Directions: Choose the best option between the past progressive and the simple past

13. The teenager ________ (text) while she ________ (drive). That is why her car ____ (crash)!

(PS- NEVER drive and text at the same time students!!!)

Question

Directions: Choose the best option between the past progressive and the simple past

13. The teenager ________ (text) while she ________ (drive). That is why her car ____ (crash)!

(PS- NEVER drive and text at the same time students!!!)

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: Choose the best option between the past progressive and the simple past for the sentence: The teenager ________ (text) while she ________ (drive). That is why her car ____ (crash)!

Option 1: texting, driving, crashed
- This option uses the gerund form 'texting' and 'driving' without the auxiliary 'was.' In English, when describing ongoing actions in two clauses that occur simultaneously in the past, the past progressive is typically formed with 'was/were' + verb-ing. This option fails to provide the necessary past progressive in both verbs, so it incorrectly treats 'text' and 'drive' as simple past forms, which does not fit the continuous nature of the actions.

Option 2: texted, was driving, crash
- Here we have 'texted' in simple past, 'was driving' in past progressive, and 'crash' as a present tense or base form. The mix of tenses is inconsistent for a single narrative event described in the past. If one action is ongoing ('was driving'), the preceding action could be 'texted' in simple past, but the sentence ends with 'crash' which should be the past simple 'crashed' to align with the narrative past tense. Overall, this option mixes tenses improperly and includes an incorrect final verb form.

Option 3: was texting, driving, chrashed
- This option incorrectly spells the final verb as 'chrashed' (a misspelling). Additionally, while 'was texting' is correct for the ongoing action, the sequence 'driving' lacks a helping verb, so it is not properly formed as a past progressive pair. The misspelling alone disqualifies it, and the overall tense structure remains flawed.

Option 4: was texting, was driving, crash
- This option uses past progressive for both actions ('was texting' and 'was driving'), which is acceptable for two simultaneous past actions. However, the final verb 'crash' is in base form, not past tense. In narrative past statements, the final event should be 'crashed' to agree with the past tense of the surrounding clauses. Therefore, this option has a tense mismatch at the end.

Option 5: was texting, was driving, crashed
- This option consistently employs the past progressive for both ongoing actions ('was texting' and 'was driving'), accurately reflecting simultaneous past actions. The final verb 'crashed' is in the simple past, which is appropriate to describe the completed result of the sequence. The overall sentence correctly matches the narrative timing: two ongoing actions in the past followed by a single completed action that results from them.

Summary of reasoning: The goal is to express two ongoing past actions (texting and driving) that occur simultaneously, followed by a single past event (crashed) that results from them. The correct phrasing uses past progressive for the two ongoing actions and simple past for the final action, with proper spellings and consistent tense usage. The other options fail due to tense mismatches, incorrect spellings, or inconsistent verb forms, which disrupt the temporal flow of the sentence.

Writing & Language Seminar I - Martinez - Preparatory Academy - 1st Semester - 2025/2026 FOGChpt2_3- Requires Respondus LockDown Browser

Directions: Choose the best option between the past progressive and the simple past 13. The teenager ____ (text) while she (drive). That is why her car (crash)! (PS- NEVER drive and text at the same time students!!!)

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