<p>1) I thought there was no error. Apparently there is an error at D. Why?</p>
<p>Untitled</a> - Minus.com</p>
<p>2) What's wrong with A here?</p>
<p><a href="http://min.us/mXey7aiS4%5B/url%5D">http://min.us/mXey7aiS4</a></p>
<p>government is treated as a plural noun and thus, continues must be changed to continue. </p>
<p>subject-verb agreement</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying! I was wondering why government wasn’t singular …</p>
<p>Is this from the BB?</p>
<p>Oh… And for the second question, A is wrong because it should be “debate on”.</p>
<p>The questions are from an old PSAT. The moral of the story: College Board considers “government” to be plural.</p>
<p>Yeppppp. It helps to know what the College board thinks of some controversial topics…</p>
<p>both links lead to the same page by the way</p>
<p>sorry, i didn’t notice there was another photo on the right</p>
<p>For (1), simplifying the sentence a bit:</p>
<p>It is imperative that the government continue(s) to protect artists’ freedom of expression.</p>
<p>So is it continue or continues?</p>
<p>First. note that government is singular. So the ambiguity of singular versus plural is not the issue. The expression “It is imperative” is what controls the tense in the above sentence. When emphasizing importance or urgency you need the subjunctive, and in this example that means “continue”.</p>
<p>Some other examples:</p>
<p>It is important that Robert do his homework.
It is crucial that you come before Sarah.</p>
<p>Here’s a partial list of expressions that are followed by the subjunctive:</p>
<p>It is best (that)
It is crucial (that)
It is desirable (that)
It is essential (that)
It is imperative (that)
It is important (that)
It is recommended (that)
It is urgent (that)
It is vital (that)
It is a good idea (that)
It is a bad idea (that)</p>
<p>^ Fogcity is 100 % right. Government is singular in THIS context.</p>
<p>2) Idiom error. I think debate (about or against).</p>
<p>Subjunctive clarifies #1. For #2, I’m pretty sure it’s “debate on” because it’s debating on “something”. “Debate with” is only used when it’s debated with “someone”.</p>
<p>So you use the plural with the subjunctive, fogcity? </p>
<p>E.g. If I were you … It is crucial that he complete his work …</p>
<p>here is a simple explanation:</p>
<p>copied from an old thread on this question:</p>
<p>The subjunctive mood is being used. It is imperative that the government not censor this exhibit. It is imperative that the government continue (not “continues”) to protect artists’ freedom of expression. Normally we would use “continues” since “government” is singular, but the subjunctive mood requires a plural verb in this case. The subjunctive mood is used to express a wish, a recommendation, a possibility, etc. Here are some examples of the subjunctive mood:
If I were a billionaire, I would buy me a mansion.
It is necessary that he behave appropriately.</p>
<p>Where did you get this PSAT?</p>
<p>Just posting to say that this thread helped me understand the subjunctive a lot better. Good stuff.</p>