<span id="docs-internal-guid-702cc28a-7fff-baef-9fb1-7dc1f92fc74e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;text-align: justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The question is a complex sentence. The main clause is “The chef, along with his assistants, _______ a special menu for tomorrow’s evening wine tasting event,” ending with the adjective clause, “, which will be attended by 15 top food critics,” to modify the antecedent “tomorrow’s evening wine tasting event.”</span></p><br><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Let’s focus on the main clause. Clearly, the blank should be filled with a verb for the main clause. Following this logic, we can eliminate Choice (C) </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">preparing </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">first because a gerund or present participle alone can’t serve as a verb in a sentence. Choice (B)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> are preparin</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">g and Choice (D) </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;">have been preparing</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> should be eliminated too, because they are plural verbs, but the subject “The chef” is singular. Choice (A)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-style: italic; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is preparing</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is the correct answer, and its tense fits the context. </span></span>