In many of her landscape paintings from the 1970s and 1980s, Lebanese American artist Etel Adnan worked to capture the essence of California’s fog-shrouded Mount Tamalpais region through abstraction, using splotches of color to represent the area’s features. Interestingly, the triangle representing the mountain itself blank among the few defined figures in her paintings.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
are
have been
were
is
Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is subject–verb agreement. The singular verb “is” agrees in number with the singular subject “the triangle.”
Choice A is incorrect because the plural verb “are” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “the triangle.” Choice B is incorrect because the plural verb “have been” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “the triangle.” Choice C is incorrect because the plural verb “were” doesn’t agree in number with the singular subject “the triangle.”