Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition:
__________ popular belief, the desert can produce crops.
a) by means of
b) as
c) contrary to
d) through

Answer 1

Hint: A preposition is a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options describe how even though there is a popular belief that the desert cannot produce crops, it is not so.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'by means of', refers to a preposition which means ‘by using (a thing).’Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as ‘by using popular belief’ does not make sense.
Option (b.), ‘as', refers to ‘as popular belief,’ which is an incomplete phrase before the comma. Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect.
Option (c.), ‘contrary to', means ‘despite’.Therefore, option (c.) is correct as ‘despite popular belief…crops’ makes complete sense as it means that even though there is a popular belief that the desert cannot produce crops, it is not so.
Option (d.), ‘through', refers to ‘by means of’, which in turn means ‘by using (a thing).’ Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as ‘by using popular belief’ does not make sense.

Note:
 In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of adverbs. An adverb is a word that modifies something other than a noun. An adverb is the word class that qualifies verbs or clauses.