Question 233·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
Last year, each of the proposals for reducing plastic waste, including incentives for reusable containers and penalties for excessive packaging, ______ thoroughly evaluated by the committee before a final vote.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject–verb agreement questions, first strip the sentence down to its core by crossing out prepositional phrases and other extra details until you clearly see the subject and verb. Decide if the subject is singular or plural and note any time clues (like "Last year" or "currently") to determine the tense. Then quickly eliminate any answer choices that mismatch the subject’s number or the sentence’s time frame, and choose the remaining option that fits both.
Hints
Find the true subject
Ignore the long phrase in the middle (starting with "for reducing plastic waste"). What word is the sentence really talking about: "each" or "proposals"?
Check singular vs. plural
Once you know the subject, decide if it is singular or plural. Then, look for a verb that matches that number (singular with singular, plural with plural).
Use the time phrase
The sentence begins with "Last year." What verb tense usually matches an event fully completed in the past?
Eliminate mismatches
Cross out any choices that are the wrong number (singular/plural) or the wrong tense for "Last year." See what is left.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the main subject of the sentence
Ignore the extra descriptive phrases and find who or what is actually doing or receiving the action.
Sentence core:
"Last year, each of the proposals ... ______ thoroughly evaluated by the committee..."
The main subject is "each", not "proposals" or the long phrase that follows. "Each" is always treated as singular in Standard English.
Match the verb to the subject’s number (singular/plural)
Because the subject "each" is singular, the verb must also be singular.
- A singular subject needs a singular verb form.
- Plural verbs (like forms used with "they" or "proposals") will not agree with "each."
So eliminate any options that are clearly plural in form.
Use the time clue to choose the correct tense
The phrase "Last year" shows that the action happened entirely in the past.
That means the verb form should be in simple past tense, not present tense and not a present-perfect form that connects past and present.
Now you are looking for a verb that is both:
- singular (to match "each") and
- simple past (to match "Last year").
Select the choice that fits both number and tense
Review the options:
- "were" = plural, past
- "is" = singular, present
- "was" = singular, past
- "have been" = plural, present perfect
Only "was" is both singular and simple past, so the completed sentence is:
"Last year, each of the proposals for reducing plastic waste, including incentives for reusable containers and penalties for excessive packaging, was thoroughly evaluated by the committee before a final vote."