MCQHard1 mark
2(iv)
Read each sentence with its instructions. Choose the correct answer from the options provided beneath each:
The National Anthem began when I reached school. (Begin: No sooner...)
Topic: Transformation — 'no sooner'
Previous-year question practice database
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
Exam answer
(b) No sooner had I reached school than the National Anthem began..
Explanation
Three things must all be right, and each wrong option fails on one.
- THE PAIRING: "No sooner" is always completed by THAN, never by "then". THAN makes a comparison; THEN refers to time. Options (a) and (d) use "then" and are wrong for that reason alone.
- THE ORDER: "No sooner" introduces the action that happened FIRST. Reading the original, the reaching came first and the anthem followed, so "No sooner had I REACHED SCHOOL than the anthem began."
- THE TENSE: the earlier action takes the PAST PERFECT ("had reached") and the later one the simple past ("began").
Option (a) also writes "had... began" instead of "had begun" — the past perfect needs the past participle.
Learn the pair together: NO SOONER... THAN, and HARDLY/SCARCELY... WHEN.
In words
No sooner had I reached school than the National Anthem began..
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