+HOT Competition 4 Sep/9AM: The epicure has long maintained that her

Veritas Prep Explanation:

The correct answer is D.

This answer achieves full agreement between the plural compound subject “good food, fine wine, and all of life’s other sensual pleasures,” the plural verb “are,” and the plural object “the keys.” Almost all of the other answers fail in at least one of these regards.

Answer A mixes the singular subject “her passion” with the plural verb “are” and the plural object “the keys.” This is incorrect agreement, so Answer A is wrong.

Answer B is trickier, since it mixes the singular subject “her passion” with the singular verb “is.” However, Answer B still includes the plural object “the keys.” It both lacks agreement and makes little sense to say that “her passion is the keys.”

Answer C mixes the singular subject “her passion” with the plural verb “were” and the plural object “the keys.” Additionally, the past tense “were” is at least a little bit odd, suggesting that these things are no longer her passions nor the keys to her attainment of true happiness. Even if “were” were the subjunctive, it would make no sense – there is nothing hypothetical or contrary to fact about what this sentence describes. And the subject “passion” would not agree with the object “keys” in any case.

Answer E changes the structure so that the subject becomes “good food, fine wine, and all of life’s other sensual pleasures.” However, this answer fails sentence construction because the clause beginning with “that” lacks a verb and does not form a complete thought; the clause “all of them were her passions…” is a separate independent clause. Additionally, the past tense “were” is at least a little bit odd, suggesting that these things are no longer her passions nor the keys to her attainment of true happiness.