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Difficulty: HardSubject-Verb Agreement

The behavior of these deep-sea organisms, including the bioluminescent lanternfish that inhabit the midnight zone, remain a mystery to marine biologists. Research expeditions continue to discover new species in these extreme environments.

Which of the following choices is the grammatically correct replacement for the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. remainsAnswer
  3. C
    remained
  4. D
    are remaining

Answer

remains
The singular verb 'remains' correctly agrees with the singular subject 'behavior'. The intervening prepositional phrase 'of these deep-sea organisms' and the parenthetical element 'including the bioluminescent lanternfish that inhabit the midnight zone' contain plural nouns ('organisms', 'lanternfish') but do not alter the singular nature of the subject.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the true grammatical subject of the sentence by stripping away intervening prepositional and parenthetical phrases.
The subject is the singular noun 'behavior' (from 'The behavior of these deep-sea organisms...').
Identifying the true subject prevents matching the verb to distraction nouns like 'organisms' or 'lanternfish'.
2
Determine the correct number (singular or plural) for the verb to match the subject.
Since the subject 'behavior' is singular, the verb must be singular.
Subject-verb agreement requires a singular subject to take a singular verb.
3
Check the surrounding context to determine the appropriate tense.
The context is in the present tense (e.g., 'continue' in the next sentence), so the verb should be in the present tense ('remains').
This avoids unnecessary or illogical tense shifts.

Key Concept

Subject-verb agreement requires a verb to agree in number with its subject, even when separated by intervening prepositional phrases, appositives, or parenthetical information.
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement

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