A subject-verb agreement question tests whether a verb matches its subject, the person or thing it's about. Sort the forms by number, then read the whole sentence for the subject's main verb, which says what it does or is. An -ing form needs a helper to be a main verb. Ask who or what does the verb describe?, setting aside nearby phrases. Test with it or they: one thing takes a singular verb, and more than one takes a plural verb.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the words after the blank and check which noun “explore” belongs to. Does that verb already tell you what the edited version does?
- Hint 2
Look for the subject after extra phrases are removed. Set aside “Unlike the original manuscript” and “of the novel” so you can test what's left with it or they.
Step-by-step
Find the subject and its missing verb
Step 1Sort the verb forms
Include and have included work with they, so put them in the plural group. Including is an -ing form, which needs a helper to be a main verb, the verb saying what a subject does or is. These choices differ in number and main-verb form. Does the edited version already have a verb saying what it does?
- Step 2
Check for the missing main verb
Read past the blank to that explore the protagonist's childhood. What does explore describe? It says what the chapters do, so it belongs to a separate clause, a group of words with its own subject and verb. Nothing else says what the version does, which means the blank must give the version its main verb. That rules out including, because it has no helper here.
- Step 3
Find the true subject
What is the true subject of that missing verb? Set aside Unlike the original manuscript, which tells us what the edited version differs from, and of the novel, which tells us which version it is. That leaves the edited version, so the subject is one version. The manuscript and novel aren't separate subjects, and the chapters are what the version contains.
- Step 4
Match the singular form
Replace the edited version with it, then try the number check: it includes several chapters. The singular form includes matches the subject and gives the sentence the main verb it needs. Choice B.