The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New

D.

Meaning : Town meetings are forum for discussion.

A) The institutional nature of the town meetings in many New England communities serves as >> gramatically right, meaning wise wrong. 'The institutional nature' is not forum

B) The institution of the town meetings in many New England communities serve to be >> S - V error. plus meaning error. 'The institution' is not forum

C) Institutionally, the town meetings in many New England communities serve as >> wrong meaning.

D) The town meeting, an institution in many New England communities, serves as >> Correct choice. Town meetings are forum

E) In many New England communities, the town meeting, an institution, serves to be >> 'Serves to be' is wrong

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

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.

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?

Great Question guy,

A. The ...nature of... serves as...--> nonsense, out
B and E: serve to be --> out
C. the town meetings....serves as A forum--> parallelism

D is the best

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"

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?

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