The passage below contains two blanks where verbs are missing. Write the correct present-tense form of the verb 'to reflect' for the first blank, and the correct present-tense form of the verb 'to be' for the second blank, ensuring proper subject-verb agreement throughout.
Answer:Acoustic archaeology, a field that combines physics and history, explores how ancient structures were built to manipulate sound. At the archaeological site of El Castillo, a pyramid in Mexico, the chirping echo of the quetzal bird, which is triggered by the handclaps of visitors standing at the base, 【reflects】 the complex engineering of Mayan builders. Neither the height of the steps nor the orientation of the walls 【is】 accidental; rather, each of these structural features was designed to achieve a specific acoustic effect.
Answer
The first blank should be filled with 'reflects' and the second blank should be filled with 'is'.
The correct verb form for the first blank is 'reflects' because the head noun of the subject, 'echo', is singular. The long intervening phrase describing the visitors and handclaps does not affect the subject's grammatical number. The correct verb form for the second blank is 'is' because the correlative conjunction 'neither... nor' links two singular subjects ('height' and 'orientation'). In this structure, the verb agrees with the closer subject, which is the singular noun 'orientation'. The plural noun 'walls' is object of the preposition 'of' and does not influence the verb form.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Subject-Verb Agreement with Intervening Clauses and Correlative Conjunctions
Estimated Time:1m 30s