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 years ago, but the footnotes tell a different story.
Wrong!
After "as if", the past perfect "had been" presents a past event as unreal: the footnotes show the debate was never settled.
3For months now, the committee ............... the same wording, which is why the policy still hasn't been finalised.
Wrong!
The present perfect continuous "has been debating" with "for months now" 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" (plural, to agree with "figures") fits a claimed completed action with present relevance.
6By the time you get back tonight, I ............... the draft, but the argument will still need tightening before submission.
Wrong!
The future perfect "will have finished" shows completion before a future point (when you get back 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.
Wrong!
After "By the end of" + a past time, the past perfect "had heard" shows what was completed before that point.
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
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 had been settled years ago, but the footnotes tell a different story.
- For months now, the committee has been debating the same wording, which is why the policy still hasn’t been finalised.
- 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.
- By the time you get back tonight, I will have finished the draft, but the argument will still need 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 the same objection from three different disciplines.