Why painting the face and perfuming the body should have persisted

I think A uses the appropriate tense to mention an event that might have taken place.

so A is the right choice.

I think this question is poorly constructed; none of the choices seem correct.

I would think that "painting the face" and "perfuming the body" would take on the verb of "have been".....

How A is correct ? I thought" painting the face and perfuming the body " is a plural subject and does not go with the "has been"
. Please explain

Hi..
What HAS BEEN referring to?
It is referring to PHRASE " Why painting the..... Through out the recorded history" and this phrase is SINGULAR..

Hope it helps

Hi r19 ,

Why.... has been the reason is the correct form.

Whenever phrases are used as a subject, they are always singular, hence take a singular verb.

Let me give you an example:

The reason I didn't attend the party and didn't attend the meeting is that I was sick.

Here the reason for both actions is just the same. Did you get the meaning I am trying to convey?

abhimahna Thanks !. I got it ..In first reading I missed to understand it is a phrase and was referring only to "painting the face and perfuming the body"

chetan2u Thankls for explaining

A. Why painting the face and perfuming the body should have persisted. ---- 1. This is describing the phenomenon of persistence that is expressed in the present perfect since the habits are still prevalent now. 2. The actual noun is substantive phrase whose verb is normally taken to be singular, though it might contain plural nouns and verbs within--- correct choice

B. How painting the face and perfuming the body could be persistent -- 'could be' means a capability, in this case, meaning as though the painting and perfuming have themselves possess a certain capability; this reasoning is absurd.
C. That painting the face and perfuming the body are persisting --- are persisting is a wrong use of tense - This is no universal generality.

D. Painting the face and perfuming the body persisting --- A compound subject but a singular verb -- An SV error.

E. The persisting of face painting and body perfuming --- The 'persisting' may pertain only to face painting, thus rendering the subject a compound and plural one and leaving the choice with an SV error, as already pointed out.

daagh -Please explain E.

I am not able to understand why E is wrong. why "The persisting" can't be used of painting and perfuming?

Hi Leo8 ,

What daagh Sir meant was E shows the following two ||

1. The persisting of face painting
2. body perfuming

Now, if we have two things ||. we should use "have been the subject" rather than "has been the subject".

Hence, the SV error.

Also, E is actually changing the meaning. As per the original meaning, we are providing the reason of something but E is not doing so.

I hope that makes sense.

I agree with abhimahna

We can't say for sure that 'the persisting of' pertains to both the nouns namely 'face painting' and 'body perfuming'. After all, 'face painting' is the proximate object of the preposition.

To make things clear it should have stated - The persisting of face painting and of body perfuming - A still better expression would have been 'the persistence of face painting and of body perfuming '.
I feel such an ambiguity is a stylistic flaw. If it does not pertain to both the nouns, then the subject consists of two entities namely, 1. The persisting of face painting and 2. Body perfuming. This is a plural subject and hence the singular verb 'has been' is faulty. This is IMO.

Thanks abhimahna and daagh Sir for the explanation.


<Why painting the face and perfuming the body should have persisted throughout recorded history>

has been the subject of a substantial amount of anthropological and psychological speculation.

vs

E. The persisting of <face painting and body perfuming> throughout recorded history
has been the subject of a substantial amount of anthropological and psychological speculation.

please correct if I am wrong.

I think E is also wrong because it changes the focus of the subject from Why x & y have existed to " The persisting of x & y

Also I thought the objects in the prepositional phrase does not dictate the plurality of the verb.
Moreover, face painting and body perfuming is two act which can be linked to persisting.

The development of x & y has been the focus of the company - Is this correct - as the development is referring to both x & y

Leo8
Yes, you are right with reference to the change of meaning. But to me, I don't look at all the errors to eliminate a choice. Even by intuition, if I sense something is wrong even by one percent, then I would rather like to keep off. As I said, the ambiguity about persistence is wrong in my opinion, but my perception has not led to a wrong choice. After all, E is not the correct answer even without going into the meaning aspect. This is how I look at things, but perhaps others may not agree. They are also welcome.

I think B is the correct choice.

(E)The persistance of face painting and body perfuming

If it were such option I would choose it.

deucebigalow and DharLog , this question is very hard. The answer is A.

The whole phrase "Why painting the face and perfuming the body should have persisted throughout recorded history" is the subject. When a phrase is the subject of a sentence, it takes a singular verb.

Answer B is incorrect. Look carefully. In B, the underlined verb in "painting the face" and "perfuming the body" could be persistent suggests that the painting and the perfuming could display the characteristic of persistence. An action such as painting cannot be persistent. The painter can be persistent. She can keep painting during a hurricane outside her studio. The act of painting itself cannot be persistent.
Answer B changes the meaning of the sentence, too, quite subtly. "How do human beings evolve?" and "Why do human beings evolve?" do not ask the same question.

DharLog , it is true that "persistence of face painting AND of body painting" would have been better. In that case, persistence would have been a singular subject correctly taking the singular "has been."

As E stands, it is hard to tell whether "persisting" captures both face painting and body painting.

Finally, although "persistence" would cure the subject/verb problem (and would cure ambiguity about whether this subject is singular or plural), this sentence is trying to convey that specialists wonder about the reason for X, WHY X continues to exist.

Hope that helps.

A is the right choice as the sentence is all about the speculation regarding the persistence of XX throughout the recorded history.

B. Wrong . " How and could" indicate that the anthro and psycho are trying to speculate how could the XX be persistent in the future.

Rest all are wrong

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