The City Library relies on dedicated volunteers to help with its weekend storytelling sessions. Maya Thompson and several other volunteers...

Sentence Structure

Sentence 1:

• The City Library relies on dedicated volunteers to help with its weekend storytelling sessions.

Sentence 2:

• Maya Thompson and several other volunteers [?] children's books aloud every Saturday morning to groups of enthusiastic young readers.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• "The City Library relies on dedicated volunteers to help with its weekend storytelling sessions."

This tells us:

• The library depends on volunteers
• These volunteers help run storytelling sessions on weekends
• Notice "relies" is present tense - this is the current situation

Now the second sentence:

• "Maya Thompson and several other volunteers"
  • These are examples of the volunteers mentioned

This is where we have the blank.

Let's look at the choices - they're giving us different verb tenses:

• A. read (simple present)
• B. will read (future)
• C. have read (present perfect)
• D. will be reading (future progressive)

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The sentence continues:

• "children's books aloud every Saturday morning to groups of enthusiastic young readers"

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• "every Saturday morning"
  • This is a key time marker
  • It tells us this is something that happens regularly, repeatedly
  • It's a habitual action - something they do as part of a routine

• Combined with "relies" from the first sentence (present tense)
  • This shows the volunteer program is currently active
  • It's an ongoing, established situation

What do we notice about the timing here?

• The phrase "every Saturday morning" signals a habitual, repeated action
  • When we describe something that happens regularly as a routine,
  • We use simple present tense

• The context supports this:
  • "relies" (present tense) shows this is happening now
  • Not future plans, but current reality

So we need the simple present tense: read

The correct answer is Choice A.

Grammar Concept Applied

Using Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions

When describing actions that happen regularly or repeatedly as part of a routine, we use simple present tense. Time markers like "every day," "each week," "every Saturday morning," or "usually" signal habitual actions that require simple present tense (not future, perfect, or progressive forms).

Pattern:

• Time marker indicating regularity + simple present tense

Examples:

1. Regular action: The train arrives at 8:00 AM every morning.
   • "every morning" = habitual action marker
   • "arrives" = simple present
2. Routine behavior: She volunteers at the hospital each Tuesday.
   • "each Tuesday" = regular occurrence
   • "volunteers" = simple present
3. This question: Maya Thompson and several other volunteers read children's books aloud every Saturday morning.
   • "every Saturday morning" = habitual action marker
   • "read" = simple present (not "will read," "have read," or "will be reading")

Why this matters: The context establishes an ongoing situation (the library "relies" on volunteers in present tense), and "every Saturday morning" signals this is a regular routine, not a one-time event, future plan, or completed action.