Question 70·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
The collection of short stories by the award-winning author ______ readers with its vivid imagery and nuanced characters.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb-agreement questions, first isolate the core subject of the sentence (ignoring prepositional phrases like "of short stories"), then decide if that subject is singular or plural. Next, look at the time frame and purpose of the sentence to choose the correct tense—general statements about what something usually does normally use the simple present. Finally, eliminate any choices that do not both (1) agree in number with the subject and (2) match the needed tense and sentence structure.
Hints
Find the true subject
Look carefully at the beginning of the sentence. Is the subject "stories," "author," or something else? Identify the one main noun that the verb must agree with.
Decide singular or plural
Once you know the subject, decide whether it is singular or plural. This will control which verb forms are possible.
Check the tense and form
The sentence describes what generally happens when people read these stories. Does that call for present, past, or ongoing action? Then choose the verb form that both matches that tense and agrees in number with the subject.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the subject of the sentence
Focus on who or what is doing the action in the sentence: "The collection of short stories by the award-winning author ______ readers..." The core subject is "The collection", not "stories" or "readers." "Collection" is a singular noun.
Determine the tense and meaning needed
The sentence is making a general statement about what this collection does (its effect on readers). This kind of statement usually uses the simple present tense (for example: "The book excites readers," "Music calms people"). So we need a simple present-tense verb that matches a singular subject.
Match the verb form to a singular subject in the simple present
With a third-person singular subject like "the collection," the simple present-tense verb usually ends in -s (for example: "The movie entertains audiences," "The story fascinates children"). Among the options, the only verb form that is simple present and agrees with the singular subject "collection" is "enchants", so the correct answer is B) enchants.