Question

One third of the houses ______ destroyed when a terrible earthquake struck the city last night.

A．was

B．were

C．has

D．have been

Answer 1

B

考查时态与主谓一致。当做主语的名词前有分数修饰时，谓语动词与的数该名词保持一直，houses是复数形式，故谓语动词用复数。结合下文当昨晚大地震袭击这座城市时，可知前文叙述的是过去的动作，故用are的过去形式were，选B。