PERT Practice Test 2025 – Comprehensive Study Guide for Postsecondary Education Readiness Success!

The correct choice is "had never," as it effectively conveys the past perfect tense. This tense is used to express an action that was completed before another point in the past. In the phrase "Sam had never seen a more beautiful painting before that day," the structure indicates that up until that specific past moment (that day), Sam had not experienced seeing a painting that he considered beautiful.

The past perfect tense is appropriate here because it emphasizes the relationship between the two past actions: Sam's lack of experience (having never seen such a painting) and the reference point in the past ("that day"). This clarification makes it clear that the experience of seeing the beautiful painting is an event that occurred later in the timeline, reinforcing the meaning of the sentence.

In contrast, the other verb tenses provided do not fit this context. "Has never" would indicate something relevant to the present, implying that Sam still hasn't seen a beautiful painting up to the present time, which alters the intended meaning. "Will never" suggests a future action that will not happen, which is also inconsistent with the past setting of the sentence.