Question

He has given up the habit to read books.

• A. To reading
• B. Of reading
• C. Of reading the
• D. No improvement needed

Hint:

Remember the standard collocation pattern:
\[ \text{Habit} + \text{of} + \text{Gerund (Verb + ing)} \]
Example: "She is in the habit of biting her nails."

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is an English grammar correction problem concerning the use of prepositional gerund phrases after specific nouns, rather than infinitive phrases.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
- In English, the noun "habit" is idiomatic when followed by the preposition "of" and a gerund (\(v\)-ing form), rather than an infinitive ("to" + verb).
- For example, "the habit of rising early" is correct, whereas "the habit to rise early" is unidiomatic.
- Therefore, "the habit to read books" should be corrected to "the habit of reading books".
- The addition of "the" in Option C ("of reading the") is unnecessary because "books" is used here in a general sense, not referring to specific books.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct option is (B) Of reading.