Question 9

The world was, in the far distant past

The best version of the underlined part of the sentence is "the world was, in the far distant past." This option correctly uses the verb "was" to indicate a past state of existence for the continents.

A) the world, in the far distant past

This option is incorrect because it lacks a verb, which makes the sentence incomplete. A proper sentence requires a subject and a verb to convey a complete thought.

B) the world, being in the far distant past

While this option includes a form of the verb "being," it is not appropriate in this context. The phrase does not clearly convey the intended meaning regarding the state of the continents in the past.

C) the world were, in the far distant past

This option is incorrect because "were" is not suitable for this context. The subject "the world" is singular, thus requiring the singular verb "was" instead of the plural "were."

D) the world was, in the far distant past

This is the correct choice. It effectively conveys that in the distant past, the world existed as a single land mass, using appropriate grammar to indicate a past condition.

Conclusion

Option D is the only choice that uses the correct verb form for the singular subject, clearly indicating a past existence of the continents. All other options fail to provide a grammatically correct or contextually appropriate construction, making D the definitive correct answer.