Select the word segment that substitutes (replaces) the bracketed word segment correctly and completes the sentence meaningfully. In case no improvement is needed, select ‘No improvement’.
(Hardly had the news leak out that) my telephone started ringing.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. No sooner had the news leaked out than.
Error Concept: The given sentence uses an inversion construction commonly used with negative adverbials like hardly, no sooner, scarcely, etc. These constructions require specific grammar rules involving past perfect tense and inversion of subject and auxiliary verb.
What is wrong: "Hardly had the news leak out that"
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The verb "leak" is in base form, which is incorrect.
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It should be in past participle form: "leaked".
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The conjunction "that" is incorrect. With hardly, the correct pairing is "when".
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However, since the correct version uses no sooner, the correct conjunction is "than".
Grammatical Concept This is a case of negative inversion with time expressions.
Structure: No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + simple past clause
Incorrectness of the Concept in Context Using "leak" (base form) with "had" violates the rule of past perfect construction.
Also, "that" is wrongly paired with hardly/no sooner.
Correct phrase/Correction: No sooner had the news leaked out than
Final sentence: No sooner had the news leaked out than my telephone started ringing.
Hence, the chosen option will be correct.