Question

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

One day we saw Kala Nag. The monsoons had burst with all their fury, and it had rained in the night. The earth, which had lain parched and dry under the withering heat of the summer sun, was teeming ____1___ life. In little pools, frogs croaked. The muddy ground was littered with ____2___ worms, centipedes and velvety lady-birds. Grass ____3____ begun to show and the banana leaves glistened bright and glossy green. The _____4___ had flooded Kala Nag’s hole. He sat in an open patch on the lawn. His shiny black hood glistened in the sunlight. He was big, almost six feet in _____5____ and rounded and fleshy, as my wrist. “Looks like a King Cobra. Let’s get him."

• A. was
• B. will
• C. had
• D. is

Answer 1

Answer:

C. had

Tense Consistency: The entire passage is written in the Past Perfect and Simple Past tenses (e.g., "monsoons had burst", "it had rained", "earth had lain"). Grammar Structure: The sentence uses the past participle "begun" (the three forms of the verb are: Begin - Began - Begun). To form the Past Perfect tense, we use had + past participle. Therefore, "had begun" is grammatically correct. Why others are incorrect: * Was (A): "Was" is used with the "-ing" form (was beginning) for continuous action, or in passive voice. "Was begun" would imply someone else started the grass, which doesn't fit here. Will (B): This is future tense, which contradicts the past tense narrative. Is (D): This is present tense, which also contradicts the past tense narrative.