Not until the auditors had submitted their exhaustive report ___ the full extent of procedural lapses become evident.
The question tests the grammatical rule for sentences starting with negative adverbial clauses, specifically "Not until".
Grammar Rule: Negative Adverbials and Inversion
When a sentence begins with a negative adverbial phrase like "Not until", "Never", "Hardly", "Scarcely", etc., the word order in the main clause is inverted. This means the auxiliary verb comes before the subject.
The standard structure is:
Not until + [Clause/Phrase] , + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb ...
Applying the Rule to the Sentence
- The negative adverbial phrase is: $Not until the auditors had submitted their exhaustive report$
- The main clause is: $the full extent of procedural lapses become evident$
- The subject of the main clause is: $the full extent of procedural lapses$
- The main verb is: $become$ (in its base form)
Determining the Correct Auxiliary Verb
Since the main verb $become$ is in the base form, we need an auxiliary verb that precedes it. The context "had submitted" indicates a past action. Therefore, the past tense auxiliary verb is required for the inversion.
- Option 1: $did$. This forms the structure: $did$ + subject + $become$. Example: "Not until the report was submitted, did the problems become clear." This fits the rule perfectly.
- Option 2: $had$. While past perfect uses $had$, the inversion structure requires the auxiliary first. If $had$ were used, the structure would typically be $had$ + subject + past participle (e.g., "had become"). The sentence uses the base form "become", not "become".
- Option 3: $was$. This is a form of "to be" and doesn't fit grammatically with the base verb "become" in this inverted structure.
- Option 4: $has$. This is a present tense auxiliary and does not match the past context established by "had submitted".
Therefore, the correct auxiliary verb to complete the inverted structure is $did$.
Final Sentence
Not until the auditors had submitted their exhaustive report did the full extent of procedural lapses become evident.
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