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Each year in the fall, when the weather starts to cool in the northern hemisphere, millions of North American monarch butterflies journey south. Searching for food and warmer habitats, they 
qquad thousands of miles-from as far north as Canada all the way down to Mexico—on this annual migration.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Aflew
B. were flying
C. had flown
D. fly

Each year in the fall, when the weather starts to cool in the northern hemisphere, millions of North American monarch butterflies journey south. Searching for food and warmer habitats, they \qquad thousands of miles-from as far north as Canada all the way down to Mexico—on this annual migration.\newlineWhich choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?\newlineAflew\newlineB. were flying\newlineC. had flown\newlineD. fly

Full solution

Q. Each year in the fall, when the weather starts to cool in the northern hemisphere, millions of North American monarch butterflies journey south. Searching for food and warmer habitats, they \qquad thousands of miles-from as far north as Canada all the way down to Mexico—on this annual migration.\newlineWhich choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?\newlineAflew\newlineB. were flying\newlineC. had flown\newlineD. fly
  1. Identify habitual action: The sentence describes a regular action that happens every year, so we need a verb that indicates a habitual action in the present tense.
  2. Eliminate past tense: Option A "flew" is past tense, which doesn't fit the context of a habitual action.
  3. Reject past continuous tense: Option B "were flying" is past continuous tense, which is used for actions that were happening at a specific time in the past, not a regular yearly event.
  4. Discard past perfect tense: Option C "had flown" is past perfect tense, which is used to show that an action was completed before another action in the past, which is not the case here.
  5. Choose present tense: Option D "fly" is present tense, which is used for habitual actions and facts, fitting the context of the sentence describing the annual migration of butterflies.

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