A spoilt child is usually prone … laziness.

Analyze the question: The sentence is "A spoilt child is usually prone ____ laziness." We need the correct preposition after the adjective "prone."

Explain the concept: Some adjectives always go with a particular preposition. This is called a dependent preposition. "Prone" means likely to suffer from or do something, usually something undesirable. It is always followed by to.

Examples:

• She is prone to headaches.
• The area is prone to flooding.
• Lagos roads are prone to traffic jams.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The blank comes right after the adjective "prone."
2. "Prone" takes the preposition "to."
3. Check the other options: • for: "prone for" is not standard English. • with: "prone with" is not used. • at: "prone at" is not used (we say "good at," "bad at," but not "prone at").
4. The sentence becomes: "A spoilt child is usually prone to laziness." This is correct and makes sense.

Answer: A. to

Exam tip: Learn adjectives with their fixed prepositions in pairs, for example prone to, susceptible to, allergic to, fond of, capable of, good at, afraid of. A word like "prone" usually signals a tendency toward something negative, and "to" is the preposition that goes with it. Also note that "prone" can mean lying face down, but in that sense it is not followed by "to."