请教补充885题中的主谓一致问题

luoyx

12. Darwin was not the first to advance a theory of evolution; his tremendous originality lay in the fact that he proposed the idea of natural selection as the means by which evolution worked.
(A) lay in the fact that he proposed the idea
(B) lay in the fact of his proposing the idea
(C) laid in the fact of his proposing the idea
(D) laid in his proposal
(E) lay in his proposal

The key is E. “his tremendous originality” 是单数，为什么不用lays?


11. In the most common procedure for harvesting forage crops such as alfalfa, as much as 20 percent of the leaf and small-stem material, which is the most nutritious of all the parts of the plant, shattered and fell to the ground.
(A) which is the most nutritious of all the parts of the plant, shattered and fell
(B) the most nutritious of all parts of the plant, shatter and fall
(C) the parts of the plant which were most nutritious, will shatter and fall
(D) the most nutritious parts of the plant, shatters and falls
(E) parts of the plant which are the most nutritious, have shattered and fallen

The key is D. "the most nutritious parts" 指代单数不可数名词material，为什么不用part?

dullpen

12. lay在该句中是lie的过去式,不是动词原级. 例句challenges that lies ahead.

11.the most nutritious parts是指代两种单数不可数名词material：leaf and small-stem material，所以应当用parts

super_lee

第一题：lay是lie的过去式
第二题：“as much as 20 percent of the leaf and small-stem material,”注意有个and。

wxiaobin

(1) lie in 的过去式
(2)不是关键的问题把，我觉得两者都可以

luoyx

第二题：

如果leaf and small-stem material是两个单数不可数名词，那么谓语就不能用shatters and falls。

luoyx

up

braveMBA

yes

luoyx

Yes？

但为什么答案D中parts和shatters and falls同时出现？两者是否有冲突？

braveMBA

the most nutritious parts of the plant是修饰the leaf [and] small-stem material，但是shatters and falls的主语是as [much] as 20 percent of []，是不可数的。

你的问题：
“如果leaf and small-stem material是两个单数不可数名词，那么谓语就不能用shatters and falls”
如果leaf and small-stem material shatter and fall。

不知道我是不是理解了你的问题。

luoyx

BraveMBA,

对于 "但是shatters and falls的主语是as [much] as 20 percent of []，是不可数的。"，我有不同看法。

as much as 是一个副词，可以修饰可数和不可数名词。注意它不同于as much.... as. 故as much as 20 percent of sth的谓语应取决于sth是单数还是复数。以下句子是我在网上查到的。

As much as 20 percent of 2 million inmates held in US prisons live in perpetual fear

Fifteen percent of New Yorkers arrived in New York City in the last 10 years and as much as 20 percent of New York City’s residents are not U. S. citizens.

Every time you open the oven door, as much as 20 percent of the heat escapes.

因此对于本题的谓语shatter and fall的单复数应取决于leaf and small-stem material。 通过“parts"可以看出leaf and small-stem material是复数，因此谓语也应该用复数。所以原题答案还是有冲突的。

不知道我有没有说清楚。