I have an exercise related to verb forms / tenses. I have solved 9/10 questions easily, just the question below makes me confused:
Choose the correct form of verbs to fill in each blank.
Singapore housewife invents useful device
A useful device for getting rid of cockroaches has just been invented
by a housewife. The device is called ‘Stop-Roach’ and will soon be on
sale in department store and large shops.‘Stop-Roach’ consists of a hollow cylinder and movable valve. It is
placed in any drain or opening where there are cockroaches.
Cockroaches trying to enter the house through the drain will find it
impossible to get through the device.‘Stop-Roach’ has been subjected to thorough tests by the Environment
Ministry and the invention has now been patented. It has been found
completely foolproof against invasions of cockroaches from drains and
sewers. It _____ that ‘Stop-Roach’ will be on sale very soon for
under ten dollars.A. expects
B. is expected
C. has expected
D. has been expectedSource: https://english4u.com.vn/de-thi-tieng-anh-lop-10/bai-tap-tieng-anh-lop-10-unit-5-co-dap-an-n436
The book's answer key is B (is expected). However, I don't know why the author doesn't choose option D (has been expected). I think the present perfect in option D can be used for something (be expected) that started in the past and continues in the present, so option D is also a correct answer for this question.
Is my understanding correct in this case?
Best Answer
Option D isn't grammatically wrong, but it isn't "as right" either. The reason that I would prefer Option B is that as of right now, we expect that Stop-Roach will be on sale soon, so it is expected.
Saying "it has been expected" emphasizes the starting-in-the-past nature of the expectation. If I were to read that somewhere, I would think, "And what happened? Obviously people have been expecting it for a while, so why has it been delayed?" And actually, it's not clear that the expectation started in the past. We say that Stop-Roach has been subjected to tests, and has been found effective because those things are in the past, but we don't actually have any evidence that the expectation started in the past, so it's clearer to say that we currently expect it to go on sale.