<p>the volunteers,( upon discovering ) that ( a large number ) of the village children( were) infected by parasites from ( un clean ) drinking water , decided to make the well digging project their highest priority.no error</p>
<p>I know the answer is E no error because "A number of" is plural. "The number of" is singular and also A number more than one is being considered. There is a plural in both children and in the number. If you were to say,"A large number was infected" the context would be incorrect. This is because we are talking about a 'number' more than one. So it should be"A large number were infected."</p>
<p>but according to this role how can this sentence is not the same :S</p>
<p>The collection of paintings entitled "Clammy Clam Clams" are one of the most widely traveled exhibits in recent years.</p>
<p>the error is "are'' how come?</p>
<p>The last time I checked, most nouns that use “a” are singular. 
So, “a number of…” is singular, no matter how many parts are in it.</p>
<p>when I checked I found a rule that says “A number of” is plural. “The number of” is singular’’ so I’m totally confused :S :S</p>
<p>I would think that the plural is “children” not " a number of":/</p>
<p>Forget that “of village children” exists. The prepositional phrase DOESN’T MATTER when it comes to subject-verb agreement.</p>
<p>because in this sentence there is no error</p>
<p>To Lanayru Do you mean a large number is the subject and the verb should be was?</p>
<p>“The collection of paintings entitled “Clammy Clam Clams” are one of the most widely traveled exhibits in recent years.”</p>
<p>^ While “number” in the first case is like a placeholder for an actual number, “collection” in the second sentence is a collective noun. In American English, collective nouns are almost always singular. If “are” was correct, that would mean each painting in the collection was doing/being something itself. Instead, the “collection” refers to the whole of the group… ah this is getting confusing
[The</a> Collective Noun](<a href=“http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/collectivenoun.htm]The”>The Collective Noun | Grammar Bytes!)
Does this help?</p>
<p>yes, “was” is correct. Cut out the fluff of the sentence and presto!
“…that a ---- number ----------- WAS --------…”</p>
<p>Ignoring prepositional phrases generally works for subject-verb agreement. However, there are some exceptions.</p>
<p>“A number of” needs a plural verb.
“The number of” needs a singular verb.</p>
<p>See the below references from various colleges:
[Agreement[/url</a>]
[url=<a href=“http://www.towson.edu/ows/sub-verb.htm]Subject-Verb”>Subject-Verb Agreement]Subject-Verb</a> Agreement](<a href=“http://faculty.washington.edu/marynell/grammar/agreement.html]Agreement[/url”>Agreement)
[Plural</a> Noun Forms](<a href="http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm]Plural">http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm)"</p>
<p>As gossamer has mentioned, “The collection of” is used as a collective noun, which needs a singular verb.</p>
<p>So perhaps our first poster copied down the question wrong? I remember this one from the Jan 2012 test, so it’s official…</p>
<p>^ Both questions provided by the original poster, as he has written them, have the correct answers. E (No error) is the correct answer for the first question and “are” for the second question.</p>
<p>I’m confused by the post above ^^^ from knowthestuff</p>
<p>Collection is singular so the verb is singular – i.e. “is”.</p>
<p>This question is not from a recent SAT. It dates back several years – possibly a Kaplan question.</p>
<p>Yeah this is from Kaplan and they’re as I’ve writen them the answer for the first one is E and the error in the second one is are…for lanayru was isn’t correct in the first one</p>
<p>“The collection are”, think of it that way. Does that sound right? No, so it’s wrong</p>
<p>Oops, sorry! I did the Kaplan right before the march sat so that’s why I thought I’d seen this before…
<em>ahem</em>
DON’T DO THIRD PARTY BOOKS 'cause they have errors :)</p>