Which is correct?

Question

A dispute is likely to arise among union members about the terms of the new contract when they__________________ it for the first time.
A- will be presented
B- had been presented
C- have been presented
D- were presented
E- presented
I said E but it was uncorrect to answer key. It says C is correct. I didn't understand it.

Blue Jay · Accepted Answer

C- is the only one that works here. The sentence is referring to something that will (probably) happen after an event in the future.
E- won't work because when they presented it would describe a series of events in the past, while is likely to arise describes probable events in the future.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousA dispute is likely to arise among union members about the terms of the new contract when they________________ it for the first time.

What does "they" refer to? What does "it" refer to?

"They" has to be a plural. It's either 'union members' or 'terms'.
"It" has to be singular. It's either 'dispute' or 'new contract'.

What does the verb "present" tell us? Who presents what to whom? Given the choices above for "they" and "it" and your knowledge of the world, you can see that the union members ('they') do not present a new contract ('it'). Someone else presents the union members a new contract. That is, the union members are presented a new contract. Therefore you need the passive of "present". That requires some form of "to be" before the past participle "presented".

Unfortunately, when you chose E, you chose the only answer that did not have a form of "to be".

CJ

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