No sooner had the judge read the verdict … pandemonium broke out.

Analyze the question The sentence begins with "No sooner had the judge read the verdict ......... pandemonium broke out." We need the word that correctly completes this fixed structure.

Explain the concept "No sooner" is a comparative expression, so it is always followed by than, never "when."

The pattern is: No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + past simple

Compare it with "hardly/scarcely/barely," which take when (or before):

• Hardly had he arrived when the rain started.
• No sooner had he arrived than the rain started.

Step-by-step solution

1. The sentence starts with "No sooner," a negative adverbial that causes inversion ("had the judge read").
2. This is the "No sooner... than" correlative pair.
3. Check the options: • A. than: correct, it completes the pair. • B. when: used with hardly/scarcely, not no sooner. • C. and: does not fit the structure. • D. then: an adverb of time, not a conjunction, and it does not pair with "no sooner."

Completed sentence: No sooner had the judge read the verdict than pandemonium broke out.

Tip Remember: No sooner → THAN (both are comparative-sounding, like "sooner than"). Hardly/Scarcely → WHEN. WASSCE, JAMB, and NECO love testing this pair, so memorize it.