Fill in the Blanks

'In' correctly indicates the time duration needed to complete a past action. 'In two hours' means he completed the eight-mile walk within two hours. 'For' would suggest the walking continued for two hours (not completion), 'at' shows specific time, 'by' means before, and 'with' doesn't express duration.

The preposition 'by' indicates a deadline or time limit. 'I will reach home by nine o' clock' means the speaker will arrive at or before 9:00. 'After' would mean arriving later than 9:00, 'for' suggests purpose, 'with' indicates accompaniment, and 'from' shows origin - none of which fit the temporal context.

'With' here means 'despite' or 'along with' - accepting someone including their flaws. 'I love her with all her faults' means loving her completely, faults included. 'For' would imply loving BECAUSE of the faults (illogical), 'by' and 'from' don't convey this inclusive acceptance meaning.

'For' is the correct preposition to indicate duration of time. 'He worked in this school for five years' specifies the length of employment. 'By' indicates deadline, 'after' shows sequence, 'with' shows accompaniment, and 'from' indicates origin - none express time duration.

'In' is the correct preposition for parts of the day. 'In the morning' is standard usage. 'At' is used with specific times (at 8:00 AM), 'for' shows duration, 'by' indicates deadline, and 'from' shows origin - none fit with 'the morning'.

Though 'useful' begins with a vowel letter 'u', it starts with a consonant sound /juː/ (like 'you'). Therefore, 'a useful metal' is correct. Articles are determined by sound, not spelling. 'An' would be incorrect here because the initial sound is consonantal.

'Honorable' begins with a vowel sound /ɒ/ (like 'ah'), even though it starts with 'h'. The 'h' is silent, so 'an honorable man' is correct. This follows the rule that articles are based on pronunciation, not spelling. 'A honorable' would be incorrect.

'Able' begins with a vowel sound /eɪ/, so 'An able man' is grammatically correct. The article choice depends on the initial sound, not the first letter. The construction means 'a man who is capable' and follows standard article rules.

When describing a city as one of many with a characteristic, we use the indefinite article. 'Banaras is a holy city' is correct because there are many holy cities in the world. 'The holy city' would suggest Banaras is the ONLY holy city, which isn't true (Mecca, Jerusalem, etc.).

'The truth' is the correct idiomatic expression. Truth is treated as a definite abstract noun here - the concept of truth as a singular, universal quality. 'A truth' would mean one particular truth among many (like 'a little white lie'), but the context means truthfulness as a virtue.

'The' is used here because the speaker likely points to a specific sky visible to both people. 'THE blue sky' refers to the particular sky being observed at that moment. While 'A blue sky' could work in generic contexts, 'the' fits when pointing out or referencing the sky present in the shared situation.

'Young' begins with a consonant sound /j/, so 'a young Parsee' is correct. 'Parsee' (also spelled Parsi) refers to a Zoroastrian of Persian descent in India. The article follows the standard rule: consonant sound gets 'a', vowel sound gets 'an'.

Use 'a' before words beginning with consonant sounds. 'Magical' starts with the consonant sound /m/, not a vowel sound, so 'a' is correct.

'Happy' begins with the consonant sound /h/, so it takes the article 'a'. The sentence describes a general, non-specific place, not a particular one.