Select the correct option:

No sooner _________ the report released than the media erupted with criticism.

Correct Answer: was

Explanation:

When a sentence begins with a negative adverbial phrase such as "No sooner", inverted sentence structure (subject-auxiliary inversion) must be used. This means that an auxiliary verb comes before the subject.

The standard structure for "No sooner" is:

No sooner + auxiliary verb + subject + past participle + than + subject + past simple verb

OR in passive voice:

No sooner + was/were + subject + past participle + than ...

In the given sentence, "the report" is a singular noun phrase, and "released" is a past participle used passively (the report was released). Therefore, the singular past tense auxiliary verb "was" is required to complete the passive construction: "No sooner was the report released than the media erupted with criticism."