The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New

Hi my doubt is how can " The town meeting be an institution in many New England communities?
institution is an organization or society of some kind right ? then how "meeting" fits here?

The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New England communities serves as a ready-made forum for discussion of topics ranging from local zoning ordinances to the Nuclear Freeze Campaign.

A) The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New England communities serves as
B) The institution of the town meetings in many New England communities serve to be
C) Institutionally, the town meetings in many New England communities serve as
D) The town meeting, an institution in many New England communities, serves as
E) In many New England communities, the town meeting, an institution, serves to be

The easiest place to start is probably with the split between "serve" and "serves." When the subject of the split verb is not itself underlined, it is often enough just to ask "what performs that verb" and to match the verb to that subject. Here, though, the subject is underlined as well, and so we have to be more careful.

In A, the subject of the singular verb "serves" is the singular noun "nature." Those agree.
In B, the subject of the plural noun "serve" is the singular noun "institution." ELIMINATE.
In C, the subject of the plural verb "serve" is the plural noun "meetings." Those agree.
In D, the subject of the singular verb "serves" is the singular noun "meeting." Those agree.
In E, the subject of the singular verb "serves" is the singular noun "meeting." Those agree.
Hmm...that wasn't terribly helpful.

I'd next do what I don't generally like to do: eliminate each wrong answer based on it's own unique faults.
Let's eliminate A, because it is the meeting, rather than the institutional nature of the meeting, that actually serves as a forum.
Let's eliminate C, because it's unclear what, if anything, the adverb "institutionally" means here.
Let's eliminate E because of the unidiomatic "serves to be."
That leaves D.

Edited to address Jp27's question.
See the second American Heritage definition, or the fourth Century Dictionary definition here.
https://www.wordnik.com/words/institution

Thanks Michael ! Great explanation. I was confused between C and D and chose C over D because the question talks about "The meetings" and "D" only talks about "The meeting". Anyway, I got it now.

Thanks for a fantastic explanation. In this particular question, a good starting point for elimination could also include ' serves as'

Is the only error in C the word Institutionally? To me, it correctly modifies town meetings and just means "for the community at large, the town meeting XYZ"

An adverb cannot modify a noun - it modifies an adjective or a verb. Here the adverb "institutionally" modifies the verb "serve", not the noun "meetings". In option C the implied meaning is that the "serving" is institutional - however the intended meaning is that the meeting is institutional.

Meaning: What serves as a forum? The town meeting.
Look for Subject Verb agreement or disagreement.
A) The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New England communities serves as
B) The institution of the town meetings in many New England communities serve to be - Because of the "Of" phrase the institution acts as a subject and needs "serves"
C) Institutionally, the town meetings in many New England communities serve as - the town meetings, Institutionally in many England - Doesn't make sense
D) The town meeting, an institution in many New England communities, serves as - Correct choice
E) In many New England communities, the town meeting, an institution, serves to be - The meeting, In many New England communities ? Is that what we are trying to say?

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.