Which sentence has an error in subject-verb agreement? a) the pile of leaves that had been sitting at the end of the road for weeks began to decompose slowly. b) there are entirely too many ketchup bottles in the refrigerator, and some of them must be thrown away. c) unlike most runners, charles--even if parched--would never drink any water at any point during the run. d) the man, in the next apartment, as well as the people across the hall, have lived in the building since 1960.

The answer is:

D) The man, in the next apartment, as well as the people across the hall, have lived in the building since 1960.

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and the verb must possess the same number. Thus, when the subject is singular, the verb must be singular; and when the subject is plural, the verb must be plural too.

In sentence D, there is no subject-verb agreement because the subject is singular (the man) and the auxiliary verb is plural (have). The correct sentence is:

The man, in the next apartment, as well as the people across the hall, has lived in the building since 1960.

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)