Multiple choice

Directions: This question presents a sentence, all or part of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is the best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose any one of the others.

Henry found himself behind the scenes of a theatre, and instantly begins to experience all the complex emotions which come to the layman in that situation.

  1. instantly begins to experience

  2. instantly had begun to experience

  3. instantly would begin to experience

  4. instantly began to experience

  5. instantly could begin to experience

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Explanation for (1): The tense in the underlined part has to be consistent with the non-underlined part (simple past).

Explanation for (2): The tense in the underlined part has to be consistent with the non-underlined part (simple past). There is no reason to use the past perfect.

Explanation for (3): The tense in the underlined part has to be consistent with the non-underlined part (simple past). 'Would' is as inconsistent as the auxiliary used in the given sentence,
Explanation for (4): Only this option uses the required simple past tense. All the other options change the tense. Explanation for (5): The option changes the meaning of the sentence.