Question

Difficulty: MediumVerb Tense and Consistency

Read the passage about Grace Hopper's contribution to computer science. Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb 'allow' to maintain grammatical consistency and appropriate verb tense throughout the passage.

Answer:In 1952, computer pioneer Grace Hopper created the first compiler, a program that translated English instructions into machine code. Before Hopper's breakthrough, programmers wrote code entirely in binary, which took an immense amount of time and required meticulous attention to detail. Hopper’s compiler changed the field of computing forever because it 【allowed】 programmers to write instructions in language closer to human speech.

Answer

allowed
The correct answer is 'allowed' because the passage describes historical events in the past, as indicated by verbs like 'created,' 'wrote,' and 'changed.' Using the past tense form 'allowed' maintains grammatical consistency throughout the passage.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the surrounding context of the passage to identify the time frame.
The verbs 'created,' 'translated,' 'wrote,' 'took,' 'required,' and 'changed' establish that the passage is written in the past tense.
Establishing the time frame of the narrative is necessary to ensure verb tense consistency.
2
Conjugate the verb 'allow' to match the established past tense.
The past tense of the regular verb 'allow' is 'allowed'.
Using 'allowed' maintains the past tense consistency of the paragraph.

Key Concept

Verb Tense and Consistency
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