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Question

Difficulty: EasySubject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

Read the sentence below: "One of the principal objectives of the new environmental policies _____ to reduce carbon emissions across all industrial sectors." Which of the options correctly completes the sentence?

  1. isAnswer
  2. B
    are
  3. C
    were
  4. D
    have been

Answer

The singular verb 'is' correctly completes the sentence.
The correct verb choice is 'is' because the grammatical subject of the sentence is the singular pronoun 'One'. Intervening plural phrases such as 'of the new environmental policies' do not alter the singular nature of the subject.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the complete subject phrase in the sentence.
The subject phrase is 'One of the principal objectives of the new environmental policies'.
The main verb must agree syntactically with the head of this subject phrase.
2
Determine the syntactic head noun/pronoun of the subject.
The head of the phrase is 'One' (singular). The post-modifying prepositional phrases ('of the principal objectives', 'of the new environmental policies') do not change the number of the subject head.
Nouns inside intervening prepositional phrases do not govern the verb.
3
Match the singular subject head to the appropriate singular verb.
The singular present tense verb 'is' completes the sentence correctly.
Singular subjects require singular verbs in English concord.

Key Concept

Subject-Verb Agreement with 'One of + Plural Noun'
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Topics

Subject-Verb Agreement (Concord)

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