Question 75·Hard·Form, Structure, and Sense
Either the volunteer coordinators or the event manager, along with the rest of the planning committee, ______ responsible for ensuring that all city permits are filed before the festival begins.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject–verb agreement questions, first locate the core subject by mentally crossing out extra phrases (such as “along with the rest of…” or prepositional phrases). In “either…or” and “neither…nor” constructions, make the verb agree with the subject nearest to the verb, not necessarily the first one. Then check the tense against other verbs in the sentence to be sure the time frame is consistent. Finally, eliminate any answer choices that do not match both the subject’s number (singular/plural) and the sentence’s tense, which is often enough to leave just one correct option.
Hints
Locate the subject of the blank
Cover the middle of the sentence with your finger and ask: Who or what ______ responsible for ensuring that permits are filed?
Use the either…or rule
In an “either…or” structure, which noun comes right before the blank: “volunteer coordinators” or “event manager”? Make the verb agree in number (singular or plural) with that noun.
Ignore extra phrases when deciding number
Treat “along with the rest of the planning committee” as extra information. Does it change whether the main subject (the word right before the blank) is singular or plural?
Decide on the time frame
Look at “are filed” and “begins” later in the sentence. Do they describe something happening now as a general rule, or something that already happened? Choose a verb form that matches that time.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the question is testing
Look at the blank: it comes right before the adjective “responsible.” The answer choices are different verb forms (are, were, have been, is), so this question is testing subject–verb agreement and verb tense.
Find the core subject of the verb
Focus on the part before the blank: “Either the volunteer coordinators or the event manager, along with the rest of the planning committee, ______ responsible…”
- This is an either…or construction: “Either A or B.”
- In such constructions, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.
- The noun closest to the blank is “the event manager”, which is singular.
- The phrase “along with the rest of the planning committee” is extra information, not part of the core subject, so it does not change the subject from singular to plural.
So the verb must be singular to agree with “event manager.”
Determine the correct tense
Now decide on the time frame. The sentence describes an ongoing rule or responsibility about permits: “…responsible for ensuring that all city permits are filed before the festival begins.”
The verbs “are filed” and “begins” are in the present, showing a general, current responsibility—not something that already happened and finished in the past.
So the missing verb should be present tense and singular.
Match the correct choice to the needed form
We need a verb that is both singular and present tense:
- are → present plural
- were → past plural
- have been → present perfect plural
- is → present singular
Only “is” is singular and present, so the sentence should read: “Either the volunteer coordinators or the event manager, along with the rest of the planning committee, is responsible for ensuring that all city permits are filed before the festival begins.”