<p>In the 19th century, reproductions of cathedrals or castles made entirely of ice (was often a popular feature) in north american winter carnivals
(a) was often a popular feature
(b)often were a popular features
(c)often was featured popularly
(d)often being popular features
(e)have been featured popularly </p>
<p>i solved ( B ) but i don't whether is it right or wrong , if it's wrong can u explain it for me ??</p>
<p>There is something wrong with the answers you list. If, as I suspect, (b) does not actually have the word “a” in it or, alternatively, the word “features” is “feature,” then (b) is correct. None of the others can be correct: (a) and (c) don’t work because the word “was” is referring back to “reproductions,” a plural, and thus you need “were”; (d) creates a dangling participle that refers to nothing and creates a sentence without a verb; (e) attempts to put in the present perfect when the sentence is definitely referring to a past event that occurred in the 19th century. </p>
<p>With sentences like these, the most important thing first is to figure out the subject noun to which the verb phrase is supposed to be referring. In this case it is “reproductions.” It is sometimes helpful once you identify the subject to the sentence to just remove all the words in between to see how each phrase sounds, , i.e., read the given sentence as, “In the 19th century, reproductions … (was often a popular feature) in north american winter carnivals.” Once you start thinking that way, it becomes easier to figure out what the phrase should actually be and that a “were” phrase was needed.</p>