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Problem Verbs: Be

For each of the following sentences, identify the correct past tense verb form of be that should fill in the blank.

For help with this exercise, see section 14c of Focus on Reading and Writing.

  1. Question

    Trumpeter Louis Armstrong _______ one of the century’s most popular performers.

    		A.
    		B.
    		C.
    		D.

  2. Question

    By the time he was a teenager, other musicians _____ already impressed with his skills.

    		A.
    		B.
    		C.
    		D.

  3. Question

    Some of his neighbors in New Orleans ______ jazz innovators, such as Joe “King” Oliver.

    		A.
    		B.
    		C.
    		D.

  4. Question

    Armstrong and his family _____ not strangers to poverty, but he found a livelihood in music.

    		A.
    		B.
    		C.
    		D.

  5. Question

    He _____ making records in the early 1920s.

    		A.
    		B.
    		C.
    		D.