Question 121·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
A pioneering mathematician, Ada Lovelace _____ algorithms for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine nearly a century before the first electronic computers were built.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb tense questions, first locate all time clues (such as dates, words like “before,” and other past or present verbs) and decide when the action happens and whether it is finished or ongoing. Then, choose the tense that matches that timeline and keeps the sentence consistent—simple past for completed historical facts, present perfect only when there is a connection to the present, and past perfect only when you need to clearly show one narrated past action happened before another. Eliminate any choices whose tense does not fit the time frame or that create unnecessary complexity compared with a clear, simple tense.
Hints
Use the time phrase at the end
Focus on the phrase “nearly a century before the first electronic computers were built.” Does this describe something that is still going on now, or something fully completed in the past?
Check for consistency with “were built”
Notice that “were built” is in the simple past. Which verb form in the blank will keep the sentence in the same time frame and style (a straightforward historical statement)?
Watch out for helping verbs
Some choices use helping verbs like “has” or “had.” Ask yourself: Do we need to show a connection to the present, or a complicated sequence of two narrated past events, or just state a simple fact about the past?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the timeline
Look at the full sentence: it describes Ada Lovelace and her work on algorithms, and it ends with the phrase “nearly a century before the first electronic computers were built.” This clearly places the action completely in the past, long before another past event (when electronic computers were built).
Match the tense to a finished past action
When we talk about a historical fact that is fully completed in the past and not connected to the present, we normally use the simple past (for example, “She designed,” “They built,” “He discovered”). The second verb in the sentence, “were built,” is also in the simple past, so the blank should match this past, factual, historical tone.
Eliminate tenses that connect to the present or over-complicate the time
Now look at the helping verbs in the answer choices:
- Forms with “has” (present perfect or present perfect progressive) usually show a connection from the past to now, which does not fit a fact about someone who lived nearly two centuries ago.
- A form with “had” (past perfect) is used when you have a clear sequence in a narrative and need to show one past event happened before another past event, usually when both are being discussed. Here, the phrase “nearly a century before” already shows the time relationship, and the sentence is presenting a simple historical fact, so past perfect is not needed.
Choose the simple past tense form
Because the sentence is stating a straightforward historical fact about an action completed long ago, and it should match the simple past “were built,” the correct form of the verb is the simple past: “wrote.”