Checking for subject-verb agreement is always a good first recourse. The subject of the sentence ("Not one of the investors") lies outside of the underline portion of the sentence, which means that it will dictate the conjugation of the verb that lies inside the underlined portion. The verb "is," upon careful reflection, is correct because it is in agreement with the singular subject. (Remember, the indefinite pronoun "one" is always singular). Good job recognizing that. Therefore, eliminate answer choices D and E on the basis of subject-verb disagreement.

Even though the verb agrees with the subject in answer choice B, there are two other major grammatical errors in that answer choice. First, there is an idiomatic mistake. You make an offer TO do something, not FOR doing something. As a general rule, gerunds (nouns derived from verbs, ending in -ing) should throw up red flags for you when you see them on sentence corrections. Gerunds are generally an ineffective way of stating something in English, as there is generally a more direct way of saying the same thing. Be particularly careful with the word "being." Answer choices containing "being" are almost always incorrect.

Second, what do you notice about the pronoun "they" in answer choice B? Anytime you see a pronoun on sentence corrections, you should always stop and ask yourself whether or not it agrees in form and number with the word(s) it modifies. First of all, it's not clear in answer choice B what "they" refers to. Who is signing the merger agreement? The bank? The investors? "Not one" of the investors?

Even if we do assume that "they" refers back to the subject of the sentence, remember that the subject is NOT "the investors"; rather, the subject is "not ONE of the investors," which is singular. "They" is plural, which is incorrect.

nafiul9090 wrote:Not one of the potential investors is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that includes a provision for penalties if the deal were not to be concluded.
A. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that
includes a provision for penalties if the deal were
B. is expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger agreement
including a provision for penalties if the deal was
C. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement be signed by
them with a provision for penalties if the deal were
D. are expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until it signs a merger agreement
with a provision for penalties included if the deal was
E. are expected to be making an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger
agreement including a provision for penalties if the deal were

oa is A

i think its subject verb agreement question if so then whats wrong with opB?

I feel the answer to this question is A
I will try to explain.
Comparing is expected and are expected, we need to choose is expected as the subject is ONE of the potential investors. that is singular. so we need singular verb is expected.
This eliminates option E and D.
to be making in option E is awkward !!

Now if we see the other end of the options. We need to choose between was and were. But we notice the use of IF, which by default reminds us of the topic Subjunctive mood . Here the situation(deal not being concluded) is hypothetical. So we need to choose were.!!
This eliminates option B and option D.
Also i feel to buy is idiomatically correct whereas for buying is not. Again eliminates B and D

Left with options A and C
I will go with A as it seems very straight forward:
Not one of the potential investors is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a
merger agreement is signed that includes(Essential modifier).
Also in option C. use of them seems awkward. also with a provision... should be touching the noun it modifies ie.agreement, but that is not the case, So eliminate C.

Thanks !!

in op B ..."not one" doesnt take a plural pronoun "They"

Not one of the potential investors is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that includes a provision for penalties if the deal were not to be concluded.
A. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement is signed that includes a provision for penalties if the deal were ------> Not one is singular
B. is expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger agreement including a provision for penalties if the deal was
C. is expected to make an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until a merger agreement be signed by them with a provision for penalties if the deal were
D. are expected to make an offer for buying First Interstate Bank until it signs a merger agreement with a provision for penalties included if the deal was
E. are expected to be making an offer to buy First Interstate Bank until they sign a merger agreement including a provision for penalties if the deal were

thnks guys its clear now,,,i was just lost in pronoun and subjunctive mood in op B