SAT OwlQuestion bank / Form, Structure, and Sense
The collection of handwritten recipes that the Moss family passed down over five generations, along with the notes and corrections added by each new cook, ______ now housed in a university library.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
are
is
have been
were
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
The subject is "collection," which is singular. The long phrases after it, including "along with the notes and corrections," don't change its number. The sentence describes the present ("now"), so the singular "is" is correct.
Choice A agrees with the nearby plural nouns "recipes" or "notes and corrections," but none of those is the subject.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. "Are" agrees with nearby plural nouns, but the subject is the singular "collection."
- C. "Have been" is plural. A phrase beginning with "along with" doesn't make the singular subject plural.
- D. "Were" is plural and past tense, while the sentence needs a singular verb in the present.
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