Question 114·Hard·Form, Structure, and Sense
Neither the council members nor the mayor ______ willing to concede that the transportation proposal, hailed six months ago as an innovative solution, should be abandoned so soon.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject-verb agreement questions, first find the true subject of the verb that fills the blank, especially in structures like "either...or" and "neither...nor," where the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Determine whether that subject is singular or plural and what time the sentence describes (present, past, ongoing), then quickly eliminate any answer choices whose number or tense does not match. Focus on the grammar cue words around the blank, not on the longer descriptive phrases that can distract you.
Hints
Locate the part of the subject closest to the blank
Focus on the phrase right before the blank: after "Neither the council members nor," which word is the subject that is directly next to the blank?
Decide on singular vs. plural
Ask yourself whether that closest subject refers to one person/thing or more than one, and remember the verb must match that in number.
Consider the time of the action
Is the sentence talking about something that is currently true, something that was true in the past, or something that has continued over time? Choose the verb form whose tense best matches that time.
Compare the options to your decision
Once you know if you need a singular or plural verb and which tense is appropriate, eliminate any choices that do not match both requirements.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the subject near the blank
Locate the full subject of the verb that will go in the blank. The sentence uses the structure "Neither the council members nor the mayor ______ willing..." In "neither...nor" constructions, the verb agrees with the subject that comes closest to the verb—in this case, "the mayor."
Decide if that subject is singular or plural
Ask: Is "the mayor" referring to one person or more than one? "Mayor" is singular, so the verb that follows must also be singular to match it.
Check which tense fits the sentence
The word "willing" shows a present-time attitude, not an ongoing or completed past action. The sentence is describing their current willingness, so it needs a simple present-tense linking verb (not a perfect tense like "have been" or "has been").
Match the correct verb form to the subject
A singular, present-tense linking verb that fits is "is." The other choices either are plural ("are") or use the wrong tense ("have been," "has been"). Therefore, the correct answer is B) is.