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TOEIC Reading 5 Exercisee 438

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Question: 
O:8:"stdClass":2:{s:8:"question";s:70:"Harry ______ to the head of the sales department five years ago today.";s:7:"choices";a:4:{i:0;s:12:"was promoted";i:1;s:8:"promoted";i:2;s:16:"will be promoted";i:3;s:12:"has promoted";}}
Answer: 
a
TOEIC Reading 5 Category: 
content access: 
2
answer explanation: 

<p dir="ltr"><span><span>The question is a simple sentence. The subject is “Harry,” and the blank should be filled with a verb. All the four choices are variations of the verb “promote,” and the key to identifying the correct answer is to tell which choice uses the verb “promote” in the right tense and in the right voice.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p>First, based on the phrase “five years ago today,” the action suggested by the verb took place in the past. So (C) "will be promoted" and (D) "has promoted" should be eliminated since neither of them is in the past tense.&nbsp;</p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>Next, based on the meaning of the context, Harry was promoted to a new position instead of promoting another person to a new one. Thus, the verb should be in the passive voice, not the active one. So (B) "</span><span>promoted"</span><span> should be eliminated too. (A) "</span><span>was promoted"</span><span> is the correct answer.&nbsp;</span></span></p>