The bulk of the poor _____ kept in the farthest part of the town. A) is B) are C) they are D) were

Answer 1

Hello, thank you for taking the time to post your question!

Do you have any more context for your question? I think the best choice out of the list of options would be “were” just from a subject-verb agreement perspective. (A) and (C) definitely don’t work … (B) possibly works if it’s meant to be a present tense question. But I think that (D) were is the best choice out of the list of options.

Hopefully that gets you moving in the right direction! Feel free to reach out for a lesson if you have any questions beyond that! :)

Answer 2

Reason as follows: there is no way to tell whether this sentence is meant ot describe the present or the past. Therefore neither "are" not "were" is superior "were" or "are" (respectively). Since there cannot be two correct answers, these must therefore be incorrect.

Hence, the answer is "A) is."

That is also true becaue the subject, "bulk," is not plural. "poor" is plural, but it is part of a prepositional phrase that modifies (or specifies) "bulk", so "poor" does not determine the verb agreement.

Likewise, one should write, "The twenty-five children of Siona are healthy" because "children" not "Siona" is the subject.