Lane ___ through the morning papers when the telephone ___ ?

The correct answer to the sentence 'Lane ___ through the morning papers when the telephone ___' is option A: 'was looking / rang.' This choice is appropriate for several reasons related to verb tense and the sequence of events.

Firstly, "was looking" employs the past continuous tense, which is used to describe an action that was ongoing at a specific point in the past. In this case, it highlights that Lane's activity of looking through the morning papers was in progress when something else occurred. The phrase "when the telephone ___" indicates that a sudden action took place while Lane was engaged in his reading, making the use of the continuous tense appropriate.

Secondly, "rang" is the simple past tense of the verb "ring." This tense indicates a completed action that happened at a specific moment in the past. It effectively signifies that the telephone ringing interrupted Lane's ongoing activity.

The other options present grammatical mismatches or incorrect verb forms. For example, option B incorrectly uses "were" instead of "was" because "Lane" is singular, while options C and D are grammatically incorrect with present tenses that don't fit the context of a past scenario. Thus, A ("was looking / rang") is the only fitting choice, accurately reflecting the sequence of actions in the past.