Ivy was taking / took out the trash at that time.

[sitifan]

Ivy ____ out the trash at that time.
(A) is taking (B) took (C) was taking (D) takes
[a test question designed by a Taiwanese teacher of English]
The answer to the above question is option C.
Is option B also acceptable to native speakers?

 

[5jj]

None of the four options is impossible.

 

[jutfrank]

Since all four answers are grammatical and makes sense, I wonder what the task instruction was, and what this Taiwanese teacher of English was trying to achieve. Do you know him/her personally?

 

[sitifan]

Do you know him/her personally?

No.

 

[sitifan]

Since all four answers are grammatical and makes sense, I wonder what the task instruction was, and what this Taiwanese teacher of English was trying to achieve. Do you know him/her personally?

make

 

[jutfrank]

So what is the task instruction? If it's 'Choose the correct answer', then it's an invalid test, I'm afraid.

In cases like this, you also have to think about the context of what the teacher is trying to do. It's conceivable at least that the teacher had just spent the previous lesson talking about the past continuous and its uses, and that the sentence in question does have a context (which we can't see) that demands the past continuous as the appropriate tense to use.

 

[sitifan]

The question does not have a context that demands the past continuous as the appropriate tense to use. That was why I posted the question here.

 

[Barque]

Option A is probably less likely than the other three but I agree all of them are possible. If I'd been asked that question I'd probably have chosen D because it's the likeliest in my opinion.

 

[tedmc]

The past continuous tense expresses a continuous action at a particular moment in the past. I think D is the best answer since the action continued for a specific period of time. The other possibility is the past tense "took" but it is not so much focused on the action itself as accomplishing it. A and D would not fit since "at that time" is about the past.

 

[5jj]

. A and D would not fit since "at that time" is about the past.

I see Ivy every morning when I drive past her house.
A: She is taking out the trash at that time.
D: She takes out the trash at that time.

 

[jutfrank]

A and D would not fit since "at that time" is about the past.

Ah, but no, it isn't. It can refer to future time (as in answer A), past time (as in answers B and C) and 'general' present time (as in answer D).

This is precisely the mistake I think the test writer has made here—a misunderstanding of the meaning of 'at that time'.

 

[jutfrank]

I see Ivy every morning when I drive past her house.
A: She is taking out the trash at that time.
D: She takes out the trash at that time.

Also, I was thinking of answer A with a future-time reference:

Q: Will Ivy be able to help me tomorrow morning at five to nine?
A: Unfortunately, Ivy's taking out the trash at that time.

A silly context, admittedly, but possible nonetheless.

 

[Tdol]

It's an easy mistake to make when writing tests- the teacher clearly thought that at that time would force the use of the past progressive, which is the most likely answer, but you can choose other forms. It requires a bit more context to make c) the only correct answer.