Question 143·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
Neither the sporadic power outages that plagued the coastal town last winter nor the scarcity of fresh water supplies _____ enough to dissuade the researchers from establishing a permanent field station there.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For subject–verb agreement questions, first underline the entire subject, especially in tricky patterns like "neither...nor," "either...or," or phrases with extra details between the subject and verb. Then, make the verb agree in number with the noun closest to it in these correlative constructions, and use context clues (time phrases like "last winter," "now," "in recent years") to choose the correct tense. Eliminating options that fail either number or tense agreement is usually faster than trying to "sound it out" by ear.
Hints
Locate the full subject
Read from the beginning of the sentence up to the blank. What is the complete subject that the missing verb will refer to, and how is it joined (what words connect the parts)?
Focus on the noun closest to the blank
In constructions with "neither...nor," the noun phrase directly before the verb is especially important. Identify that noun phrase and decide if it is singular or plural.
Use the time clue to pick the tense
The phrase "last winter" tells you when these conditions occurred. Does that suggest a present, past, or ongoing time frame for the verb you choose?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the subject and the verb spot
The blank is where the main verb of the sentence goes in the clause:
Neither the sporadic power outages that plagued the coastal town last winter nor the scarcity of fresh water supplies _____ enough to dissuade the researchers...
The entire "neither...nor" phrase is the subject of the sentence, and the verb must go in the blank.
Use the rule for "neither...nor" subjects
With subjects joined by "neither...nor," the verb usually agrees with the part of the subject that is closest to the verb (the noun right before the blank), not automatically with both together.
Here, the part right before the blank is "the scarcity of fresh water supplies".
Decide on singular or plural
The head noun in "the scarcity of fresh water supplies" is scarcity, which is singular (there is one scarcity). Because the verb must agree with this closest noun, the verb must also be singular, not plural.
Match the verb tense to the time phrase
The sentence mentions "last winter," which clearly refers to the past. So the verb should be in simple past tense, not present or present perfect.
- Eliminate are (present) and have been (present perfect).
- Among the remaining past-tense options, choose the singular past form to agree with "scarcity."
Therefore, the correct choice is "was".