Never before has the city been in greater need of modern public transport than it is t

Never before _______ in greater need of modern public transport than it is today.
A. has this city been B. this city has been
C. was this city D. this city was
(05上海高考试题39题) 答案是A 为什么不用 C?
题干中是以前状况和现在状况的对比呀, 应该选C呀!!

Never before暗示使用完成时态的。对比看看：
（1）I was never happier before than I am today.（2）I have never been happier before than I am today.
那句是正确表达“我从未像今天这么快乐过”？当然是第二种表达，因为是把从过去到今天之前的那一大段时期来跟“今天”对比，强调从过去到现在都不比今天的程度，也就是强调这是至今为止最大的程度。

再看一句：I was not richer than I am today, but I used to be a lot happier.“我以前并没有今天这般富有，但我过去比现在快乐得多。” 这才是简单的今昔对比。

This city has never been in greater need
一 直 到 现 在 ， 是 延 续 的 情 况 ， 而 费 定 在 过 去 的 某 一 点 。

1.before是答题线索
2.本句意思是:从未有过像现在如此大的需求量,强调结果
3.本句考点主要在NEVER句首,句子倒装.