Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I usually watch TV, but at present I ______ to the radio.
a. am listening
b. listened
c. listening
d. will listen

Answer 1

Hint:
 Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The action is in progress in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.

Complete answer:
 We can infer that the mentioned action is happening in the present as the sentence contains the phrase ‘at present’. This also means that the person is still doing the action. Now, we know which tense to use.
The present continuous (also called present progressive) is a verb tense that is used to show that an ongoing action is happening now, either at the moment of speech or now in a larger sense. The present continuous is formed using am/is/are + present participle. This is the most appropriate tense for the given sentence.

Now, we know what we are looking for, let’s look at the available options-
a. am listening - In this option, the verb phrase is in the present continuous form. This means that it will fit perfectly into the sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
b. listened - In this option, the verb is in the simple past tense. This means that it will not fit into the given sentence at all. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c. listening - In this option, the verb is in the continuous form, but it is missing the helping verb. This means that it will not fit into the given sentence at all. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d. will listen - In this option, the verb phrase is in the simple future tense. This means that it will not fit into the given sentence at all. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure all the parts of speech are aligning with each other and work with each other.