<p>well I don’t know how to phrase it in a grammatical form but common sense implies that it is were , I mean seriously just read the sentence and you will find it impossible to use any verb but were. </p>
<p>I know. That’s what I meant when I said that it seems easy at first. Believe it or not, this is a level 5 question. A few days ago, I would have confidently selected option E. But I read that pdf file yesterday and saw this question today, so I obviously got confused.</p>
<p>Unfortunately the document doesn’t give any example of the distance under point no. 3. Maybe there are some exceptions to that rule? I am hoping someone clarifies that.</p>
<p>The answer is E. This isn’t applicable as “final” isn’t a fraction, percentage, amount, or distance. The noun is “miles” which is plural. Therefore it needs a plural verb.</p>
<p>@Marstatic Yeah, “final” isn’t an amount, percentage, fraction, or distance. Also, just use common sense for stuff like this. The SAT is not a trick question kind of test.</p>
<p>Final is an adjective here, isn’t it? But that is irrelevant. Miles is distance, followed by “of the racecourse”. So shouldn’t the rule number 3 apply here?</p>
<p>I know, but the last two or three Error Identification can be tricky. :(</p>
<p>“Final miles” is not a distance. You can’t tell someone to walk “final miles.” It’s a description of a series of areas, therefore the rule doesn’t apply.</p>
<p>If it were “the final five miles of the racecourse” you would use “are” as it’s describing a distance.</p>
<p>It seems like @wrywry is referencing Rule 2, not Rule 3. I think the sentence is consistent with Rule 3. The verb needs to be plural since the noun “miles” is plural. “Were” is a plural verb. However, I can see the confusion because “were” can also be used as a singular verb.</p>