was
were
had
are
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
The correct answer is A. was.
The sentence is in the simple past tense, which is used to talk about events that happened at a specific time in the past. The subject of the sentence is “one of students,” which is singular. Therefore, the verb must also be singular. The options B, C, and D are all plural verbs, so they are incorrect.
Option A, was, is the only singular verb that is grammatically correct. It is also the most logical choice, as it makes sense to say that one student was absent, rather than were absent or had or are.