Form, Structure, and Sense Flashcards

The jury _______ its verdict after six hours of deliberation.

Answer: announced

'Jury' is a collective noun used as singular in American English, and simple past 'announced' correctly fits the past-tense narrative context.

Everyone on the swim team _______ expected to attend morning practice on weekdays.

Answer: is

'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun that always takes a singular verb; 'is' is correct.

The author, as well as her editors, _______ pleased with the final manuscript.

Answer: was

'As well as' introduces a parenthetical phrase that doesn't change the subject; 'author' is singular, so 'was' is correct.

The athletes trained hard every day so that _______ could compete at the highest level.

Answer: they

'Athletes' is a plural antecedent, requiring the plural pronoun 'they' for agreement.

The researcher _______ three experiments before reaching a definitive conclusion.

Answer: had conducted

Past perfect 'had conducted' shows that the three experiments were completed before the later action of reaching a conclusion.

The conference room's projector, which _______ repaired twice this year, broke down again during the presentation.

Answer: had been

'Had been repaired' uses past perfect because the repairs happened before the most recent breakdown in the past.

Discouraged by the repeated failures, _______ considered abandoning the project altogether.

Answer: the research team

'The research team' is the only option that can logically be discouraged; participial phrases must refer to the main subject.