Question 220·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
The massive redwoods of Northern California _____ among the tallest trees on Earth, often reaching heights of over 300 feet.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb-form questions, first isolate the subject and decide whether it is singular or plural; ignore extra details and prepositional phrases (like "of Northern California") that can distract from the true subject. Next, use the rest of the sentence to determine the tense (present, past, or perfect) that matches the meaning—general facts usually use simple present. Then choose the answer that matches both the subject’s number and the sentence’s time frame, and quickly rule out any options with mismatched singular/plural or incorrect tense.
Hints
Find the subject
Ask yourself: which word is actually doing the action in the sentence—"Northern California" or "redwoods"?
Decide on singular or plural
Once you know the subject, decide if it is singular (one) or plural (more than one). That will determine whether the verb should be singular or plural.
Check the time being described
Is the sentence describing a general fact that is true now, something that only happened in the past, or something completed at a specific time?
Match subject and tense
Eliminate any choices that do not match both the number (singular/plural) of the subject and the time frame implied by the rest of the sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the subject of the sentence
Look at the main noun that the verb must agree with: "The massive redwoods of Northern California _____ among the tallest trees on Earth." The core subject is "redwoods", not "Northern California" or "trees." "Redwoods" is a plural noun (more than one redwood).
Determine the needed verb number (singular vs. plural)
Because the subject "redwoods" is plural, the verb must also be plural to follow subject-verb agreement rules. In simple present tense, plural subjects usually take the base form of the verb (no -s at the end), while singular subjects typically take the -s form (for example, "tree stands" vs. "trees stand").
Check the time frame (tense) from context
The sentence describes a general, timeless fact about redwoods: they are among the tallest trees on Earth and often reach over 300 feet. The words "among the tallest trees on Earth" and "often reaching" signal a present, ongoing condition, not something only in the past or completed.
Match both subject and tense to choose the correct verb
We need a plural verb form in the present tense to agree with the plural subject "redwoods" and the general present fact the sentence states. The only answer choice that is both present tense and plural is "stand", so the correct completion is: "The massive redwoods of Northern California stand among the tallest trees on Earth, often reaching heights of over 300 feet."