IPMAT Indore 2024 · Verbal Ability · Question 22

The error: subject–verb agreement. The subject of the underlined clause is “hopes” — plural. The verb must therefore be seem, not seems.

A singular verb has been attracted to the nearest noun (“deal”), which is a classic agreement trap when a long modifier separates subject from verb. Strip it out:

the Board’s hopes … seem to be increasingly improbable

The second issue: the apostrophe. The sentence refers to a single governing body making the negotiations, so Board’s (singular possessive) is appropriate. Boards’ would mean several boards share one set of hopes, which the context does not support.

Why the others fail:

(b) retains the singular seems ✘ and keeps the plural Boards’ ✘.

(c) fixes the verb to seem ✔ but keeps Boards’ ✘ and introduces a clumsy doubled preposition, “hopes on continued talks on a future deal”.

(d) fixes the apostrophe ✔ but keeps seems ✘.

Only (a) corrects both.

Answer: Option 1

Shortcut. Two-error questions are solved by elimination on one error at a time.

Pass 1 — the verb. Must be seem (plural subject “hopes”). That kills (b) and (d). Pass 2 — the apostrophe. Must be Board’s (one board). Between the survivors (a) and (c), only (a) has it.

Done in two passes, without reading the options in full. The general technique: find the error you are most confident about, filter on it, then apply the second filter to whatever remains. Never evaluate four long options as wholes.