Fill in the blanks.

Dec. 7, 1941 —at five minutes to eight o’clock , 183 Japanese warplanes ……………………. (devastate / devasted / were devastating) the island of Oahu in Hawaii . Today, over 80 years later, more than 1.5 million people a year ……………………. (visit / visited / have visited) the memorial that …………………… (float / floats / have floated) over the sunken warship Arizona to pay homage to the loss of life that …………………… (occurred / have occurred /had occured) on what US President Franklin D. Roosevelt would call “a date which will live in infamy.”

For all intents and purposes, the World War II …………………. (begins /began / begun) for the United States when the first attack wave ……………………. (reach / reached / had reached) the U.S. Pacific Fleet stationed at Oahu ‘s Pearl Harbor . Although the U.S. military forces in Pearl Harbor …………………… (has been / was / had been) recently strengthened, the base was not at a state of high alert. Many people were just waking when the first bombs ……………………. (dropped / were dropped / had dropped). No one ……………………. (was prepared / prepared / preparing) to do battle.

Answers

Dec. 7, 1941 —at five minutes to eight o’clock , 183 Japanese warplanes devastated the island of Oahu in Hawaii . Today, over 80 years later, more than 1.5 million people a year visit the memorial that floats over the sunken warship Arizona to pay homage to the loss of life that occurred on what US President Franklin D. Roosevelt would call “a date which will live in infamy.”

For all intents and purposes, the World War II began for the United States when the first attack wave reached the U.S. Pacific Fleet stationed at Oahu ‘s Pearl Harbor . Although the U.S. military forces in Pearl Harbor had been recently strengthened, the base was not at a state of high alert. Many people were just waking when the first bombs were dropped. No one was prepared to do battle.