Choose the option that changes the given sentence into a complex sentence without changing its meaning:
On hearing the first roll of thunder, the farmers covered the harvested wheat with plastic sheets.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → As soon as the farmers heard the first roll of thunder, they covered the harvested wheat with plastic sheets.
Changing a simple sentence into a complex sentence:
- A complex sentence has a main part and a part that begins with a joining word such as “when” or “as soon as”.
- The phrase “On hearing” becomes a full part with its own subject and verb: As soon as the farmers heard. It keeps the idea that the second action came at once.
- The main part stays in the simple past, as in the given sentence.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The farmers heard the first roll of thunder and covered the harvested wheat with plastic sheets. — Incorrect. This joins two main parts with “and”, so it is a compound sentence, not a complex one.
Option 2: Before the farmers heard the first roll of thunder, they covered the harvested wheat with plastic sheets. — Incorrect. This changes the meaning. “Before” says that the farmers covered the wheat first and heard the thunder later.
Option 4: Hearing the first roll of thunder, the farmers covered the harvested wheat with plastic sheets. — Incorrect. “Hearing the first roll of thunder” is still a phrase with no subject of its own. So this is still a simple sentence.