Question 71·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
During the severe drought of 2012, the regional government enacted strict water-conservation rules. The community ______ the new regulations by reducing lawn irrigation, repairing household leaks, and installing low-flow appliances.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb tense and consistency questions, first locate any time clues (years, dates, words like "now," "will," "during") and the tense of nearby verbs. Then quickly label each answer choice by tense (present, past, past perfect, future) and eliminate any that don’t match the established time frame or that create unnecessary shifts. Finally, choose the remaining option that keeps the sentence logical and consistent.
Hints
Check the time signal
Look at the phrase "During the severe drought of 2012" and the verb "enacted" in the first sentence. What time (past, present, or future) is being described?
Keep verbs consistent
The first sentence uses a past-tense verb. Should the second sentence, which describes what happened in that same situation, stay in that tense or switch to a different one?
Compare the tenses of the options
Label each answer choice as present, past, past perfect, or future. Which one matches the time frame and does not suggest something happening earlier than 2012 or after 2012?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the time frame
Look at the time information in the first sentence: "During the severe drought of 2012, the regional government enacted strict water-conservation rules." Both the specific year (2012) and the verb "enacted" show that these actions happened in the past and are finished.
Match verb tense to the context
The second sentence continues describing what happened in that same situation in 2012: "The community ___ the new regulations by reducing lawn irrigation..." This is also a completed action in the past, so the verb in the blank should be in simple past tense to match "enacted."
Eliminate tenses that don’t fit
Cross out answer choices that are not simple past:
- Present tense describes what is happening now, not in 2012.
- Past perfect tense (had + past participle) is used when you need to show one past action happened before another past action; that’s not needed here.
- Future tense describes what will happen later, not what happened during 2012. Only the choice with a simple past verb form fits the time frame and matches the neighboring verb "enacted."
Confirm the best-fitting choice
The only option that uses simple past tense and correctly matches the subject "The community" is "complied with", so the completed sentence is: "The community complied with the new regulations by reducing lawn irrigation, repairing household leaks, and installing low-flow appliances."