1000 SC - 857

[RM]

857. There is speculation that increasing cold weather was what may have been responsible for the Anasazi move from Mesa Verde to sites in other canyons.
(A) that increasing cold weather was what may have been
(B) whether increasing cold weather was what was
(C) that increasingly cold weather was what had been
(D) whether increasingly cold weather may have been what was
(E) that increasingly cold weather may have been

Answer is E, i think "increasing cold weather" is the subject here so can we use "have"(plural) for it. With subject phrase we should use singular verb.

[jayhawk2001]

You need "increasingly" here - discard A and B.

C uses "had been" which isn't correct

D is awkwardly constructed

My vote for E as well

[[email protected]]

HAVE here goes with MAY.
For example: He may have done it, you do not use he may has done.
Hope this answers

[winnerhere]

why increasingly ...not increasing

[f2001290]

Only an adverb can modify an adjective. In this example, "increasingly" is an adverb that modifies adjective "cold". "Increasing" is an adjective.

[BTGmoderatorRO]

following concord agreement that 'when the verb of the first sentence is singular, the verb of the second sentence must be singular' or 'when the verb of the first sentence is plural, the verb of the second sentence must be plural'

'that increasing cold weather was what may have been' contains a past tense verb which doesn't fit in with the usage of the verb 'is'. option A-D contain a past tense was/had.

Thus option E is the correct option based on my view and self explanation