Find the part of the sentence that contains an error: What the committee failed to deliberate on adequately (1) / were not the po…

Question

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:

What the committee failed to deliberate on adequately (1) / were not the policy's objectives themselves, (2) / but the political ramifications it (3) / might have had if implemented without broader consensus. (4)

1. A. (1)
2. B. (2) (Correct answer)
3. C. (3)
4. D. (4)

Correct Answer

Option B — (2)

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is part (2).

Key Points

• The subject is the noun clause "What the committee failed to deliberate on adequately", and a *what*-clause of this kind is treated as singular.
• Part (2) uses the plural verb were; it should be was not the policy's objectives themselves.
• The plural noun *objectives* sitting after the verb creates the illusion of a plural subject, which is the trap. In this construction the verb agrees with the clause, not with the complement that follows.

Additional Information

• Noun clauses beginning with what, whatever, whoever take singular verbs: "What matters is the result", "Whoever arrives first gets the seat."
• The same principle governs the number of (singular) against a number of (plural), and *each, every, either, neither*, all singular.
• Where the complement is plural but the subject singular, keep the verb with the subject: "The cause of the delays was the strikes."
• Reading the subject and verb together with everything between them removed exposes the mismatch immediately.