Little ______ that the small experimental software script would eventually evolve into an international operating platform.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: C. did they suspect

  1. Step 1: Apply negative inversion rule: Commencing with the negative/limiting adverb 'Little' mandates subject-auxiliary inversion.
  2. Step 2: The auxiliary 'did' precedes the subject 'they', followed by base verb 'suspect': 'did they suspect'.
Answer
did they suspect.
Why not the others: 'they suspected' and 'they had suspected' fail to invert; 'had they suspect' uses ungrammatical base form with 'had'.

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