Contemporary street artists often work anonymously to avoid legal complications while maintaining creative freedom. When municipal authorities attempt...

Sentence Structure

• Contemporary street artists often work anonymously to avoid legal complications while maintaining creative freedom.
• When municipal authorities attempt to remove their work, many artists [?] by creating new pieces in different locations, viewing the impermanence as integral to their artistic philosophy.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence sets the scene:

• 'Contemporary street artists often work anonymously'
  • These are present-day artists who create street art
  • They work without revealing their identity
• 'to avoid legal complications while maintaining creative freedom'
  • This tells us why they stay anonymous
  • They want to avoid legal trouble but keep their artistic freedom

Notice that "often work" describes what these artists typically do - a general pattern of behavior.

Now the second sentence:

• 'When municipal authorities attempt to remove their work'
  • This sets up a general scenario - when city officials try to remove their art
  • "Attempt" is in simple present, describing what generally happens

This is where we have the blank:

• 'many artists ______'

Let's look at the choices:

• will respond (future)
• responded (past)
• are responding (present progressive - happening right now)
• respond (simple present - general pattern)

To see what works here, let's read the rest and understand what the sentence is telling us:

• 'by creating new pieces in different locations'
  • This describes how the artists react
• 'viewing the impermanence as integral to their artistic philosophy'
  • They see the temporary nature of their work as part of their artistic vision

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The entire passage describes general patterns of behavior:
  • First sentence: "often work" - what street artists typically do
  • Second sentence: "When authorities attempt" - a general scenario, not a specific event
• This "when X happens, Y happens" structure describes a typical pattern:
  • When this generally occurs, this is what generally happens
  • Both parts need to match in showing general behavior
• The sentence isn't about:
  • A specific past event
  • Something happening at this exact moment
  • A prediction about the future
• It's about a general truth - how these artists typically operate

So we need: respond (simple present) to match this pattern of describing general, habitual behavior.

The correct answer is D.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Simple Present Tense for General Truths and Habitual Actions

When you're describing general truths, typical patterns of behavior, or things that happen regularly, use the simple present tense (called simple present in grammar terms):

Pattern for general scenarios:

• When [general situation in simple present], [general response in simple present]

Examples:

• Describing habits: "When students prepare thoroughly, they perform well on tests."
  • "prepare" and "perform" are both simple present
  • Describes what generally happens, not a specific occasion
• Describing patterns: "Scientists often work in teams to solve complex problems."
  • "work" is simple present
  • Describes typical behavior, not something happening right now

In this question:

• First sentence: "Contemporary street artists often work anonymously" (simple present - habitual action)
• Second sentence: "When municipal authorities attempt to remove their work, many artists respond" (simple present for both - general pattern)
• The entire passage describes how street artists typically operate, not a specific event in the past, present moment, or future

Key indicator: The word "often" in the first sentence and the "when...attempt" structure both signal that we're talking about general patterns, which require simple present tense throughout.