Choose the option that correctly fills both gaps.
By the time we arrived, the guests ___ already ___ and the table ___ cleared.
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Верный ответ
- Bhad; left; had been
Разбор
The sentence describes two past events: the guests leaving and the table being cleared both happened before we arrived. So the Past Perfect is needed. The first gap needs the auxiliary "had" and the participle "left" (had left). The table does not clear itself, so a passive form is needed: "had been cleared". The option "had; left; had been" gives both correctly. "had; left; was being" is wrong because the Past Continuous Passive shows an action in progress, not one finished before we arrived. "have; left; had been" is wrong because the Present Perfect "have" does not fit the past context. "had; been left; has been" is wrong because "had been left" changes the meaning and "has been" is Present Perfect.