From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each…

Analyze the question

The sentence is: "I didn't tell my parents about the trip because they would be ____ themselves with worry."

This tests idioms with prepositions. We need the phrase that means "extremely worried or upset."

Explain the concept

The idiom is "beside oneself" (with an emotion such as worry, anger, grief or joy). It means to be so overcome by strong emotion that you lose self-control.

Examples:

• She was beside herself with grief.
• The fans were beside themselves with joy.

Check each option

• A. at themselves with worry: not an English idiom.
• B. upon themselves with worry: not an idiom either. "Upon" does not fit this structure.
• C. within themselves with worry: "within oneself" means inwardly, as in "he kept it within himself," but it does not work with "with worry."
• D. beside themselves with worry: correct. It gives the meaning "extremely worried."

Solution

"...because they would be beside themselves with worry."

Tip

When you see "____ oneself with + emotion," think "beside oneself with". Picture a person so overwhelmed that they are standing beside their own body. It is a common WASSCE and JAMB idiom, so add it to your list of preposition idioms.