SAT Reading & Writing · Form, Structure, and Sense
By the time researchers sequenced the tumor's genome, the cancer ______ resistant to three separate rounds of chemotherapy.
By the time researchers sequenced the tumor's genome, the cancer ______ resistant to three separate rounds of chemotherapy.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: had become
Two past events occur in sequence: the cancer becoming resistant happened first, across three treatment rounds, and the genome sequencing happened afterward, revealing what had already occurred. That earlier-past-before-a-later-past relationship calls for the past perfect, had become. Becomes is present tense and breaks the past-tense narrative. Became would place both events at the same rough time, losing the sequence. Will become shifts to future tense, inconsistent with a story told entirely in the past.
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