Application 9: Verbs

for Sentence Sense: The Online Version

Read the passage below, noticing how the verbs (in CAPS) express the time of each event. Write each verb on the time line at the end of the passage. The first verb has been placed in its proper slot for you.

A presence on the World Wide Web IS BECOMING an essential part of a college's public relations program. Two years ago our college INSTALLED its first web server. Our Academic Technology Committee HAD DECIDED to invest in the necessary technology, but DID not HAVE the necessary support staff. So we RECRUITED a full-time webmaster and tech-support people. Now many colleges HAVE RECOGNIZED the advantages of being on the web. The technology HAS BECOME much easier to learn, and faculty ARE TAKING advantage of web-based instruction also. Before long, many course WILL BE OFFERED online and registration MAY BE possible also. The groundhogs ARE INVADING my garden again. Last spring I BUILT a tall fence. I HAD BURIED chicken wire all around the border the year before, but they GOT over or under or through that. So I SPENT a lot of money and two whole days of labor on a heavy snow fence. But now that the lettuce HAS TURNED crunchy and sweet, the groundhogs ARE back. They MUST HAVE FOUND a secret way into the garden, because there ARE no holes in the fence or in the ground. It IS BECOMING obvious that the groundhogs ARE here for good, and that I WILL BE SHARING my vegetables with them in spite of my efforts.

had buried You're right! The correct answer is "had buried".
got You're right! The correct answer is "got".
spent You're right! The correct answer is "spent".
built You're right! The correct answer is "built".
has turned You're right! The correct answer is "has turned".
are You're right! The correct answer is "are".
must have found You're right! The correct answer is "must have found".
are invading
are You're right! The correct answer is "are".
is becoming You're right! The correct answer is "is becoming".
are You're right! The correct answer is "are".
will be sharing You're right! The correct answer is "will be sharing".

If you don't agree with the computer's green faces on some of your answers, they're probably worth arguing about. Other orders for verbs are possible. Try to explain to a friend why your order is better than the computer's.

Sentence Sense: The Online Version