It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that led to the discovery of

Hello sudarshan22,
I would go for option A. I found a S-V mismatch in option E.
In option E, the subject is "the anomalies" not the whole "anomalies in the orbit". Subject doesn't come within a prepositional term "in the orbit of uranus".

Please argue if I am wrong.

Confused between A and E.

(A) It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that --> Looks legit, "anomalies in the orbit" is singular subject phrase

(B) It was the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies that

(C) They were anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that

(D) The orbit of Uranus being anomalous was what

(E) The anomalies in the orbit of Uranus was what --> Looks legit as well, "anomalies in the orbit" is singular subject phrase

Hi sudarshan22,

I have a doubt in option A.

Doesn't that refers to "Anomalies"? That is a Singular Pronoun but Anomalies is a Plural. Can you please help to clarify the same.

No no, do not get confused here "that" does not refer to just "anomalies - Plural" but "anomalies in the orbit of Uranus - Singular".
Please refer to above post from jackspire and daagh for more clarification.

Yes. Think of it this way:
It was A that led to the discovery of B.

A - Noun or Noun phrase
'that' is a relative pronoun here and can stand for singular noun or plural noun or noun phrase.
Check this post on the many uses of 'that': https://anaprep.com/sentence-correction ... s-of-that/

Anomalies led to the discovery of B - unclear. Which anomalies? Not known.
Anomalies in the orbit of Uranus led to the discovery of B - clear.
The prepositional phrase 'in the orbit of Uranus' is essential to describe what led to the discovery. It restricts the anomalies to certain specific anomalies about which we are talking. Hence, 'that' refers to the entire noun phrases - it refers to those particular anomalies.

It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that led to the discovery of Neptune.


(A) It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that

Subject verb mismatch. Anamolies is plural and "was" is singular INCORRECT

(B) It was the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies that

"showing anomalies" correctly modifies Uranus and conveys the meaning that the orbit of Uranus led to the discovery of Neptune. Singular "was" is correctly used with singular subject "orbit"

(C) They were anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that

No meaningful antecedent for pronoun "they" INCORRECT

(D) The orbit of Uranus being anomalous was what

orbit itself cannot be anamolous. INCORRECT

(E) The anomalies in the orbit of Uranus was what

Subject verb mismatch. Anamolies is plural and "was" is singular INCORRECT

Hence option B

It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that led to the discovery of Neptune.


(A) It was anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that

(B) It was the orbit of Uranus showing anomalies that --> correct

(C) They were anomalies in the orbit of Uranus that

(D) The orbit of Uranus being anomalous was what

(E) The anomalies in the orbit of Uranus was what --> should be "were"

You are correct, answer must be option A. Option E can be omitted for the reason you have mentioned.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

While the previous sentence required you to improve expression, this question doesn't give you a viable opportunity to correct the rather clumsy phrase at the beginning of the sentence. The original sentence is, perhaps surprisingly, grammatically correct because this is a special type of construction. The entire underlined portion of the sentence operates as the singular subject for led. Since you would never want to choose this option without carefully reviewing the remaining choices, you would probably arrive at the answer by eliminating the others. (B) is a wordier version of (A), so eliminate it. They were anomalies in (C) is just not idiomatic. (D) and (E) seem promising at the start since they seem to provide active alternatives, but being anomalous is ugly enough to disqualify (D) and the subject and verb don't agree in (E). Go with (A).

Can "that" refer to a noun phrase - "anomalies in the orbit of Uranus", with a plural subject