Question

They _________ for such an outcome; it indeed ____________ them by surprise.

• A. had not bargained, took
• B. will not bargain, will take
• C. have not bargained, takes
• D. had bargained, took
• E.

Hint:

Use the past perfect tense for an action that was not completed before another action in the past. The simple past tense is used for actions that happened after that.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The sentence talks about a past event where the people did not prepare or expect the outcome. Thus, we use the past perfect tense ("had not bargained") to indicate something that did not happen before the expected event. The second part of the sentence describes the surprise which is in the simple past tense ("took"), indicating that the surprise happened after the lack of preparation. 
Hence, the correct choice is option (a): had not bargained, took.