Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Mr. Bond's suitcase ____ examined already by the customs officer.

• A. have been
• B. is
• C. has
• D. has been

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

has been

Let’s examine the sentence: “Mr. Bond's suitcase ____ examined already by the customs officer.” When we understand the meaning of the sentence, we notice the word ‘already’ showing that the examination of ‘Mr. Bond’s suitcase’ has happened in recent past and this action is over. Also, the action of examination has occurred on the subject, that is Mr. Bond’s suitcase. So the sentence is in passive voice and would require the verb ‘been.’ The sentence also requires the verb that conveys the timing of recent past. So, the sentence is in present perfect tense. Present perfect tense combines the present tense and the perfect aspect used to express an event that happened in the recent past that has present consequences. This tense is used to show a link between the present and past. The present perfect is made using the auxiliary verb 'have/ has' plus the 'past participle' of the main verb. Also, in case of passive voice, “been” is used with “have.” The option that incorporates all these elements is the correct answer. Hence, Option D is the correct answer as it uses the auxiliary verbs ‘been’ indicating the passive voice of the sentence and ‘has’ as required by the present perfect tense of the sentence.
Options A cannot be used as it contains ‘have’ that goes with the plural subject and this sentence contains singular subject in the third person. So, the sentence needs the auxiliary verb, ‘has.’
Option B cannot be used as it contains auxiliary verb used for simple present tense.
Option C cannot be used as it does not contain ‘been’ required for the passive voice of the given sentence.