An agreement question gives you forms of one verb and tests whether it matches its subject. Sort the choices by number, setting differences in tense aside for now. Then ask who or what the verb is about, and find the true subject. One thing takes a singular verb, while more than one takes a plural verb. Replace the subject with it or they to check the forms, because the verb must match that number rather than a nearby noun.
Hints
- Hint 1
In the sentence beginning with “Today,” ask what is becoming a staple. The answer names the subject whose number the verb must match.
- Hint 2
Check whether the subject is one thing or more than one. Try replacing it with it or they to test the verb forms.
Step-by-step
Sort, find, and match
Step 1Sort by number
Sort the forms of become by number, since this grammar question needs a verb that matches its subject, the thing the verb tells us about. Which forms work with they? They have become, they are becoming, and they become all work, so these forms are plural. We can leave their different tenses aside while we find the subject.
- Step 2
Find the true subject
What is becoming a staple in literature courses? That’s the novel, the book named in the first sentence, so the true subject is singular, meaning one thing. The phrase in many high school literature courses tells us where the book is a staple. Courses names more than one class, but it isn't what the verb is about.
- Step 3
Match the singular form
Replace the novel with it and test the singular form: it has become. The helping verb is has, which works alongside become and changes to have for a plural subject. The helper has matches it, so has become completes the sentence. Choice B.