Question

Suddenly, the bushes _27_ (rustle). Father wolf dropped to the ground, 28 (prepare) to leap at the predator. "_29_ (hold) on!" cried mother wolf, "It's a mancub!" It 30 (be) a little baby who was just learning to walk. He 31 (look) into father wolf's face and 32 (laugh). Father wolf _33_ (close) his jaws on the child's back and _34_ (carry) him to mother wolf and 35 (lay) him down among her cubs.
Fill blank (28).
A. Prepare
B. Prepared
C. Prepares
D. Preparing

Answer 1

Hint:The question suggests an instance being narrated. We will first notice the tense it is being narrated in, to fill the given blank. If we look closely, we will find that some instances are in the past. Like “father wolf dropped….”. Therefore , we will use the past tense of the given word (prepare).

Complete answer:
Let us discuss each option individually in detail to figure out the correct answer with the help of the above stated hint.
Prepare:- The word ‘prepare’ is not in the past tense. Therefore, this is not the correct option.
Prepared:- The word ‘prepared’ is in past tense. Therefore, this is the correct option.
Prepares:- The word ‘prepares’ is not in the past tense. Therefore, this is not the correct option.
Preparing:- The word ‘preparing’ is not in the past tense. Therefore, this is not the correct option.

Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:To fill up the blank correctly we need to continue the flow of the given passage in the tense already being used. Otherwise , it will be grammatically incorrect. By analysing the given passage, we encountered the use of past tense.