Children are not allowed in the park … dark.

Analyze the question The sentence is: "Children are not allowed in the park ...... dark." We need the preposition that correctly completes the time expression with "dark."

Explain the concept Prepositions of time go with specific words. With "dark," the standard English collocations are:

• after dark means after night has fallen
• before dark means before night falls
• at dusk / at night are fixed phrases, but "at dark" is not idiomatic

Note that "in the dark" does exist, but it needs the article "the" and means "without light" or "without knowledge." It does not fit here because the gap has no "the" after it.

Step-by-step solution

1. A. "at dark": this is not a standard English expression, so it is wrong.
2. B. "over dark": this makes no sense in this context, so it is wrong.
3. C. "after dark": this is a correct idiom meaning "once night has fallen." The sentence reads "Children are not allowed in the park after dark," which is natural and logical, because parks are often considered unsafe for children at night.
4. D. "in dark": this is ungrammatical without "the," and it would also change the meaning, so it is wrong.

Answer: The correct option is C. after.

Exam tip Memorize the common time idioms: after dark, before dawn, at night, by day, at noon, in the morning. In JAMB English, these fixed phrases are tested often. If an option sounds unnatural when you read it aloud, it is probably wrong.