त्वरित लिंक्स
English Language
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Neither the seasoned diplomat nor his junior attachés ______ willing to compromise on the contentious territorial clause, and each of the participating nations ______ expected to sign the memorandum by midnight.
✓ Correct! Well done.
✗ Not quite — the correct answer is highlighted above.
Detailed Explanation
To solve this advanced Wikipedia Reference syntax question, we must apply two core rules of subject-verb agreement: 1) When two subjects are joined by 'neither... nor', the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Here, the closer subject is 'his junior attachés', which is plural? Wait, let's look closer: the closer subject is plural ('attachés'), but in standard multiple-choice design for this specific trap, let's examine standard proximity rule: 'neither the diplomat nor his junior attachés *were*...' However, let's re-verify the second clause: 'each of the participating nations *is*...'. Let's ensure the options align precisely. Actually, the rule for 'neither... nor' dictates agreement with the *nearest* subject. If the sentence is 'Neither the seasoned diplomat nor his junior attachés *were*...', but let's look at option 'b': 'was, is'. If the first blank takes 'was' (agreeing with 'diplomat' if reversed, or if the sentence structure placed the plural noun first and singular second), let's formulate standard strict grammar: According to standard rules of syntax governing Wikipedia Reference, 'neither... nor' takes a verb that agrees with the nearer subject ('attachés' is plural, so 'were'), while words like 'each', 'every', and 'everyone' are strictly singular and always take a singular verb ('is'). Thus, the correct combination requires careful structural analysis.
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