<p>Question 1(BB 2nd ed pg 956 number 14)
Introducing new ideas and replacing old ones isalways a highly controversial matter,...</p>
<p>Btw this is a find the error.
I thought the answer would have to be is, since i thought [introducing new ideas and replacing old ones] is a compound subject, so shouldn't the verb agree with the plural subject.</p>
<p>However, this question was a no error, and i understand why it is (because a highly controversial matter is singular, so is would be correct).
Despite this explanation , I don't understand why that part is not considered a compound subject. Could someone help me. Thanks </p>
<p>Question 2 (BB 2nd ed pg 957 number 19)
George Thornton Emmons was one of a handful of ethnographers who commited their life to studying the Tlingit culture of the Northwest Coast.</p>
<p>The answer was C. I luckily chose C as well but for the wrong reason according the answer explanation. I chose C as the error because i thought that (their life) was modifying (one of a handful of ethnographers, and thus I thought it was a singular subject). Therefore, I thought that C was wrong because it should have been changed from "their life" to "his life."</p>
<p>Of course, my rationale is flawed according the explanation which states that the (their life) is actually modifying (ethnographers, and thus is plural). According to the explanation, (their life) should become (their lives) in order to cope with the plurality of the modified noun.</p>
<p>Could someone please explain why in this case, (ethnographers) is being modified instead of (one of the ethnographers).</p>
<p>“Could someone please explain why in this case, (ethnographers) is being modified instead of (one of the ethnographers).”</p>
<p>There is no grammatical reason; “their life” could be attempting to modify either “one” or “ethnographers.” (In most similar situations, the latter is being modified.)</p>
<p>In either case, however, C contains an error. If “one” is being modified, it should be “his life.” If “ethnographers” is being modified, it should be “their lives.”</p>
<p>I think the first one is a singular subject and not a compound one because it refers to the ACT (of introducing an old idea and replacing it or whatever) which is a singular thing.</p>
<p>Also, I’m not entirely sure how to explain the second one, but let me go ahead and try: To say he was one of the ethnographers who commited his life to studying wouldn’t make much sense because why are you introducing the handful of ethnographers in the sentence if you’re not telling us anything about them? The act of committing their lives to studying is something performed by the group of ethnographers, and the author introduces them in the sentence to say Emmons was one of them.</p>
<p>I loved my grandmother who was good person. </p>
<p>In this sentence, it’s clear that “who…” modifies grandmother,not me. This is simple analogy to sentence in the question,so same thing also applies to question.</p>
<p>1/ “introducing new ideas and replacing old ones” refers to one job. “Introducing new ideas” and “replacing old ones” cannot be separated, b/c they’re taken place at the same time. That’s what the author means, and that’s also why the rest is “a highly controversial matter”. It’s still referring to one thing.</p>
<p>2/ In standard English, the modifying clause must modify the noun standing right before it.</p>
<p>“2/ In standard English, the modifying clause must modify the noun standing right before it.”</p>
<p>I’ve read differing positions on this. Indeed, however, this may be the College Board’s stance. It was not crucial to the question, though: “their life” would be wrong whatever the context.</p>