Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable option:
“Oh dear! It looks as if it is going to rain again.”
Mother was afraid that _______________________.
a) It was raining again
b) It was going to rain again
c) It is going to rain again
d) It looked like rain again

Answer 1

Hint: In the above sentence we need a phrase that indicates a confirmed prediction that it will rain in the near future (as it rained before).

Complete answer:
 We can see in the question that it is in the simple future tense. The simple future is a verb tense that's used to talk about things that haven't happened yet. We use the simple future to talk about an action or condition that will begin and end in the future.
We can also see that we are talking about a confirmed prediction that it will rain in the near future (as it rained before).
So, in the above sentence, the mother is afraid that it might rain again (in the near future). So let us look into the options and see which one would be the best-suited answer.
a) It was raining again: this is in the present participle form. Hence, cannot be used here.
b) It was going to rain again: this is in the future tense form which also states that it is going rain as it did before. Hence, can be used here.
c) It is going to rain again: this is in the future tense but the use of ‘is’ states that it will rain in d) the future as it is raining in present. Hence, cannot be used here.
It looked like rain again: rain is the infinitive form. Hence cannot be used here.
So, as per explanation, the correct solution would be option (b).

Note:
 Option (b) and (c) are similar in tense, i.e. both are in the future tense. The difference is the use of was and is. One represents a comparison to the past and one refers to something that is happening in the present respectively.