A verb form question tests whether a sentence needs a main verb, which says what its subject does or is. Find the subject and count its main verbs, setting aside verbs in parts beginning with because. Present- and past-tense verbs can stand alone; an -ing form needs a helping verb, and a to form can't be a main verb. Then follow the time clues to decide which tense fits.
Hints
- Hint 1
Set aside the words beginning with because, then look for a main verb for the tourists all the way to the period.
- Hint 2
Use the time of the museum’s closure as your clue. What tense tells you when the closure happened, and is there any word that changes the time for the tourists?
Step-by-step
Count the main verbs, then match the time
Step 1Set aside the opening reason
The words Because the city museum was closed for renovations give the reason for the tourists’ online visit. Does the museum’s verb also tell us what the tourists did? No, it belongs to the part beginning with because, which can't stand alone. We still need to find the tourists’ main verb.
- Step 2
Find the job of the blank
Read many tourists ______ its online collection instead. through to the period. The tourists are the subject, the people this part is about, and nothing after the blank says what they do, so the blank must give them their main verb. The to explore choice uses a to form, and exploring uses an -ing form; neither can be a main verb on its own.
- Step 3
Follow the time clue
When did the tourists’ visit happen? The museum was closed, so the sentence gives a past reason for their visit and no clue that the time changes. The tourists’ verb should stay in the past. The present-tense explore shifts the time, while explored is the past-tense main verb they need. Choice B.