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Standard English ConventionsMediumVerb tense consistency

Standard English Conventions practice question

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? Whenever the river floods, engineers open the spillway and ____ the surrounding fields.

  1. A. protected
  2. B. protectCorrect
  3. C. will protect
  4. D. had protected

Answer: B. protect

The sentence describes a habitual action in the present tense ('floods', 'open'), so the compound verb must stay in the present: 'open the spillway and protect'. 'Protected' (A) and 'had protected' (D) shift to the past, breaking parallel tense with 'open'.

Why the other answers are wrong

A. protected
The verb has to stay parallel with the present-tense 'open,' but 'protected' shifts to the past, so the two halves of the compound verb no longer match.
C. will protect
'Whenever the river floods' signals a repeated, habitual action, so the future 'will protect' clashes with the present-tense 'floods' and 'open.'
D. had protected
'Had protected' is past perfect, placing the action before another past event — but 'floods' and 'open' establish a present habitual time frame.

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