Complete the following text with suitable prepositions:
Life of common people is beset (a)______ a number of troubles. Price spiral has added new sufferings (b)_________ our life. Indeed, price of daily commodities has gone (c)_________ the ability of the common people. Lack (d)_______ supervision is responsible (e)________ it. Some dishonest businessmen devoid (f)__________ morality hoard goods (g)________ quick profit. The Government should take punitive action (h)_______ those people. People from all walks (i)________ life should also co-operate (j)__________ the Government.
Life of common people is beset (a) by/with a number of troubles. Price spiral has added new sufferings (b) to our life. Indeed, price of daily commodities has gone (c) beyond the ability of the common people. Lack (d) of supervision is responsible (e) for it. Some dishonest businessmen devoid (f) of morality hoard goods (g) for quick profit. The Government should take punitive action (h) against those people. People from all walks (i) of life should also co-operate (j) with the Government.
In formal English, the conjunction "as" is used to introduce a clause or a phrase that indicates a comparison or the manner in which something is done. In this sentence, "as in the old days" describes how the evening was spent, implying "in the way it was done in the old days."
Conversely, "like" is primarily used as a preposition to mean "similar to" or "in the manner of," and is typically followed by a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. While "like" is often used informally in place of "as" or "as if," it is generally considered incorrect in standard written English when introducing a clause or an adverbial phrase of comparison.
For example:
Incorrect: She sings like she is a professional.
Correct: She sings as if she is a professional.
Correct: She sings like a professional. (Here, 'like' is a preposition followed by a noun phrase 'a professional'.)
Therefore, "as in the old days" is the grammatically correct and more formal choice for this context.
In English grammar, the verb 'call' can be used in several ways, and its usage dictates whether a preposition is required. When 'call' means 'to telephone someone', it functions as a transitive verb and directly takes an object without any preposition. For example, one would say "Please call Mr. Khan" to mean telephoning him.
Conversely, if 'call' is used to mean 'to pay a brief visit to someone', it typically forms a phrasal verb with the preposition 'on', as in "to call on someone". For instance, "We will call on our neighbours tomorrow."
Given the structure "Please call – Mr. Khan tomorrow morning", the most common and grammatically appropriate interpretation is that Mr. Khan should be telephoned. Therefore, no preposition is needed in the blank, and the sentence correctly reads "Please call Mr. Khan tomorrow morning."