. The lion was relived  (h) — its pain.

Once sheikh Saadi was going to Bagdad  (a) — a group of rich merchants. He had a bundle of books and some money  (b) — him. The merchants had their goods and a lot of money. They travelled  (c) — twelve days without any trouble. (d) — the thirteenth day a gang of robbers attacked them. The robbers took  (e) — all the goods and money from the merchants. Then the leader of the robbers came to Saadi. He ordered Saadi to give all he had  (f) — him. Sheikh Saadi handed him the bundle of books and also the little money he had  (g) — any fear. Saadi then said, “I hope that you will make good use  (h) — these books.”

Once there was a man named Aesop in Greece. He was famous  (a) — his fables on moral lessons. He was a slave  (b) — his early days but he was very religious minded. Once he was sold  (c) — a farmer who was lazy.  (d) — the first day Aesop found that his master did not say his morning prayer but slept  (e) — sunrise. He woke his master but he would not leave his bed. He asked Aesop to go to the held to work  (f) — him. Aesop woke his master next day too. But the master became very angry and gave him a bag  (g) — barley. He told him to go  (h) — the field and sow the seeds.

Taimur was one  (a) — the greatest conquerors  (b) — the world. Once he attacked the province  (c) — a powerful prince. He entered the kingdom  (d) — the prince and captured a large village. The village was situated far away  (e) — the capital. The prince heard the news. He came  (f) — a large army. His soldiers surrounded the village  (g) — all sides and a terrible battle took place. Taimur's soldiers were killed. Taimur disguised himself  (h) — a poor traveller. Thus he saved his life.

 Once a dog was eating a bony piece of meat  (a) — a tree. A crow saw him and wished to eat that. It flew  (b) — and after some time returned  (c) — another crow. Both the crows went  (d) — the dog. One of them started packing the dog’s tail. The dog not only felt disturbed but also became angry. The dog dropped the bone and barked (e) — the crow. In the meantime the other crow flew away  (f) — the bone. The dog ran  (g) — the crow but  (h) — vain. Thus they made him sad and helpless.

Once there lived a Sultan  (a) — a country. He wanted to appoint an honest man  (b) — his tax collector. Then he invited applications. A number of people applied  (c) — the job. So he asked  (d) — the wise counselor’s advice. The applicants were asked to meet the Sultan one  (e) — one. They came  (f) — a passage where gold coins were kept. When they all arrived the Sultan asked them  (g) — dance. All the applicants blushed and refused  (h) — one. Then he found the desired man.

Robert Bruce was the king of Scotland. He reigned  (a) — the country well and his subjects were happy  (b) — his rule. The greedy king of England attacked Scotland to grab his territory. He tried his best to uphold the independence but fortune did not smile  (c) — him. After repeated defeats, he has to take shelter in a lonely cave. There he saw a spider trying to reach the ceiling  (d) — the help of its silken thread to complete the cobweb. The spider tried again and again to go up but dropped  (e) — the cave. Bruce observed that the spider came  (f) — successful in is twentieth attempt. He saw a ray of hope from the struggle and thought that if the spider did not accept defeat, why should he? Filled  (g) — new hope he brought together his scattered forces and finally succeeded  (h) — defeating his enemies.

It relates to an incident of Hazrad Abdul Quader Jilani’s childhood. He had to go to Baghdad  (a) — receive education. Baghdad was very far  (b) — his house. Then travelling was not easy. (c) — the time of departure his mother said  (d) — him, “Never tell a lie.” He was going to Baghdad accompanied  (e) — a few merchants. A band of robbers fell  (f) — then on the way. The chief of the robbers asked Abdul Quader, “What have you got  (g) — you?” The boy replied fearlessly, “I have got twenty gold coins?” He did not tell a lie even  (h) — danger.

Marco Polo was born  (a) — 1256 in Venice. He was one of the greatest adventurous men. In 1271 he set  (b) — from Venice to China. He was then fifteen years old. He was accompanied  (c) — his father and uncle. They had travelled  (d) — land and sea. They also travelled  (e) — mountains and  (f) — deserts. Actually at that time journey was very difficult because of no speedy vehicles.  (g) — transport they had used ships, camels, horses and donkeys. It took the Polo’s  (h) — three years to reach China.

 Once there lived a cowboy in a village (a) — a deep forest. He used to tell lies  (b) — make fun. One day the boy cried  (c) — , “Tiger! Tiger! Help! Help!”The villagers rushed (d) — help him but found no tiger. The villagers became angry and went  (e) — .Some days later, the boy made the same fun and the villagers became deceivedagain. One day a tiger really came. The boy cried  (f) — help but nobody came.  (g) — last the tiger killed all the cows. The boy saved his life running  (h) — from the spot.

Once two rats found a piece of bread. They could not agree  (a) — how to divide the bread because each rat wanted the larger share than the other. At last they went to Mr. Monkey (b) — help. Mr. Monkey said that they should solve their own problem. But the rats persisted him  (c) — divide the bread. So Mr. Monkey broke the bread  (d) — two halves and put them  (e) — his scales. One part became larger and he took a bite  (f) — that part. Now the other part became larger and he took another bite  (g) — that part. Only a little piece was left and now the rats agreed to divide it themselves. But the monkey said that he would get it as fee  (h) — his work.

One day when a wood cutter was cutting wood his axe fell  (a) — a river. He made a good search but his efforts were  (b) — vain. Finally he burst  (c) — tears. Angel appeared  (d) — him with a golden axe. But the wood cutter did not accept it. The Angel disappeared and soon returned  (e) — a silver axe. The wood cutter again said that it was not his axe. The Angel once again dived  (f) — the river and came  (g) — with the wood-cutter’s axe. The poor man now said that it was his axe and thanked the Angel. She gave him all the axes  (h) — his truthful nature.

Once a cap-seller was going  (a) — a distant market. On the way, he sat  (b) — a big tree and slept  (c) — .There were many monkeys  (d) — the tree. They came  (e) — and took the caps  (f) — . Waking up, the cap-seller was shocked to see his basket empty. To his surprise, he saw the monkeys wearing them. He found that monkeys were imitating him. So, he started throwing his cap  (g) — . The monkeys also did so. The cap-seller collected all the caps, put them back in his basket and went  (h) — happily.

One day  (a) — crossing a field a fox got  (b) — a trap. At last he came  (c) — of the trap but lost his tail. He was ashamed  (d) — his loss. But he fox was very clever and wicked. He told the other foxes that the tail looks ugly. So he had cut his tail  (e) — . Some foxes agreed  (f) — cut their tails off. Then an old and wise fox said, “You didn’t cut your tail  (g) — . You lost it in a trap.” Hearing this, the fox felt ashamed and fled (h) — .

Bayazid was a good boy. Once his mother was ill. At mid night she woke  (a) — and wanted to drink water. Bayazid went to the kitchen to bring some water but found the pitcher empty. Then he went to bring water  (b) — the fountain which was far away  (c) — his house. When he came  (d) — home with water, he found his mother asleep. He didn’t want to disturb his ailing mother. So he remained standing  (e) — her the whole night. In the morning his mother got  (f) — and found Bayazid standing  (g) — her. She embraced his son  (h) — deep love and prayed to Allah for him.

Once, a Lion was sleeping (a) — his cave. A little playful mouse wakened the Lion. He placed his huge paw (b) —him and opened his big jaws (c) —swallow him. The mouse began to tremble(d) — fear and cried out, “O King! Please forgive me this time and one day I may also help you?"The Lion laughed (e) —his words. However, he felt pity and let him go. Sometime later a few hunters caught the lion(f) — their net. The lion tried and tried but could not go out. He thought he would surely die.  Just then the little Mouse was passing (g) —and saw the sad plight (h) —the Lion. He hurriedly ran up to him and cut the ropes. The lion became free. 

There lived a farmer  (a) — a village. He had a few acres of land. The lands yielded him some crops.  (b) — that he supported his family  (c) — difficulty. So he always thought how he could add  (d) — his income. One day he was walking  (e) — the fields. While walking he came  (f) — a purse of gold. He thought that it might have been dropped  (g) — a passer-by. However, he picked it  (h) — and carried it home. He showed it to his wife.

A long time ago the town of Hamlin  (a) — Germany was faced  (b) — a great problem. It became full  (c) — rats. The people of the town came to the town hall. They said to the Mayor to do something  (d) — rats. The Mayor called a meeting  (e) — the councilors. The Mayor and the councilors talked  (f) — the problem. But they could not find a way  (g) — .At that moment there was a knock  (h) — the door. The Mayor said, “Come in”. The stranger entered the hall.