Directions: Choose the correct form of tense to fill the blank.

Gopal ______ a magazine when his wife came.

The past continuous tense 'was reading' is required because it describes an action that was in progress when another past event occurred (wife came). Past continuous (was/were + verb-ing) shows simultaneous actions in the past. 'Read' is simple past, 'is reading' is present continuous, and 'has been reading' is present perfect continuous.