Question

The number of the teacher invited _____ twelve, but a number of them ___ late for different reasons.

A．were; was

B．was; was

C．was; were

D．were; were

Answer 1

C

试题分析：考查主谓一致。The number of…指“…的数量”；做主语的时候，谓语动词使用单数形式；a number of…指“许多…”修饰可数名词复数形式，在句中做主语时，谓语动词使用复数形式。句意：被邀请的老师的数量是12，但是很多老师都因为各种原因迟到了。故C正确。
点评：本文考查了名词number的两个不同的短语，The number of…指“…的数量”；做主语的时候，谓语动词使用单数形式；a number of…指“许多…”修饰可数名词复数形式，在句中做主语时，谓语动词使用复数形式。这两个用法是考查的重点，要多加识记。