Located in the heart of Paris along the Seine River, the Louvre houses one of the world's most extensive art...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

First sentence:

• Located in the heart of Paris along the Seine River,
• the Louvre
  • houses one of the world's most extensive art collections.

Second sentence:

• The museum
  • [?] visited by millions of tourists each year
    • who come to see masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence tells us about the Louvre:

• It's located in Paris, along the Seine River
• It houses (contains) one of the world's most extensive art collections

The second sentence continues with more information about the museum:

• "The museum ______ visited by millions of tourists each year"

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• has been
• was
• is
• will be

These are different verb tenses. To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The sentence continues:

• "visited by millions of tourists each year who come to see masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo"

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• "Each year"
  • This phrase tells us this is something that happens regularly - not just once, but repeatedly, year after year
  • It's describing an ongoing pattern

• "Who come to see masterpieces"
  • Notice "come" is in present tense
  • This reinforces that we're talking about what currently happens

So the complete picture is:

• The museum receives millions of visitors regularly, year after year, as an ongoing reality

What do we notice about the timing here?

• The phrase "each year" signals a habitual, recurring action
  • Something that happens repeatedly and continues to happen
  • This is a present reality about the museum

• The verb "come" is in present tense
  • This confirms we're in the present time frame

When we describe something that happens regularly and repeatedly - like "each year" - we use simple present tense.

So we need: is

"The museum is visited by millions of tourists each year" correctly expresses this ongoing, habitual reality.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions

When describing actions that happen regularly, repeatedly, or as general truths, we use simple present tense (called simple present in grammar terms). Time markers like "each year," "every day," "regularly," or "annually" signal habitual actions:

Pattern 1: Habitual action with time marker

• The store opens at 9 AM every day.
• "every day" = time marker showing regular occurrence
• "opens" = simple present tense

Pattern 2: General truth about ongoing reality

• The Earth revolves around the Sun.
• This is always true, an ongoing fact
• "revolves" = simple present tense

Pattern 3: In passive voice (this question)

• The museum is visited by millions of tourists each year.
• "each year" = time marker showing regular occurrence
• "is visited" = simple present tense in passive voice
• Even though it's passive, the principle is the same: habitual action needs simple present

Key signal words: each year, every day, annually, regularly, typically, usually, always

In this question, "each year" is the crucial signal that tells us we need simple present tense ("is") to describe this ongoing, repeating pattern of visitors.