<p>I'm not quite understanding why this is the correct answer. </p>
<p>Both her work on community service projects and her dedication to learning
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………A
has gained Ms.Stevens the respect of the entire faculty. No Error
.....B…………………………………………C……………………D………….....…… E</p>
<p>The Collegeboard's answer is B. Their explanation is
[quote]
The error in the sentence occurs at (B). The singular verb phrase "has gained" does not agree with the plural compound subject "work . . . and . . . dedication" and should be replaced with the plural verb phrase "have gained."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Could someone explain this in a little more detail to me. I'm actually quite surprised I don't understand this question, since I only miss 3-5 Qs per section.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>There isn’t much to explain in detail. This is a rather straightforward subject-verb agreement question: “work…and…dedication” is a plural subject. One does not say, “Work and dedication is…”</p>
<p>“Has” is a singular verb; “have” is a plural verb. If the verb is singular, the subject must be singular; if it is plural, then the subject must be plural, and vice-versa.</p>
<p>“Her work . . .” is singular: “her work has gained. . . .” “Her dedication . . .” is singular: “her dedication has gained.” “Her work . . . and her dedication . . .” must be plural since it is a combination of two singular entities. Both her work AND her dedication HAVE gained Ms. Stevens respect.</p>
<p>Three months ago these fellows used to drive me crazy!
Then I read somewhere the rule that when you have “and” this means combining. Like “Both Mary and George have cats.” In a hypothetical situation Mary and George do not live together, don’t even know each other, thus they cannot be assumed to be a pair or sth followed by a singular verb. It is the same as in “Both I and my sister have cats.” To rephrase it comes like this “We both have cats.” </p>
<p>Mary and George - they
“They have cats.”
It is the same in your example. Nor “her work on community service projects” neither “her dedication to learning” has gained her the respect ( here is used Singular form because you refer to one of them, separately), but both of them, combined, have succeeded in gaining her the respect/have succeeded in gaining her the respect.</p>
<p>I hope I have helped!</p>
<p>Oh. Whoa. I think my head wasn’t working. Thanks for the help silverturtle, crazybandit, and maskerade</p>