Question with-r

3.2 Form, Structure, and Sense - Consistent tone and style
0:00

With residents from Mexico, China, El Salvador, and many other countries, Los Angeles has long been a city of cultural diversity. Even back in the 1860s, nearly 30% of the city’s population blank from outside the United States.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A.

is being

B.

was

C.

is

D.

will be

With residents from Mexico, China, El Salvador, and many other countries, Los Angeles has long been

Medium-difficulty · SAT Reading & Writing · Form, Structure, and Sense — Consistent tone and style. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.

Answer explanation

Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense in a sentence. In this choice, the past tense verb "was," used in conjunction with the prepositional phrase "from outside the United States," correctly indies that in the 1860s nearly 30% of the population in Los Angeles wasn’t from the US.

Choice A is incorrect because the present progressive tense verb "is being" doesn’t indie that the claim about Los Angeles’s population refers to the population back in the 1860s. Choice C is incorrect because the present tense verb "is" doesn’t indie that the claim about Los Angeles’s population refers to the population back in the 1860s. Choice D is incorrect because the future tense verb "will be" doesn’t indie that the claim about Los Angeles’s population refers to the population back in the 1860s.