Complete the sentence: I was never very good __ skiing as a child.

Complete the sentence: I was never very good __ skiing as a child.

• A. In
• B. At
• C. On
• D. For

Answer: (B)

This sentence tests how we talk about being skilled at an activity. When you mean you have skill in an activity, the natural collocation is good at plus the activity, or a gerund form of the verb. Here skiing is the activity, expressed as a gerund, and the natural preposition to pair with it is at. So the sentence sounds natural as “I was never very good at skiing as a child.” Using the other prepositions doesn’t fit this idea. In skiing isn’t the common way to express personal skill in a sport or activity, on skiing misreads the relationship, and for skiing would suggest something about suitability or purpose rather than ability.

This sentence tests how we talk about being skilled at an activity. When you mean you have skill in an activity, the natural collocation is good at plus the activity, or a gerund form of the verb. Here skiing is the activity, expressed as a gerund, and the natural preposition to pair with it is at. So the sentence sounds natural as “I was never very good at skiing as a child.”

Using the other prepositions doesn’t fit this idea. In skiing isn’t the common way to express personal skill in a sport or activity, on skiing misreads the relationship, and for skiing would suggest something about suitability or purpose rather than ability.