Sentence improvement (past perfect: choose correct voice and aspect before a past event) Original sentence: "The orator had been left the auditorium before the audience stood up." Choose the best correction that expresses the earlier completed action.

Given data

• Two past-time points: (1) orator exits, (2) audience stands up.
• We need the earlier event in past perfect and in the active voice.

Concept/Approach
Use past perfect simple (had + past participle) for the action completed before another past action. Passive “had been left” would mean someone left the orator behind, which is not intended.

Step-by-step
Earlier event = orator exits → had left.Later event = audience stood up (simple past).

Option analysis
had left — correct tense/aspect/voice. ✅was left — passive and wrong meaning.had been leaving — progressive aspect unnecessary; also odd meaning.would leave — conditional/habitual, not temporal sequencing.

Final Answer
“… the orator had left … before the audience stood up.”