adkikani wrote:
haritrathi94Here is how I would break it down:
The
interior minister explained that (presence of that suggests another dependent clause)
one of the best characteristics of the village’s planning proposal
was that
it did not detract from the project’s overall benefit by being a burden on the development budget.
generis I at times falter for 10 s to know verb for phrases such as
one of the best characteristicsThe reason why need a singular verb
was to refer to above complete phrase and not
a plural verb
characteristics is that a noun in the prepositional phrase cannot be a subject of the plural verb - were. Am I correct?
adkikani , you are correct. "Characteristics" is the object of a preposition.
The object of a preposition cannot be the subject of the sentence.C is correct because "one of the Xs" is singular. C's verb, WAS, is singular."ONE OF THE Xs""ONE OF THE Xs" + VERB is always singular
"ONE OF THE Xs"
that/who + VERB is always plural
So look for the words "that" and "who" after "one of the Xs."
Not there? Singular.
There? Plural.
If we think about it in context, those two rules make sense. In the first case, the person is the only one [of the Xs] who does Y. In the second case, the person is not the only one [of the Xs] to do Y.
Singular ("one of the Xs" VERB)
One of the athletes protests injustice by taking a knee.Meaning: He is the only athlete who chooses taking a knee to emphasize a protest. Other athletes do not protest by taking a knee.
Other athletes protest in different way. Some wear colored ribbons.
Others raise clenched fists (and are stripped of gold and silver medals).
Only this athlete is known to protest in this way.
• In the singular case in which only THE is used (WITHOUT WHO or THAT), no other Xs do this action. Only one of the Xs does this action.
(singular) One . . .protests (singular)
• In the plural case with THAT or WHO, there are many Xs who do this action.
Plural ("one of the Xs" that/who VERB)He is one of the athletes WHO protest injustice by taking a knee.Meaning: There are many athletes who protest by taking a knee.There is a group of athletes who protest by taking a knee, and he is one of (part of) that group. He is one of many who protest in that way.(plural) athletes . . . protest
So,
adkikani , in correctly deciding that the object of a preposition could not be the subject of the sentence, you got to the correct conclusion: the subject is singular.
*******
workout , maybe I am missing something you intend, but . . . As you note, the prepositional phrase can affect the subject and hence determine whether the verb should be singular our plural.
So I agree that the prepositional phrase modifies the subject -- but the subject in the example used is "some," not "students."
In other words, the object of the preposition (students) is not the subject of the sentence. I think what I see may be a typo.
thangvietnam , E is utter nonsense.
Answer E is indeed missing a "that."
If you read the thread, you will see that others have already discussed other problems with Answer E.
If you have any specific questions about E, please let us know!
*****
adkikani , I hope that helps.
_________________
In the depths of winter, I finally learned
that within me there lay an invincible summer.
-- Albert Camus, "Return to Tipasa"
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90% (00:54) correct 
