Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
They hadn’t done any damage to it. No damage _______ to it.
a) was done
b) had been done
c) hadn’t been done
d) has been done

Answer 1

Hint: The first sentence already tells us the first tense. Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The actions are to be past perfect in the second sentence. These pointers are indicators of a certain tense.

Complete answer:
 Let us first understand what active and passive voices are.
Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. This means that the subject is implied or is present in the sentence. For example, in the given question, the sentence ‘Call the ambulance at once’, implies that there is a subject being spoken to.
Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb's action. This means that the subject is not visible. It is usually there but is considered invisible. At the end of a passive sentence, in order to make the subject visible, you just need to add ‘by someone’. This becomes the placeholder subject. The verb tense becomes past perfect tense.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) was done - This tense is a simple past construction. This is not the verb that fits into the blank, as it is a different construction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) had been done - This tense is a past perfect construction. This is the verb that fits into the blank, as it is the required construction. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c) hadn’t been done - This tense is a past perfect construction. This is not the verb that fits into the blank, as it is a different construction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) has been done - This tense is a present perfect construction. This is not the verb that fits into the blank, as it is a different construction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
 Try to look for certain pointer words. They will help you understand which option you are looking for as they help to narrow down the exact tense required. Then, go through the given options, and choose the most appropriate option accordingly.