Question 2·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
In Gabriel García Márquez’s 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, the town of Macondo is repeatedly visited by seemingly supernatural events that, despite their extraordinary nature, _____ by the characters as ordinary aspects of daily life.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb-agreement and tense questions in relative clauses (those starting with words like "that," "who," or "which"), first locate the real subject of the verb inside the clause—ignore any extra phrases between commas. Decide if that subject is singular or plural, then look at the rest of the sentence to determine the main tense being used (present, past, etc.). Quickly cross out any answer choices that don’t match both the subject’s number and the sentence’s tense, and choose the remaining option that fits smoothly in context.
Hints
Find the subject of the verb in the blank
Look at the words just before the comma and the blank. What noun are the words in the blank describing or referring back to?
Check if that subject is singular or plural
Ask yourself: am I talking about one thing or more than one thing? The verb form must match that.
Match the verb tense to the rest of the sentence
Notice the verb tense used earlier in the sentence ("is repeatedly visited"). Should the blank also describe something as generally true in the story right now, or something completed in the past?
Combine number and tense to narrow options
Eliminate any choices that are singular when the subject is plural, or that use a tense that doesn’t fit the overall description of the novel in the sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the verb in the blank refers to
Look at the clause around the blank:
"...events that, despite their extraordinary nature, _____ by the characters as ordinary aspects of daily life."
The verb in the blank describes what is happening to the "events." So the subject of the verb is "events" inside the relative clause "events that..."
Determine if the subject is singular or plural
The word "events" is plural (more than one event).
Because of this, the verb you choose must also be plural to agree with the subject in number.
Match the tense to the rest of the sentence
Earlier in the sentence, the town "is repeatedly visited" by these events. This is present tense, describing how the novel portrays the town and its events in a general, ongoing way.
So, in the blank, you also need a present-tense passive verb form that fits with a plural subject: "events ____ by the characters."
Eliminate choices that don’t match number or tense, then choose
Now check each option against what you know:
- You need a plural verb form because of "events."
- You need present tense to match "is repeatedly visited."
Choice A uses a singular verb, so it does not agree with "events." Choices B and C use past or present perfect, not simple present. Only "are accepted" is both plural and present tense, so D) are accepted is correct.