(i) It has been raining __________ two hours. (ii) He just scraped __________ his examination. (iii) Mrs. Kapoor was bent __________ attending the meeting. (iv) She is proud and looks __________ on her colleagues. (v) Rahul plays football __________ his grandfather. (vi) The mother was sitting __________ the sick child all night. (vii) Monica is leaning __________ the wall. (viii) Rosie is very good __________ art and craft.

(i) for (ii) through (iii) upon (iv) down (v) with (vi) beside (vii) against (viii) at

HOW THE 4 MARKS ARE AWARDED: half a mark per blank.

Blank by blank, with the rule behind each: (i) FOR two hours — use FOR with a DURATION and SINCE with a POINT in time. "For two hours", "since Monday". The present perfect continuous requires one of the two. (ii) scraped THROUGH — the phrasal verb meaning to pass by the narrowest margin. Compare "scrape by" (manage with difficulty). (iii) bent UPON — fixed idiom meaning determined to do something. "Bent on" is equally acceptable. (iv) looks DOWN on — the phrasal verb meaning to regard as inferior. Learn the pair together: look DOWN ON (despise), look UP TO (admire). (v) WITH his grandfather — accompaniment. Note that AGAINST would reverse the sense entirely, making the grandfather the opponent rather than the partner. (vi) BESIDE the child — meaning next to. Distinguish carefully: BESIDE means alongside; BESIDES means in addition to. One letter, two different words. (vii) leaning AGAINST the wall — resting on it for support. "On" would mean lying on top of it. (viii) good AT — fixed collocation for skill. Compare: good AT mathematics (skilled), good FOR you (beneficial), good TO me (kind). Three prepositions, three different meanings.