Prepositions - on / at / by / with / about

Question 1

On
     on holiday
     on television
     on the radio
     on the phone
     on fire
     on time (= not late)

Answer 1

…Jane isn’t at work this week. She’s on holiday.
…We watched the news on TV.
…We listened to the news on the radio.
…I spoke to Rachel on the phone last night.
…The house is on fire! Call the fire brigade.
…‘Was the train late?’ ‘No, it was on time.’

Question 2

At
    at (the age of) 21 
    at 50 kilometres an hour
    at 100 degrees
     etc.

Answer 2

…Lisa got married at 21. (or… at the age of 21.)
…A car uses more petrol at 120 kilometres an hour than at 90.
…Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius

Question 3

* By
     by car
     by bus
     by plane
     by bike
     etc.

• a book by … / a painting by … / a piece of music
  by … etc.
• by after the passive

Answer 3

…Do you like travelling by train?
…Jane usually goes to work by bike.

BUT→ on foot
…You can’t get there by car. You have to
go ON foot. (= you have to walk)

…Have you read any books by Charles
Dickens?
…Who is that painting by? Picasso?

…I was bitten by a dog

Question 4

• with/without

* a man with a beard / a woman with glasses etc.

Answer 4

…Did you stay at a hotel or with friends?
…Wait for me. Please don’t go without me.
…Do you like your coffee with or without milk?
…I cut the paper with a pair of scissors

…Do you know that man with the beard?
…I’d like to have a house with a big garden

Question 5

• about
  → talk/speak/think/hear/know about …→ a book / a question / a programme / information (etc.) about …

Answer 5

…Some people talk about their work all the time.
…I don’t know much about cars.

…There was a programme about volcanoes on TV last night.Did you see it?