Question

The number of people invited_______ fifty, but a number of them_______ absent for different reasons.

A．were, was

B．was, were

C．was, was

D．were, were

Answer 1

B

试题分析：the number of指“……的数目”，它所修饰的主语的谓语动词用单数；a number of= many,它所修饰的主语的谓语动词用复数。故选B。
点评：固定词组及句型的考查是几乎每年高考都要涉及到，所以一定要牢记这些常用的词组及句型，需要用的时候，拿过来直接用就可以了。