In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
20 years ago, due to a terrorist attack at the World Trade Center in New York, the US started a war with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Recently, the US soldiers (1) __________ to leave Afghanistan, and the Taliban quickly took (2) __________ of nearly all the country. The Afghan president ran (3) __________ from the country, and only a few hours later, the Taliban took control of (4) __________ presidential palace.
Thousands of Afghans wanted to leave the country, (5) __________ caused chaos at the international airport in Kabul. Foreign diplomats left the country because it was not safe for them anymore.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank No. 1.
- Astarted
- Bstart
- Cwill start
- Dstarting
Solution & Step-by-step Explanation
The sentence refers to a past action ("Recently, the US soldiers..."). The simple past tense form 'started' is correct here because it describes an action that happened and concluded in the recent past.