Often the need to clean up the atmosphere ---- through major environmental disasters of which the London smog of 1952 still ---- a prime example.A) was realised / remains
B) has been realised / remained
C) would be realised / would remain
D) was being realised / will remain
E) had been realised / has remained
After doing my best to understand, I thought it wass time to open this UDS question to the NATIVES. Which one is the right answer? If it is A, what "often" stands for? To show habit in the past, like many other adverbs of frequency? Don't we need a comma just before the prep of "OF"? Could you restate or rephrase this sentence, or divide into two or more sentences so as to make it clearer for a poor non-native?:cry: :stretch:
Thank you very much in advance.

.
Yes, certainly a comma after disasters is the only civil thing to do.

This is an absolutely awful question. I have read all the possibilities through, and like only E-- and that not very much.

I really can do no more for you than that, MM; sorry. I think what it requires is the context in which it was (presumably) embedded.
.

.
Yes, certainly a comma after disasters is the only civil thing to do.

This is an absolutely awful question. I have read all the possibilities through, and like only E-- and that not very much.

I really can do no more for you than that, MM; sorry. I think what it requires is the context in which it was (presumably) embedded.
.
Actually this official (state-centered) question was asked without any context. "An OSYM Classic" we call mockingly. Meanwhile, we thought A would be the desired answer. Actually I do not even consider C, D and E, because of the improper position of "still". The tester (OSYM) mostly takes care of the proper replacing of adverbs and adverbial phrases.