The path of progress is beset ________ difficulties.
- (a)with
- (b)by
- (c)through
- (d)along
Correct — A, 'with'. 'Beset with' is the settled pairing when what besets is a set of attendant troubles — a path beset with difficulties, a scheme beset with problems. 'The path of progress is beset with difficulties' is the fixed shape of the sentence, and it is the wording examiners expect.
- (b)by — Not unknown in modern writing, but 'by' belongs with an agent that presses in — beset by enemies, beset by creditors — and it casts the difficulties as attackers. The collocation this item wants is 'beset with difficulties'.
- (c)through — Would need a route to pass along; one goes through difficulties, but nothing is 'beset through' anything.
- (d)along — Places things beside a route rather than pressing upon it, and 'beset along' is not English.
'Beset' means to surround, hem in or trouble, and in this fixed use it takes 'with' when what surrounds is a set of difficulties.
Prepositions after verbs are learnt rather than reasoned out, and this is one of the pairings worth memorising outright. The image behind the word helps — 'beset' is 'set about', so the difficulties are set all around the path, and 'with' is the preposition English uses for what a thing is set about with, as in the old phrase 'a crown beset with jewels'. Where the choice is between 'with' and 'by', the rule of thumb is that 'by' introduces the doer of an action.
- 'Beset with difficulties' is the standard collocation.
- 'Beset' originally meant to set something about or around, as in a brooch beset with stones.
- 'By' after a passive normally introduces the agent performing the action.
- Choosing 'by' because the verb looks like an ordinary passive.
- Treating any preposition of motion as acceptable because the subject is a 'path'.
Asked as a selecting-words item — pick the word most appropriate for the blank.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill the blank — The proposal is fraught ________ risk.
- (a)by
- (b)with
- (c)of
- (d)to
Answer(b) with — 'fraught with' is the fixed pairing.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill the blank — The old crown was set ________ rubies.
- (a)with
- (b)by
- (c)for
- (d)on
Answer(a) with — what a thing is studded or adorned with takes 'with'.