Question

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.

One day we saw Kala Nag. The monsoons had burst with all their fury, and it had rained in the night. The earth, which had lain parched and dry under the withering heat of the summer sun, was teeming ____1___ life. In little pools, frogs croaked. The muddy ground was littered with ____2___ worms, centipedes and velvety lady-birds. Grass ____3____ begun to show and the banana leaves glistened bright and glossy green. The _____4___ had flooded Kala Nag’s hole. He sat in an open patch on the lawn. His shiny black hood glistened in the sunlight. He was big, almost six feet in _____5____ and rounded and fleshy, as my wrist. “Looks like a King Cobra. Let’s get him."

• A. before
• B. in
• C. at
• D. with

Answer 1

Answer:

D. with

The Phrasal Usage: In English, the verb "teem" is almost always followed by the preposition "with". The phrase "teeming with" means to be full of or swarming with something (usually living things). Contextual Meaning: The passage describes how the rain brought the dry earth to life. Therefore, "the earth... was teeming with life" means the ground was suddenly overflowing with insects, plants, and animals. Why others are incorrect: * Teeming in, Teeming at, or Teeming before are not standard idiomatic expressions in English and do not fit the grammatical structure of the sentence.