ICAR AIEEA PG Agri-Business Management 14 July 2023 (Shift 1) Paper

The noun 'habit' takes the preposition 'of' followed by a gerund (-ing form), not an infinitive: 'the habit of doing something'. Therefore, the correct phrasal construction is 'the habit of reading books'.

Option analysis:

• To reading: Ungrammatical preposition-gerund combination with habit.
• Of reading: Correct standard prepositional complementation for habit ('habit of reading').
• Of reading the: Adds unnecessary definite article before general plural noun 'books'.
• No improvement needed: 'habit to read' is ungrammatical.

The adjective 'nostalgic' collocated with an object of sentiment or longing takes the preposition 'about' (e.g., 'nostalgic about the past', 'nostalgic about his childhood') or 'for'. It never takes 'with'. Therefore, 'about his' is the correct substitution.

Option analysis:

• To his: Incorrect preposition.
• At his: Incorrect preposition.
• About his: Correct prepositional collocation with nostalgic.
• No improvement needed: 'Nostalgic with' is ungrammatical.

When the noun 'must' (meaning an essential requirement or necessity) is used to express a functional purpose, it idiomatically governs the preposition 'for' followed by a gerund: 'a must for doing something' ('patience is a must for solving all the problems').

Option analysis:

• To solving: Ungrammatical structure.
• Solving: Missing required linking preposition.
• For solving: Correct idiomatic prepositional phrase indicating purpose.
• No improvement needed: Suboptimal phrasing compared to 'for solving'.