Question

Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:

It was not merely the fragmentation of administrative jurisdictions across sectors (1)/ that disrupted cohesive governance, but the inertia embedded in overlapping regulatory mandates (2)/ which, though designed to safeguard institutional autonomy, (3)/ ends up paralyzing inter-departmental responsiveness altogether. (4)

• A. (1)
• B. (2)
• C. (3)
• D. (4)

Answer 1

Answer:

D. (4)

• This is a subject-verb agreement error across a complex sentence. The main subject of the second clause is "the inertia" (singular), which is modified by the phrase "embedded in overlapping regulatory mandates...". Therefore, the verb that follows in part (4) must also be singular.

  • Correction: change "ends up" to ends up is already singular, wait let's look closer: "but the inertia [singular subject]... ends up [singular verb]".

  • Let's check tense consistency: The sentence starts in the past tense ("It was not merely...", "that disrupted..."). Therefore, the verb in part (4) must be shifted to the past tense to maintain consistency.

  • Correction: "...ended up paralyzing inter-departmental responsiveness altogether."