Helen . . . . . . . . her driving test five times so far without success, but she . . . . . . . . yet.

Solution (By Examveda Team)

This question is about understanding different tenses in English. Specifically, it focuses on the difference between the present perfect and simple past tenses.

The first blank describes an action that happened multiple times in the past and is still relevant to the present. This is because Helen's attempts are still connected to her current situation. We use the present perfect tense for this (has/have + past participle).

The second blank describes Helen's current state of mind. She hasn't given up yet. This indicates an action that continues up to the present moment. Again, we use the present perfect tense here (has/have + past participle) to show this ongoing state.

Let's look at why other options are incorrect:
Option A (takes/isn't giving up): Uses the simple present tense for the first part, which doesn't show that the action happened multiple times in the past.
Option C (was taking/didn't give up): Uses the past continuous tense, which implies the action was in progress at a specific time in the past, not repeated multiple times.
Option D (is taking/doesn't give up): Uses the present continuous tense for the first part, which doesn't reflect the completed actions of taking the test multiple times.
Option E (took/wasn't giving up): Uses the simple past tense for the first part, ignoring that Helen's attempts are still relevant to the present.

Therefore, only Option B correctly uses the present perfect tense in both parts to accurately reflect the meaning of the sentence.