Question

Read this excerpt. Note the verb tense in the sentence “When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face looking back at me but I don’t recognize it.”

There is a mirror over the steel sink in my cell. It's six inches high, and scratched with the names of some guys who were here before me. When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face looking back at me but I don't recognize it. It doesn't look like me. I couldn't have changed that much in a few months.

—Monster, Walter Dean Myers

Which choice shows the same sentence properly written in past tense?

When I look into the small rectangle, I saw a face looking back at me but I don’t recognize it.
When I looked into the small rectangle, I see a face looked back at me but I didn’t recognize it.
When I looked into the small rectangle, I saw a face looking back at me but I didn’t recognize it.
When I look into the small rectangle, I saw a face looked back at me but I didn’t recognize it.

Answer 1

The sentence "When I look into the small rectangle, I see a face looking back at me but I don't recognize it" is written in present tense. The same sentence properly written in past tense would be "When I looked into the small rectangle, I saw a face looking back at me but I didn't recognize it." Therefore, the correct answer is "When I looked into the small rectangle, I saw a face looking back at me but I didn’t recognize it."

Step-by-step explanation: