Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
1By the time the journal issue went to press, the author ............... the final paragraph twice to soften the claim.
Wrong!
The past perfect "had revised" shows that the revisions happened before the issue went to press.
2In the introduction, she writes as if the debate ............... settled, but the footnotes tell a different story.
Wrong!
The past form "was" presents the debate as supposedly settled in the writer's current description.
3For months, the committee ............... the same wording, which is why the policy still reads oddly.
Wrong!
The present perfect continuous "has been debating" shows activity continuing up to the present.
4Hardly ............... the keynote begun when the live transcript started misquoting him.
Wrong!
After "Hardly," the inverted past perfect uses "had" before the subject and past participle.
5The report claims the figures ............... independently verified, yet no methodology is provided.
Wrong!
The present perfect passive "have been" fits a claimed completed action with present relevance.
6I ............... the draft by tonight, but the argument still needs tightening before submission.
Wrong!
The future perfect "will have finished" shows completion before the deadline tonight.
7At the time of the interview, she ............... the monograph for nearly a decade, so the hesitation was telling.
Wrong!
The past perfect continuous "had been writing" shows an activity continuing up to a past point.
8If the editor ............... earlier, the ambiguity would not have slipped through peer review.
Wrong!
In this third conditional, "had intervened" belongs in the if-clause.
9The author ............... that the term is neutral, but the corpus evidence suggests otherwise.
Wrong!
The present simple "argues" describes the author's current claim in the text.
10Until the retraction, few readers ............... how heavily the conclusion depended on one dataset.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Both "realised" and "had realised" are acceptable before the past reference point "the retraction."
11This is the third time the publisher ............... the style guide in as many years.
Wrong!
With "This is the third time," the present perfect "has updated" counts events up to now.
12By the end of the seminar, we ............... the same objection from three different disciplines.
Select 2 answers.
Wrong!
Both "had heard" and "heard" can describe what was completed by the seminar's end.
Done.
Score: 0/12
Answers
- By the time the journal issue went to press, the author had revised the final paragraph twice to soften the claim.
- In the introduction, she writes as if the debate was settled, but the footnotes tell a different story.
- For months, the committee has been debating the same wording, which is why the policy still reads oddly.
- Hardly had the keynote begun when the live transcript started misquoting him.
- The report claims the figures have been independently verified, yet no methodology is provided.
- I will have finished the draft by tonight, but the argument still needs tightening before submission.
- At the time of the interview, she had been writing the monograph for nearly a decade, so the hesitation was telling.
- If the editor had intervened earlier, the ambiguity would not have slipped through peer review.
- The author argues that the term is neutral, but the corpus evidence suggests otherwise.
- Until the retraction, few readers realised / had realised how heavily the conclusion depended on one dataset.
- This is the third time the publisher has updated the style guide in as many years.
- By the end of the seminar, we had heard / heard the same objection from three different disciplines.
