SAT Math › Agreement
The traditional view of archaeologists usually involves a college professor who spends much of his or her time digging and researching in ancient foreign libraries or a museum curator who works every day to preserve the artifacts the museum holds. While this view isn’t completely incorrect, it is incomplete, both in terms of the types of jobs available to archaeologists and in the types of work within those jobs. For example, college professors may spend summers at dig sites, but much of their time is also spent writing grants, teaching students, and writing about their research projects. Additionally, although there are still many people who work in archaeology as professors and museum curators, the demand for these jobs far outstrips the number of positions available, making the positions difficult to acquire.
NO CHANGE
work
do work
worked
This problem asks you to find the proper form of the verb “work,” and showcases a handful of important lessons. For one, note that the verb “works” follows the relative pronoun “who” - this means that this verb applies specifically to the word that “who” is modifying, which is “curator.” So while this sentence involves many nouns, the only one that matters here is “curator.” For that reason, the noun must be singular, eliminating choices "work" and "do work", which are plural.
"Worked" is also incorrect, as the past tense implies that this curator in question has completed this work. Note that everything else in the sentence is ongoing: the traditional view “involves,” the professor “spends.” Therefore to suggest that this one action is completed while the others are ongoing is illogical, making this incorrect. The correct answer is "NO CHANGE", which uses a singular, ongoing verb “works.”
The traditional view of archaeologists usually involves a college professor who spends much of his or her time digging and researching in ancient foreign libraries or a museum curator who works every day to preserve the artifacts the museum holds. While this view isn’t completely incorrect, it is incomplete, both in terms of the types of jobs available to archaeologists and in the types of work within those jobs. For example, college professors may spend summers at dig sites, but much of their time is also spent writing grants, teaching students, and writing about their research projects. Additionally, although there are still many people who work in archaeology as professors and museum curators, the demand for these jobs far outstrips the number of positions available, making the positions difficult to acquire.
NO CHANGE
work
do work
worked
This problem asks you to find the proper form of the verb “work,” and showcases a handful of important lessons. For one, note that the verb “works” follows the relative pronoun “who” - this means that this verb applies specifically to the word that “who” is modifying, which is “curator.” So while this sentence involves many nouns, the only one that matters here is “curator.” For that reason, the noun must be singular, eliminating choices "work" and "do work", which are plural.
"Worked" is also incorrect, as the past tense implies that this curator in question has completed this work. Note that everything else in the sentence is ongoing: the traditional view “involves,” the professor “spends.” Therefore to suggest that this one action is completed while the others are ongoing is illogical, making this incorrect. The correct answer is "NO CHANGE", which uses a singular, ongoing verb “works.”
The traditional view of archaeologists usually involves a college professor who spends much of his or her time digging and researching in ancient foreign libraries or a museum curator who works every day to preserve the artifacts the museum holds. While this view isn’t completely incorrect, it is incomplete, both in terms of the types of jobs available to archaeologists and in the types of work within those jobs. For example, college professors may spend summers at dig sites, but much of their time is also spent writing grants, teaching students, and writing about their research projects. Additionally, although there are still many people who work in archaeology as professors and museum curators, the demand for these jobs far outstrips the number of positions available, making the positions difficult to acquire.
NO CHANGE
work
do work
worked
This problem asks you to find the proper form of the verb “work,” and showcases a handful of important lessons. For one, note that the verb “works” follows the relative pronoun “who” - this means that this verb applies specifically to the word that “who” is modifying, which is “curator.” So while this sentence involves many nouns, the only one that matters here is “curator.” For that reason, the noun must be singular, eliminating choices "work" and "do work", which are plural.
"Worked" is also incorrect, as the past tense implies that this curator in question has completed this work. Note that everything else in the sentence is ongoing: the traditional view “involves,” the professor “spends.” Therefore to suggest that this one action is completed while the others are ongoing is illogical, making this incorrect. The correct answer is "NO CHANGE", which uses a singular, ongoing verb “works.”
The traditional view of archaeologists usually involves a college professor who spends much of his or her time digging and researching in ancient foreign libraries or a museum curator who works every day to preserve the artifacts the museum holds. While this view isn’t completely incorrect, it is incomplete, both in terms of the types of jobs available to archaeologists and in the types of work within those jobs. For example, college professors may spend summers at dig sites, but much of their time is also spent writing grants, teaching students, and writing about their research projects. Additionally, although there are still many people who work in archaeology as professors and museum curators, the demand for these jobs far outstrips the number of positions available, making the positions difficult to acquire.
NO CHANGE
work
do work
worked
This problem asks you to find the proper form of the verb “work,” and showcases a handful of important lessons. For one, note that the verb “works” follows the relative pronoun “who” - this means that this verb applies specifically to the word that “who” is modifying, which is “curator.” So while this sentence involves many nouns, the only one that matters here is “curator.” For that reason, the noun must be singular, eliminating choices "work" and "do work", which are plural.
"Worked" is also incorrect, as the past tense implies that this curator in question has completed this work. Note that everything else in the sentence is ongoing: the traditional view “involves,” the professor “spends.” Therefore to suggest that this one action is completed while the others are ongoing is illogical, making this incorrect. The correct answer is "NO CHANGE", which uses a singular, ongoing verb “works.”
The traditional view of archaeologists usually involves a college professor who spends much of his or her time digging and researching in ancient foreign libraries or a museum curator who works every day to preserve the artifacts the museum holds. While this view isn’t completely incorrect, it is incomplete, both in terms of the types of jobs available to archaeologists and in the types of work within those jobs. For example, college professors may spend summers at dig sites, but much of their time is also spent writing grants, teaching students, and writing about their research projects. Additionally, although there are still many people who work in archaeology as professors and museum curators, the demand for these jobs far outstrips the number of positions available, making the positions difficult to acquire.
NO CHANGE
work
do work
worked
This problem asks you to find the proper form of the verb “work,” and showcases a handful of important lessons. For one, note that the verb “works” follows the relative pronoun “who” - this means that this verb applies specifically to the word that “who” is modifying, which is “curator.” So while this sentence involves many nouns, the only one that matters here is “curator.” For that reason, the noun must be singular, eliminating choices "work" and "do work", which are plural.
"Worked" is also incorrect, as the past tense implies that this curator in question has completed this work. Note that everything else in the sentence is ongoing: the traditional view “involves,” the professor “spends.” Therefore to suggest that this one action is completed while the others are ongoing is illogical, making this incorrect. The correct answer is "NO CHANGE", which uses a singular, ongoing verb “works.”
The damage caused by the series of storms was relatively minimal, but among the casualties were a cluster of farmhouses on the western outskirts of the town.
NO CHANGE
was
are
have been
In this example, we are being tested on subject-verb agreement. In order to effectively eliminate wrong answers and arrive at the correct answer, we’ll need to determine the subject by addressing who or what “was/where/are/have been among the casualties. This case is particularly tricky, as it involves subject-verb inversion - where the subject comes after the verb. The subject of the sentence that is referred to as “among the casualties” is “a cluster.” We describe the cluster as “a cluster of farmhouses” to provide additional context, but the subject “a cluster” itself is singular, despite being accompanied by a plural noun in its modifying context. With this in mind, the only answer option that agrees with the singular subject “a cluster” is “was.” “Were,” “are,” and “have been” are all plural verbs that would require a plural subject.
The damage caused by the series of storms was relatively minimal, but among the casualties were a cluster of farmhouses on the western outskirts of the town.
NO CHANGE
was
are
have been
In this example, we are being tested on subject-verb agreement. In order to effectively eliminate wrong answers and arrive at the correct answer, we’ll need to determine the subject by addressing who or what “was/where/are/have been among the casualties. This case is particularly tricky, as it involves subject-verb inversion - where the subject comes after the verb. The subject of the sentence that is referred to as “among the casualties” is “a cluster.” We describe the cluster as “a cluster of farmhouses” to provide additional context, but the subject “a cluster” itself is singular, despite being accompanied by a plural noun in its modifying context. With this in mind, the only answer option that agrees with the singular subject “a cluster” is “was.” “Were,” “are,” and “have been” are all plural verbs that would require a plural subject.
The damage caused by the series of storms was relatively minimal, but among the casualties were a cluster of farmhouses on the western outskirts of the town.
NO CHANGE
was
are
have been
In this example, we are being tested on subject-verb agreement. In order to effectively eliminate wrong answers and arrive at the correct answer, we’ll need to determine the subject by addressing who or what “was/where/are/have been among the casualties. This case is particularly tricky, as it involves subject-verb inversion - where the subject comes after the verb. The subject of the sentence that is referred to as “among the casualties” is “a cluster.” We describe the cluster as “a cluster of farmhouses” to provide additional context, but the subject “a cluster” itself is singular, despite being accompanied by a plural noun in its modifying context. With this in mind, the only answer option that agrees with the singular subject “a cluster” is “was.” “Were,” “are,” and “have been” are all plural verbs that would require a plural subject.
The damage caused by the series of storms was relatively minimal, but among the casualties were a cluster of farmhouses on the western outskirts of the town.
NO CHANGE
was
are
have been
In this example, we are being tested on subject-verb agreement. In order to effectively eliminate wrong answers and arrive at the correct answer, we’ll need to determine the subject by addressing who or what “was/where/are/have been among the casualties. This case is particularly tricky, as it involves subject-verb inversion - where the subject comes after the verb. The subject of the sentence that is referred to as “among the casualties” is “a cluster.” We describe the cluster as “a cluster of farmhouses” to provide additional context, but the subject “a cluster” itself is singular, despite being accompanied by a plural noun in its modifying context. With this in mind, the only answer option that agrees with the singular subject “a cluster” is “was.” “Were,” “are,” and “have been” are all plural verbs that would require a plural subject.
The damage caused by the series of storms was relatively minimal, but among the casualties were a cluster of farmhouses on the western outskirts of the town.
NO CHANGE
was
are
have been
In this example, we are being tested on subject-verb agreement. In order to effectively eliminate wrong answers and arrive at the correct answer, we’ll need to determine the subject by addressing who or what “was/where/are/have been among the casualties. This case is particularly tricky, as it involves subject-verb inversion - where the subject comes after the verb. The subject of the sentence that is referred to as “among the casualties” is “a cluster.” We describe the cluster as “a cluster of farmhouses” to provide additional context, but the subject “a cluster” itself is singular, despite being accompanied by a plural noun in its modifying context. With this in mind, the only answer option that agrees with the singular subject “a cluster” is “was.” “Were,” “are,” and “have been” are all plural verbs that would require a plural subject.