In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Recently, the (1)________ of heart-attacks in young Indians (2)________ increased tremendously. Doctors are surprised to note that young men and women with seemingly healthy lifestyle are suffering deadly heart attacks. (3)________ diet and exercise play a (4)________ role in a person’s overall wellbeing, mental health is also a valuable factor. The (5)________ urban lifestyle is causing anxiety and depression in young Indians which may be a major factor behind the increased numbers.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.
- (a)have
- (b)have been
- (c)had
- (d)has
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The subject is 'the number of heart-attacks in young Indians', and its head is the number, which is singular. The plural sits inside the of-phrase and does not control the verb.
So the verb has to be singular: has increased.
'Recently' plus a rise that still stands calls for the present perfect, and 'has' is the auxiliary that builds it with 'increased' → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)have — have agrees with 'heart-attacks', the noun nearest the blank, but that noun sits inside 'of heart-attacks' and cannot be the subject. The head, 'the number', is singular.
- (b)have been — Two faults at once. have is plural again, and have been increased is passive, which would need somebody doing the increasing to the attacks.
- (c)had — had increased is past perfect and needs an earlier past event to sit before. The passage stays in the present — 'Doctors are surprised', 'is causing' — so there is no such anchor.
Concept
Agreement is decided by the head of the subject, never by the noun closest to the verb. In 'the number of heart-attacks', the head is 'number' and everything after 'of' modifies it.
That is why 'the number of X has increased' is singular while 'a number of X have increased' is plural: with 'a number of', the phrase works as a quantifier meaning 'several', so the head shifts to X.
'Recently' then picks the tense. A change with present relevance takes the present perfect, has or have plus the past participle.
The distance between 'number' and the blank is the whole trap.
Cover 'of heart-attacks in young Indians' with a finger and the sentence reads 'the number has increased tremendously', which no one would write with 'have'.
Key facts
- 'The number of' plus a plural noun takes a singular verb.
- 'A number of' plus a plural noun takes a plural verb, because there the phrase means 'several'.
- The present perfect is has or have plus the past participle, and it pairs naturally with 'recently'.
- A noun inside an of-phrase can never be the subject of the sentence.
Study next
Common traps
- Letting the plural 'heart-attacks' beside the blank pull the verb into 'have'
- Choosing 'have been' and quietly turning a rise into a passive that needs an agent
- Reading 'Recently' as a past-time marker and reaching for 'had'
SSC hides the head of the subject behind an of-phrase and then asks for the verb, so the fix is always to find the head before choosing.
A cloze blank on the verb form is also keyed at 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22, where the participle 'having' is taken over 'has', 'have' and 'had'.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.