Select the word segment that can substitute the bracketed word segment correctly and complete the sentence meaningfully.
(Everyone carefully were trying to) reason with the CEO regarding the need for work-life balance during the upcoming festivals.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. Everyone was carefully trying to.
The subject “Everyone” is singular, so the verb should be “was” (singular past tense of “to be”).
The phrase should be “was carefully trying to” to correctly match the singular subject and continuous tense.
Option 1 is incorrect because “had carefully trying” is grammatically wrong (missing “been” for past perfect continuous).
Option 3 uses “were,” which is plural and does not agree with the singular subject “Everyone.”
Option 4 “did carefully tried” mixes past auxiliary and past tense incorrectly; it should be either “did try” or “tried.”