Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable preposition:
Mother Teresa had a great zeal ________ social work.

a) for
b) with
c) of
d) from

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, the word ‘zeal’ refers to a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause).
Option (a.), ‘for', refers to the relation, feeling, or emotion towards someone or something.
So, the correct answer is “Option c”. as the given sentence says that the subject had a great zeal towards social work, and thus we can use the preposition ‘for’ here.

Option (b.), 'with', refers to a preposition that means ‘in the company of; alongside, alongside of; close to; near to something/someone’.
Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as the given sentence says that 'Mother Teresa had great enthusiasm and eagerness towards social work', and not that she had the zeal alongside social work.

Option (c.), ‘of', refers to a proposition that is used to show possession.
Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as the word ‘zeal’ is not a possession of the noun ‘social work’.

Option (d.), ‘from', refers to a proposition that shows a place of someone or something’s starting point
Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as in the given sentence, the noun is social work, and one cannot start having zeal from social work.

Note: In this question, it is important for you to understand what the verb before the blank means, as well as the noun after it.
Some synonyms of ‘zeal’ are- passion, ardor, avidity, enthusiasm, eagerness.
Some synonyms of ‘social work’ are- philanthropy, welfare work.