Insert prepositions where necessary

1. The trustees insisted ________ seeing all the wards in the new hospital. 2. It’s no use _________ trying to make you vote in favour of our project. 3. Miss Marple was surprisingly clever _________ unraveling mysteries. 4. The Simpsons are thinking __________ selling their London flat and moving to a quiet suburb. 5. When Ken was on the point __________ quitting his job he got a promotion. 6. Everybody wondered what prevented Julia _________ coming to the party. She has always been a party animal. 7. The parents turned off the television for fear __________ waking the sleeping baby. 8. Being a self-confident man Jim saw no harm ________ admitting his mistake. 9. The candidate succeeded ________ winning the majority of votes. 10. The strange couple tried to leave the restaurant ___________ paying the bill. 11. _________ returning home Norah saw that the flat had been burgled into. 12. Neil is considering ________ buying a new flashy car. 13. Mike’s exam results discouraged him __________ studying for a more advanced degree. 14. Val apologized to the movie star __________ misquoting her words. 15. The politician could not deny __________ being involved in money-laundering. 16. Paula was never able to put up _________ failing as a business-woman.

Paraphrase using the Gerund.

Model: – The student said he was sorry that he had missed the

previous lesson. (to apologise)

– The student apologised for missing the previous lesson.

1. The customer said that the cashier had tried to overcharge her. (to accuse) 2. Fred passed his exam only at the second attempt. (to succeed) 3. If a customer gets poor service, you can’t say it’s wrong of him to make a fuss. (to blame) 4. The policeman didn’t let the suspect leave the house. (to prevent) 5. Despite the late hour Henry said he had to tell me all the details of his job interview. (to insist) 6. The police think that it was the night clerk who set the room on fire. (to suspect) 7. In the last ten years Helen has been breeding Persian cats. (to engage) 8. Robert didn’t want to be called Bobby at work. (to object) 9. We are anxious to see the new Hollywood production which is coming out in December. (to look forward) 10. Rita’s parents don’t like that she goes to night clubs so very often. (to approve)