Which option provides the best revision for the following sentence fragment: Researchers also speculate that some teachers might have given boys more computer time because parents and teachers expected boys to need computers for future careers.

• A. Will expect
• B. Expected
• C. Expecting
• D. Will have expected

Answer: (D)

This question tests how verb tenses show the timing of an event and the reason behind it. The main clause expresses a past-conditional idea: some teachers might have given boys more computer time. The reason clause needs to explain that decision with an expectation about the future. Using the future perfect form will have expected signals that, by the time those future careers come into play, parents and teachers would have already held that expectation. In other words, the past action is being explained by a forward-looking expectation that is completed by a future point relative to that past moment. That precise timing keeps the cause aligned with the idea of future needs.

Other options don’t convey that timing as cleanly. Will expect would refer to a future expectation without signaling its completion. Expected is simple past and doesn’t capture the sense that the expectation lies ahead of the future needs. Expecting would disrupt the clause structure and doesn’t provide a finite verb for the cause. Will have expected best preserves the intended timeline between the past action and the future-oriented expectation.