With residents from Mexico, China, El Salvador, and many other countries, Los Angeles has long been a city of cultural...

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

Sentence Structure

Sentence 1:

• With residents from Mexico, China, El Salvador, and many other countries,
  • Los Angeles has long been a city of cultural diversity.

Sentence 2:

• Even back in the 1860s,
  • nearly 30% of the city's population [?] from outside the United States.

Where [?] = is being / was / is / will be

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence gives us context:

• 'With residents from Mexico, China, El Salvador, and many other countries'
  • tells us about LA's diverse population sources
• 'Los Angeles has long been a city of cultural diversity'
  • establishes that this diversity isn't new - it's been this way for a long time

Now the second sentence provides a specific historical example:

• 'Even back in the 1860s'
  • This phrase takes us to a specific time in the past
  • The word "even" emphasizes that we're going back quite far in time
  • The 1860s was over 160 years ago

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank:

• 'nearly 30% of the city's population ______ from outside the United States'

Let's look at our choices:

• We have different verb tenses: is being, was, is, will be
• Each one puts this fact in a different time frame

What do we notice about the time frame?

• The phrase "back in the 1860s" clearly establishes we're talking about the PAST
• We're describing what was true over 160 years ago
• This isn't about now (present) or the future - it's about history

So we need a past tense verb: was

The complete meaning is:

• Even as far back as the 1860s, nearly 30% of LA's population came from outside the United States
• This supports the first sentence's point that LA's diversity is long-standing

The correct answer is Choice B: was

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verb Tense to Time Indicators

Verbs must match the time frame established by temporal phrases in your sentence. Time indicators like "yesterday," "back in the 1860s," "currently," or "next year" tell you what tense to use:

Past time indicators → Past tense verbs:

• Back in the 1860s, nearly 30% of the population was from outside the United States tick mark
• In 2020, the company announced record profits tick mark

Present time indicators → Present tense verbs:

• Currently, nearly 40% of the population is from outside the United States tick mark
• Today, the company operates in 50 countries tick mark

Future time indicators → Future tense verbs:

• By 2030, the percentage will be even higher tick mark
• Next year, the company will expand to new markets tick mark

In this question:

• Time indicator: "back in the 1860s" = past time
• Required verb: was (past tense)
• This maintains consistency between when something happened and how we describe it