Complete the sentence: The pot was then left _________ five minutes before the tea was poured into cups, and milk and sugar were added last.

Complete the sentence: The pot was then left _________ five minutes before the tea was poured into cups, and milk and sugar were added last.

• A. For
• B. During
• C. Until
• D. Since

Answer: (A)

The sentence is testing how to express the duration of a past action with a preposition. left for five minutes fits naturally because it shows how long the pot remained in that state before the next action happened. For expresses a period of time, so “left for five minutes” means the pot stayed there for that five-minute span. Other options don’t fit as smoothly. During would imply something happening inside that five-minute window, rather than indicating the length of time the pot was left. Until would point to the end time of the action, which isn’t the intended meaning here. Since would refer to a starting point in time continuing to the present or a point in time in the past, which doesn’t match the way the sentence is describing a finite duration before the next action.

The sentence is testing how to express the duration of a past action with a preposition. left for five minutes fits naturally because it shows how long the pot remained in that state before the next action happened. For expresses a period of time, so “left for five minutes” means the pot stayed there for that five-minute span.

Other options don’t fit as smoothly. During would imply something happening inside that five-minute window, rather than indicating the length of time the pot was left. Until would point to the end time of the action, which isn’t the intended meaning here. Since would refer to a starting point in time continuing to the present or a point in time in the past, which doesn’t match the way the sentence is describing a finite duration before the next action.