Final answer:
The English question requires a past tense verb to complete a sentence about properties that were close to each other, impacting privacy. The texts provided offer context about the effects of neighboring environments and living conditions that are relevant to the student's assignment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question, 'Both our properties _____ which made privacy impossible for us as neighbors,' falls under the English subject. This sentence requires the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence in the past tense context provided by the additional reference texts. A suitable completion would be 'were adjacent to each other,' which indicates that the properties were close to one another, making privacy difficult. The reference texts give various contexts about neighboring, privacy, and living conditions, which help in understanding the appropriate use of tense and context for the sentences provided.
For example, the text mentioning 'abode without birds' and the text about the greenhouses support the theme of proximity and the impact of the surrounding environment on individual experiences. Similarly, the text about the collie dog and Alexander illustrates a physical barrier that is nearly breached due to proximity, again underscoring the theme.