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Difficulty: EasyPlural and Possessive Nouns and Pronouns

During the late Renaissance in England, a playwright's professional success depended heavily on securing royal patronage. Because staging new productions in London's public theaters required expensive licensing fees and elaborate costumes, a theatre company without a wealthy ________ financial backing was unlikely to survive for more than a few seasons.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A
    patrons
  2. B
    patron
  3. patron'sAnswer
  4. D
    patrons'

Answer

patron's
The singular possessive noun 'patron's' correctly establishes that the financial backing belongs to one wealthy patron, which is grammatically consistent with the singular article 'a' at the start of the phrase.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the relationship between the blank and the noun phrase 'financial backing'.
The word in the blank must show possession over 'financial backing', requiring a possessive form.
The financial backing belongs to the patron, so a possessive noun is needed.
2
Determine whether the possessive noun should be singular or plural by looking at grammatical context clues.
The singular article 'a' at the beginning of the modifier ('a wealthy...') indicates that only a single patron is being referred to.
The noun must agree in number with its preceding modifiers.

Key Concept

Identifying the correct singular or plural possessive noun form based on sentence context.
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Topics

Plural and Possessive Nouns and Pronouns

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