Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank and make a grammatically correct sentence.

The recent lawsuit _____ put the firm in a tight spot.

has

The correct option to fill in the blank is has.

The sentence is in the present tense, and it is about something that happened in the past and is still having an effect in the present. The verb "has" is the present perfect tense of the verb "to have," and it is used to talk about something that happened in the past but has a connection to the present. In this case, the recent lawsuit has put the firm in a tight spot, and the firm is still feeling the effects of the lawsuit today.

The other options are not grammatically correct.

• Is is the present tense of the verb "to be," and it is not used to talk about something that happened in the past.
• Have is the plural form of the verb "to have," and it is not used to talk about something that happened in the past.
• Are is the plural form of the verb "to be," and it is not used to talk about something that happened in the past.