Review the item:
To ensure that the ragged edges of his essay did not inspire Professor Varner’s rage, Jack carefully __________ the fuzzies from the sheets of paper.

The blank requires the simple past of tear, an irregular verb. Tore is the simple past form.

Verb Simple
Present
Simple
Past
Past
Participle
tear tear(s) tore torn

Had torn, the form you chose, is the past perfect tense. You only use this tense if you have two verbs in the sentence, one indicating an action that comes before the other. Before you continue, review the rules for irregular verbs.

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