Fill in the blank with the correct preposition.
Instead ________ talking endlessly, the speaker should come to the point now.

Correct option is D

The correct option to fill in the blank is (d) of.
Correct sentence:
Instead of talking endlessly, the speaker should come to the point now.
Explanation:
· The fixed prepositional phrase is “instead of”, which means के बजाय.
· It is always followed by a noun or gerund (-ing form).
· Here, talking is a gerund, so “of” is grammatically correct.
Why other options are incorrect:
· off – means अलग, does not form a correct phrase here.
· for – used for purpose, incorrect with instead.
· with – changes the meaning and structure incorrectly.
Information Booster:
Instead of + noun/gerund is always correct, never use a verb base form after it.