A verb form question tests whether a sentence needs a main verb or a form that only describes. Sort the forms: present and past forms can be main verbs, -ing needs a helper as a main verb, and -ed can also describe. Find the subject and read to the period, setting aside any that clause. Ask whether that subject already has a main verb. Another main verb needs its own clause or a joining word.
Hints
- Hint 1
Start with the second sentence. Read from the report to the period to see every verb that might belong to it.
- Hint 2
Look for the subject inside the that clause. Which noun does held belong to?
- Hint 3
After setting the that clause aside, ask whether the report still needs a main verb.
Step-by-step
Sort the forms, then count the verbs
Step 1Sort the forms and find the subject
Sort the forms: has maintained and maintains can be main verbs, which say what the subject does or is. An -ing form needs a helper to serve as a main verb, while -ed can also describe. The subject, what this sentence is about, is The team's report, so we'll check whether it already has a main verb.
- Step 2
Find which verbs belong to the report
What does held belong to in that the jars held? It's the verb for jars inside the that clause, a group with its own subject and verb. The blank comes before that, so it still belongs to report. Farther on, has prompted historians gives us the report's main verb, which rules out has maintained and maintains because they would add another main verb without a joining word.
- Step 3
Test the past form
Could maintained only describe the report? Use the was test: add was to see whether something was done to the noun. With The team's report _____ that the jars held, the report was maintained that the jars held wine makes no sense. Here maintained can't describe something done to the report, so it would add another main verb.
- Step 4
Describe the report making its claim
Who makes the claim that the jars held locally produced wine? The report states the claim, which is what maintain means here. Because the report does the maintaining, maintaining fits as an -ing form that describes the report. Choice D.