Question

American fathers more than twice the amount of time with their children than they used to in years

American fathers more than twice the amount of time with their children than they used to in years past, due to a sweeping new trend called “unemployment”.

A．were spending B．spent C．are spending D．have spent

Answer 1

美国的父亲们用在陪他们孩子身上的时间比之过去的几年多了两倍，因为一个刚刚苏起名字“下岗”。根据句意选择花费“spend”,再叛断时态：“called”应为过去式，而较之“ used to in years past”可见当前这种状态正在发生着，故选择过去进行式，答案为A

Answer 2

首先排除A,D。因为这是一种完成状态，不可能使用进行时，所以选D。

Answer 3

B，翻译：由于失业这一“新趋势”，美国的父亲们有比以前多两倍的时间来陪孩子。比的是"years past“，花的是今年已经过去的时间，应该用过去时"spent"。