In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
The kitchen, as usual since Noreen had gone, (1) ______ empty. Letty put her handbag and the letters on the scrubbed wooden table and went to the stove, where a stew was (2)______. She (3)______ the lid and sniffed. Then, guiltily, she (4) ______ into the cupboard and added a pinch of salt, some cumin and corn flour, stirred, then replaced the (5)______.
The kitchen, as usual since Noreen had gone, (1) ______ empty. Letty put her handbag and the letters on the scrubbed wooden table and went to the stove, where a stew was (2)______. She (3)______ the lid and sniffed. Then, guiltily, she (4) ______ into the cupboard and added a pinch of salt, some cumin and corn flour, stirred, then replaced the (5)______.
Q1.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.
- Awill be
- Bis
- Cwere
- Dwas
Show answer
Concept: Tense consistency – the narration is in the simple past, and the subject 'The kitchen' is singular.
- The surrounding verbs are past: 'had gone', 'put', 'went'.
- A singular subject in the past takes 'was': 'The kitchen … was empty.'
- 'is' and 'will be' break the past tense; 'were' is plural.
Trick: Past narration + singular subject → was.
Answer: (D) was
अवधारणा: काल-संगति (tense consistency) – कहानी simple past में है और subject 'The kitchen' singular है।
- आसपास की क्रियाएँ past में हैं: 'had gone', 'put', 'went'।
- Singular subject के साथ past में 'was' आता है: 'The kitchen … was empty.'
- 'is' और 'will be' tense तोड़ते हैं; 'were' plural के लिए है।
ट्रिक: Past कहानी + singular subject → was
उत्तर: (D) was