The Globe Theatre in London is a reconstruction of the famed venue where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed....

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

Sentence 1:

• The Globe Theatre in London
  • is a reconstruction
    • of the famed venue
      • where many of Shakespeare's plays were first performed.

Sentence 2 (contains blank):

• In 1613,
• a prop cannon (?) during a performance
  • and ignited the Globe's thatched roof.

[Where (?) = malfunctions/will malfunction/has malfunctioned/malfunctioned]

Sentence 3:

• No one was hurt,
• but in two hours
  • the original Globe was gone.

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence tells us:

• The Globe Theatre in London today is a reconstruction
  • it's a rebuilt version
  • of the famous venue where Shakespeare's plays were originally performed.

Now the second sentence starts:

• 'In 1613, a prop cannon ______'

Here's where we need to fill in the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• A. malfunctions (present tense)
• B. will malfunction (future tense)
• C. has malfunctioned (present perfect)
• D. malfunctioned (simple past)

What do we notice right away?

• The sentence starts with 'In 1613' - a specific date in the past
• This is telling us about a historical event that already happened
• When we're describing what happened at a specific time in the past, we need simple past tense

So we need: D. malfunctioned

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

• 'a prop cannon malfunctioned during a performance and ignited the Globe's thatched roof'
  • The cannon broke during a show
  • and this caused the roof to catch fire
  • Notice 'ignited' is also simple past - matching our answer

The final sentence adds:

• 'No one was hurt, but in two hours the original Globe was gone'
  • Fortunately no injuries
  • but the entire original theatre burned down in just two hours
  • Again, 'was hurt' and 'was gone' are past tense

What do we notice about the structure?

• This entire passage is narrating historical events from 1613
• All the verbs describing what happened that day are in simple past:
  • 'malfunctioned,' 'ignited,' 'was hurt,' 'was gone'
• The time marker 'In 1613' signals we need past tense
• Simple past is what we use for completed historical events

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verb Tense to Time Context

Verbs must match the timeframe established in the sentence. When you see specific past time markers (like dates, "yesterday," "last year"), use simple past tense:

Time marker + Simple past verb:

• In 1613, the cannon malfunctioned
• Yesterday, she arrived late
• Last summer, they visited Paris

Why simple past for historical narratives:

• Historical events are completed actions in the past
• Simple past is the standard choice for narrating what happened
• In our passage: "In 1613" signals the event happened at a specific moment in history

Tense consistency:

When multiple verbs describe actions in the same timeframe, they should match:

• In our passage, all verbs about the 1613 fire use simple past:
• The cannon malfunctioned
• It ignited the roof
• No one was hurt
• The Globe was gone

This consistency helps readers follow the narrative smoothly without confusing time jumps.