From Twitter:
Scientists said today that the oceans are __ so quickly it’s like 5 atomic bombs are being detonated in the sea.
a. heated
b. heats
c. heating
______
It’s a serious problem, so please turn off your car, scooter or truck when not driving and all electricity at home when not using it.
Answer: c., heating
Explanation:
Technically, there are two possible grammatical answers but only one contextual correct answer; a., heated is possible grammatically, but in context would make no sense, because using the past tense in this way indicates the causative, meaning someone or something heats the ocean, which of course we know is not true (unless we are talking about the sun); the ocean is heated naturally; people could split hairs with me on this, and they would be right, but give me a break; I’m trying to make a more important point:
The sentence begins with ‘scientists said today…’ and ‘are’ is the linkning verb, so–the best answer is heating (are + ing = the present continuous)
