Question 188·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
The list of recommended articles, along with several illustrative diagrams, ______ on the final page of the report.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject–verb agreement questions, first strip away extra phrases (such as "of ...," "along with ...," and clauses between commas) to find the core subject. Decide whether that subject is singular or plural, then match it with a verb form that agrees in number. Finally, check that the tense fits the context (simple present is usually used to describe what a text, chart, or figure contains right now), and beware of being distracted by nearby plural nouns that are not actually the subject.
Hints
Locate the main noun (subject)
Cover the phrase with commas and prepositional phrases and see what core is left. Ask yourself: what thing is on the final page of the report?
Watch out for misleading plural nouns
There are several plural nouns ("articles," "diagrams") in the sentence. Check whether they are actually the subject or just part of describing the subject.
Match verb number and tense
Once you know if the subject is singular or plural, choose a verb form that matches its number and fits a neutral description of what is in the report now.
Compare the verb endings
Look at how each option ends (-s, no -s, or with helping verbs). Think about which one sounds like a simple, present-time description for a single item.
Step-by-step Explanation
Find the subject of the sentence
Ignore the blank for now and look for the main noun that is doing the action. The sentence begins: "The list of recommended articles, along with several illustrative diagrams, ____ on the final page of the report." The key noun here is "list." That is what is on the final page.
Ignore extra phrases that do not change the subject
The words "of recommended articles" and "along with several illustrative diagrams" are extra phrases that describe or add extra information about the "list." They do not change the subject from singular to plural. So the subject is still the singular noun "list," not "articles" or "diagrams."
Decide on singular vs. plural verb
Because the subject "list" is singular, the verb must also be singular. In the present tense, singular verbs usually end in -s (for example, "list appears," "report includes"). Plural verbs do not end in -s (for example, "lists appear," "reports include").
Choose the option that is singular and in the right tense
We want a singular present-tense verb to describe where something is located in a report. Among the choices, "appear" is plural. "Has appeared" is singular but uses the present perfect tense, which is not the usual way to describe what is on a page right now. "Were appearing" is both past tense and plural. The only option that is singular and in the simple present tense is "appears", so that is the correct answer.