Fill in the blank with the correct preposition: The maestro's son has no taste _________ music.

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: in

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question tests your knowledge of common English prepositional collocations. Certain nouns, verbs, and adjectives are regularly followed by fixed prepositions, and using the wrong one makes a sentence sound unnatural or incorrect. Here the phrase no taste _________ music must be completed with the correct preposition used in standard English.


Given Data / Assumptions:
- Sentence: The maestro's son has no taste _________ music. - Options: about, with, in, to. - A maestro is a master musician, so music is the relevant field. - The phrase no taste refers to lack of liking or appreciation.


Concept / Approach:
In idiomatic English, we say have a taste in something to refer to a person's liking or preference in a particular area, such as taste in music, taste in clothes, or taste in books. The fixed preposition with taste in this sense is in, not about, with, or to. Therefore the correct expression is no taste in music.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the collocation have taste in, which describes preferences in an art form or style. Step 2: Recognise that the sentence describes the maestro's son lacking such preference. Step 3: Insert in to form the phrase no taste in music. Step 4: Test alternatives: no taste about music, no taste with music, and no taste to music all sound unnatural and are not standard collocations. Step 5: Confirm that music matches the pattern used in common phrases like good taste in music or bad taste in music.


Verification / Alternative check:
Look at other examples: She has excellent taste in art. They have strange taste in movies. He has no taste in clothes. In every case, the preposition after taste is in when we refer to preferences. Substituting other prepositions would be clearly wrong to a native speaker. This confirms that the sentence must read The maestro's son has no taste in music.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
About is used with verbs like talk about or know about, but not with taste to express preference. With can follow taste in structures like taste with salt, but that refers to flavour, not preference. To is used in phrases like taste to me, but again this refers to flavour, not choice in music or art.


Common Pitfalls:
Many learners overgeneralise prepositions such as about or with, using them after too many nouns. Another pitfall is translating directly from the mother tongue, which may use a different preposition. To avoid such errors, it is important to memorise common collocations like taste in music, interest in politics, and skill in languages.


Final Answer:
The correct collocation is taste in music, so the answer is in.

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