(a) My best friend, John is named __________ his grandfather. (b) A grey mist hung __________ the fields. (c) The little girl spoke __________ against the bully. (d) They accused him __________ theft. (e) The police got the fire __________ control. (f) There is a bridge __________ the river. (g) The driver jumped __________ the car. (h) I have not seen my uncle __________ last summer.

(a) after (b) over (c) out (spoke out against) (d) of (e) under (f) across (or: over) (g) out of (h) since

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

These are not guesses — most are FIXED COLLOCATIONS that must be learnt as whole phrases: (a) named AFTER someone — given the same name as. Not "named on" or "named by". (b) hung OVER the fields — above and covering. "On" would mean touching. (c) spoke OUT against — the phrasal verb meaning to protest publicly. Note the sentence already contains "against", so the blank needs the particle that completes the phrasal verb. (d) accused OF — fixed. Compare: charged WITH, blamed FOR, suspected OF. These four are examined constantly and must be memorised as a set. (e) UNDER control — fixed. Compare: out of control. (f) a bridge ACROSS the river — from one side to the other. "Over" is also accepted. (g) jumped OUT OF the car — from inside to outside. "Off" would suit a wall, not an enclosed space; "into" reverses the meaning. (h) SINCE last summer — use SINCE with a point in time (since Monday, since 2019) and FOR with a duration (for two years). The present perfect "have not seen" requires one of the two.

STUDY METHOD: do not learn prepositions in the abstract. Learn the verb and its preposition together as one unit — accused of, named after, under control — because that is how they are tested.