<span id="docs-internal-guid-97fcbc4b-7fff-e9df-d501-15eb21753ac3"><p dir="ltr"><span>The question is a simple sentence that follows the pattern: S + V + O. The subject is “Full-time employees,” the verb is the blank, and the object is “a 5 percent increase in wage.” The phrases “last year,” “as an incentive,” and “to raise production levels” are meant to add extra information about the sentence. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr"><span>Since the blank should be filled with a verb to go with the subject “Full-time employees,” the verb should be a plural verb. For this reason, (B) "</span><span>acquires"</span><span> and (C) "</span><span>has acquired"</span><span> can be eliminated because they are both singular verbs, failing to meet the subject-verb agreement.</span></p><br><span>Next, the phrase “last year” indicates that the verb occurred in the past, not in the future. Thus, (A) "</span><span>will acquire"</span><span>, a verb in the simple future tense, is incorrect. </span></span>(D) "acquired" is correct because the verb is in the simple past tense.