In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. This landmark legislation created a federal safety net for elderly, unemployed, and disadvantaged Americans. Before this act, _____
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Explanation
Context: The time frame is fixed in the past: Roosevelt "signed" the act in 1935 and it "created" the safety net. The blank sentence opens "Before this act."
Answer: B) financial assistance for the elderly was mostly left to state governments or private charities.
Why? A situation completed before a past event takes simple past. "Before this act" means before 1935, so "was" is required.
Traps:
- A) is → present tense for a pre-1935 situation.
- C) has been → present perfect implies it continues today; the act ended that arrangement.
- D) will be → future tense for something that happened before 1935.