Fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the word given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space. Example: He had been (0) __________ (sit) on the bank of a small irrigation canal. Answer: (0) sitting
He was (1) __________ (gaze) at a couple of herons (2) __________ (fish) in the muddy water, when he (3) __________ (feel) something bump his elbow. (4) __________ (look) around, he (5) __________ (find) at his side a little goat, jet black and soft as velvet with lovely grey eyes. Neither her owner nor her mother (6) __________ (be) around. She continued to (7) __________ (nudge) Mukesh, so he (8) __________ (look) in his pocket for nourishment.
Topic: Tenses — correct form of the verb
Answer
(1) gazing (2) fishing (3) felt (4) Looking (5) found (6) was (7) nudge (8) looked
HOW THE 4 MARKS ARE AWARDED: half a mark per blank, eight blanks, no partial credit within a blank.
Only three blanks are plain simple past. The rest are governed by grammar: (1) gazing — PAST CONTINUOUS. "He WAS" is already given, so the verb must take the -ing form to complete it. (2) fishing — a present participle describing the herons: "a couple of herons FISHING in the muddy water". (3) felt — simple past, irregular. (4) Looking — a participial phrase opening the sentence: "LOOKING around, he found...". Note the DANGLING PARTICIPLE rule — the subject that follows must be the one looking, and here it is "he". (5) found — simple past, irregular. (6) WAS — the hardest blank in the paper. The subject is "NEITHER her owner NOR her mother", and the rule is that with neither... nor the verb agrees with the NEARER subject. "Her mother" is singular, so the verb is WAS, not "were". (7) nudge — after "continued TO", the bare infinitive. Spelling unchanged. (8) looked — simple past.
THE AGREEMENT RULE FOR (6) IS WORTH MEMORISING: with neither... nor and either... or, the verb agrees with the subject NEAREST to it. "Neither the boys nor the teacher WAS present"; "neither the teacher nor the boys WERE present".