In nature, the plants and animals ______ to the rigours of natural selection.
- (a)had been continuously subjected
- (b)will be continuously subject
- (c)continuously subjected
- (d)are continuously subjected
Correct — D, are continuously subjected. The sentence states a general, ongoing truth about nature, so it needs the simple-present passive: the plants and animals ARE (continuously) SUBJECTED to natural selection — they receive the action of selection, which is why the voice is passive, and the present tense matches the timeless framing 'In nature ...'. The adverb 'continuously' correctly sits between the auxiliary 'are' and the participle 'subjected'.
- (a)had been continuously subjected — Past-perfect passive places the action wholly in a completed past, clashing with the general-truth present of 'In nature ...'.
- (b)will be continuously subject — It shifts a timeless fact into the future, and 'subject' drops the '-ed' participle needed for the passive after 'be' ('be subjected to', not 'be subject').
- (c)continuously subjected — A bare past participle with no auxiliary 'are/is' leaves the clause with no finite verb, so the sentence is ungrammatical.
Cloze / verb-form item: a timeless statement about nature takes the simple-present passive ('are subjected'), with the adverb 'continuously' placed between the auxiliary and the participle.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank: Water ______ into hydrogen and oxygen when an electric current is passed through it.
- (a)is decomposed
- (b)had decomposed
- (c)will decompose
- (d)decomposing
Answer(a) is decomposed — a general scientific truth about what happens TO the water takes the simple-present passive.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the correct form: Every year, thousands of migratory birds ______ at this lake by researchers.
- (a)ringed
- (b)are ringed
- (c)had been ringing
- (d)will ringing
Answer(b) are ringed — a habitual present action done TO the birds needs the present passive.