In the 1950s, a man named Joseph McVicker was struggling to keep his business aﬂoat when his sister-in-law Kay Zufall
advised him to repurpose the company’s product, a nontoxic, clay-like substance for removing soot from wallpaper, as a
modeling putty for kids. In addition, Zufall ______ selling the product under a child-friendly name: Play-Doh.
suggested
suggests
had suggested
was suggesting
Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense. In this choice, the simple past
tense verb “suggested” properly indicates that Zufall offered her suggestion for the product’s name in the past. This verb
tense is consistent with the previous sentence’s use of a simple past tense verb (“advised”) to describe Zufall’s advice to
McVicker in the 1950s.
Choice B is incorrect because the present tense verb “suggests” doesn’t indicate that Zufall offered her suggestion in the
past. Choice C is incorrect because the past perfect verb “had suggested” isn’t consistent with the previous sentence’s use
of the simple past tense verb “advised” to describe Zufall’s advice to McVicker. Choice D is incorrect because the past
progressive verb “was suggesting” isn’t consistent with the previous sentence’s use of the simple past tense verb “advised”
to describe Zufall’s advice to McVicker.