Question

Fill in the blank-The young man said that he had no desire for riches.

Answer 1

Step 1 — Analyze the sentence:
The sentence is: The young man said that he had no desire for riches.
Here, the key phrase in focus is “desire for,” which expresses what someone wants or longs for.

Step 2 — Grammar point:
In English, the correct prepositional usage is “desire for + noun” when we talk about wishing or craving something.
Example:
- She has a strong desire for knowledge.
- He felt no desire for luxury.

Step 3 — Apply to the sentence:
The sentence correctly uses the structure: no desire for riches.

Step 4 — Conclude:
Thus, the correct usage in the blank is desire for.

Answer: The correct answer is Desire for.

Answer 2

This can be solved by comparing the two possible structures that follow the word "desire" and checking which one is used with an abstract noun such as riches.

1. Structure with infinitive: "Desire to" is followed by a verb, as in "a desire to succeed," which describes wanting to perform an action, not wanting a thing.
2. Structure with "of": "Desire of" is not the standard collocation in modern English and sounds outdated or incorrect in this context.
3. Structure with "for": "Desire for" is followed directly by a noun describing the object wanted, as in "a desire for knowledge" or "a desire for riches," matching the sentence exactly.

Comparing the possible structures shows that only "desire for" correctly pairs the noun "desire" with an object noun such as riches.

Hence, the correct answer is Desire for.