Exercises to master verb tense in the introduction section

Multiple-choice questions

1. You are confident that these findings are correct. Complete the sentence as appropriate.
   

   Wearing a black suit ….. with businesslike efficiency.

   (a) Has been associated
   (b) Has been shown to be associated
   (c) Is associated
   (d) Was associated
2. You are not convinced that these findings are true in every case; in fact, you suspect there was something unusual about this particular study. Choose the version that best conveys your feelings to the reader.
   
   (a) Pears contain more fiber than apples (Grove 2006).
   (b) Grove (2006) found that pears contain more fiber than apples.
   (c) Pears have been shown to contain more fiber than apples (Grove 2006).
   (d) Pears had been shown to contain more fiber than apples (Grove 2006).
   (e) Pears were shown to contain more fiber than apples (Grove 2006).
   (f) In 2005, Grove found that pears contained more fiber than apples (Grove 2006).
3. To make your literature review more engaging, you wish to tell a story about how the presence of vitamins in fruit was discovered. Choose the most appropriate sentence to begin this story.
   
   (a) Fruits contain vitamins (Rutherford et al. 1956).
   (b) It has long been known that fruits contain vitamins (Rutherford et al. 1956).
   (c) In 1956, Rutherford et al. published a landmark study showing that fruits contain vitamins.
   (d) Rutherford et al. (1956) had shown that fruits contain vitamins.
4. Proceeding with your story about the discovery of vitamins in fruit, you wish to show how one team was credited with an important finding, despite the fact that another had already obtained a similar finding. Choose the sentence that best conveys that information.
   
   (a) Although Smythe and Johnson (1962) had already shown that citrus fruit are an excellent source of Vitamin C, Giller and Burman’s 1965 finding that oranges and lemons contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit is far more widely cited.
   (b) Smythe and Johnson (1962) showed that citrus fruit were an excellent source of Vitamin C, but Giller and Burman’s 1965 finding that oranges and lemons contained more Vitamin C than any other fruit was far more widely cited.
   (c) Citrus fruit are known to be an excellent source of Vitamin C (Smythe and Johnson 1962), though Giller and Burman’s 1965 finding that oranges and lemons contain more Vitamin C than any other fruit is far more widely cited.
5. Later on in the story, you wish to refer to something that has not been covered in previous studies. Which of these options conveys this best?
   
   (a) Despite the extensive literature on the subject, we did not know which stone fruit contain the highest quantities of Vitamin D.
   (b) Despite the extensive literature on the subject, it has not been shown which stone fruit contain the highest quantities of Vitamin D.
   (c) Despite the extensive literature on the subject, it was not shown which stone fruit contain the highest quantities of Vitamin D.
   (d) Despite the extensive literature on the subject, we have not yet found out which stone fruit contain the highest quantities of Vitamin D.
6. Towards the end of your Introduction Section you discuss the aims of the present study. Select the sentence that uses the most appropriate tenses for this context. More than one option may be correct.
   
   (a) In this study, we had investigated whether peaches or apricots contained more Vitamin D.
   (b) In this study, we investigated whether peaches or apricots contain more Vitamin D.
   (c) In this study, we have investigated whether peaches or apricots contained more Vitamin D.
   (d) In this study, we investigate whether peaches or apricots contain more Vitamin D.
   (e) In this study, we will investigate whether peaches or apricots contain more Vitamin D.
   (f) In this study, it has been investigated whether peaches or apricots contained more Vitamin D.

Multiple-choice question answers

1. c; “is associated” indicates the author’s confidence in the findings.
2. f; “Grove found that” suggests the author does not believe Grove’s findings are generally applicable.
3. c; “In 1956, Rutherford et al. published” sets the stage for the story by specifying something that happened at the beginning of the story.
4. a; “had already shown” implies an event that happened before the event referred to next.
5. d; “have not yet found” indicates something that remains to be done.
6. b, d; either “we investigated” or “we investigate” is acceptable. The simple present tense version (“we investigate”) is more immediate and carries more momentum.

Fill-in-the-blank paragraph

In the following paragraph, supply the words that best fit in the blank spaces. All the missing words are to do with the tense being used. Pay careful attention to the tense of the other words in the sentence, and the structure of the sentence, so that you can choose the tense of the missing word correctly.

Many studies …. (1) shown that papayas …(2). the least nutritious of all fruit (e.g. Franz et al 1967, Hooke and Goldsmith 1978, Burns 1999). However, a more recent study ….(3) that in fact papayas … (4) higher levels of magnesium than almost all other fruits (Jones 2012). This … ….(5) to much controversy; the most strongly debated question being whether the magnesium in papayas ….(6) accessible to humans or not. While Jones (2014) and Brink (2015) ….(7) that all forms of magnesium can be absorbed by humans, Whyte and Greene (2015) and Adams (2016) ….(8) that this form is the one kind that …(9) not available for absorption by mammals. In this study, we ….(10) to address this question. To do so, we ….(11) the magnesium from papayas and …(12) whether mice and rats could absorb it.

Fill-in-the-blank paragraph answers

1. Have
2. Are
3. Suggested
4. Contain
5. Led to
6. Is
7. Argue
8. State
9. Is
10. Attempted
11. Extracted
12. Investigated

The implications of tense (from four example sentences introduced in the Meanings and Implications section)

The following simple examples all have different implications.

(a) Smith (1972) showed that summers were cooler in the north.
(b) It has been shown that summers are cooler in the north (Smith 1972).
(c) Smith had already shown, in 1972, that summers were cooler in the north.
(d) Summers are cooler in the north (Smith 1972).

Questions:

1. Which sentence conveys the most confidence in the finding that summers are cooler in the north?
2. Which sentence suggests that something happened after Smith published her finding in 1972?
3. Which sentence implies that the author does not believe that Smith’s findings are universally applicable?
4. Which sentence implies that Smith’s finding is generally accepted knowledge?

Answers

1. Sentence (d) conveys the most confidence in this finding.
2. Sentence (c) suggests that something else happened after Smith published her finding.
3. Sentence (a) implies that the author does not believe that Smith’s findings are universally applicable.
4. Sentence (b) implies that Smith’s finding is generally accepted knowledge.