Ten thousand dollars is (a) / the prize money being offered (b) / by the game show hosts. (c) / No error (d)
- (a)Ten thousand dollars is
- (b)the prize money being offered
- (c)by the game show hosts.
- (d)No error
Correct — D, 'No error'. A sum of money is treated as a single quantity, so 'Ten thousand dollars is' correctly takes a singular verb even though 'dollars' is plural in form. The rest of the sentence is sound too — 'the prize money being offered' is a well-formed passive participle phrase, and 'by the game show hosts' is its agent.
- (a)Ten thousand dollars is — It looks wrong because 'dollars' is plural, but an amount of money counts as one unit and takes 'is'.
- (b)the prize money being offered — 'The prize money being offered' correctly uses a passive participle to modify the noun.
- (c)by the game show hosts. — 'By the game show hosts' is a well-formed agent phrase for a passive construction.
Amounts of money, distance, time and weight take a singular verb when the whole amount is treated as one unit.
This is the item in the block with nothing wrong in it, and the plural-looking subject is the bait. The same rule gives 'Ten kilometres is a long walk' and 'Five years is a long time to wait'.
- A measured amount treated as a single quantity takes a singular verb, as in 'Ten thousand dollars is the prize money'.
- Marking segment (a) wrong on the sight of a plural noun before a singular verb.
- Assuming every spotting-error item must contain an error.
Asked as a spotting-errors item — name the segment that contains the error, or mark 'No error'.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Spot the error. Twenty kilometres are (a) / too long a distance (b) / to walk in one day. (c) / No error (d)
- (a)Twenty kilometres are
- (b)too long a distance
- (c)to walk in one day.
- (d)No error
Answer(a) Twenty kilometres are — a distance treated as one quantity takes 'is'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Spot the error. Five years is (a) / a long time to wait (b) / for a decision. (c) / No error (d)
- (a)Five years is
- (b)a long time to wait
- (c)for a decision.
- (d)No error
Answer(d) No error — an amount of time treated as one unit correctly takes the singular 'is'.