The teacher asked the students to hand in their essays ______ Friday.

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Multiple Choice

The teacher asked the students to hand in their essays ______ Friday.

Explanation:
This item tests how we express deadlines with time prepositions. When you want something to be finished no later than a certain time, you use by. Here, the teacher wants the essays submitted not later than Friday, so the natural form is to say hand in their essays by Friday, meaning on or before that day. Using on Friday would place the action on that specific day rather than mark it as the deadline; before Friday would mean strictly earlier than Friday and excludes Friday itself; after Friday would mean the submission happens later, which isn’t the idea. So by Friday best captures the intended deadline.

This item tests how we express deadlines with time prepositions. When you want something to be finished no later than a certain time, you use by. Here, the teacher wants the essays submitted not later than Friday, so the natural form is to say hand in their essays by Friday, meaning on or before that day. Using on Friday would place the action on that specific day rather than mark it as the deadline; before Friday would mean strictly earlier than Friday and excludes Friday itself; after Friday would mean the submission happens later, which isn’t the idea. So by Friday best captures the intended deadline.

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