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Ans (3): the national spelling bee were

"Neither" is always a singular subject and thus takes a singular verb. The original sentence uses the verb were, which is plural.

The singular subject ‘neither’ does not agree with the plural verb ‘were’. We need the singular verb ‘was’.

Therefore, ‘were’ must be replaced with ‘was’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.

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Ans (1): A number of houses was

The expression ‘the number’ has a singular meaning and requires a singular verb, whereas the expression ‘a number’ has a plural meaning and takes a plural verb.

In the given sentence, ‘was’ must be replaced with ‘were’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.

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Ans (2): Iceland is one of the places that is

The verb that follows the relative pronoun must agree in number with the word that comes immediately before the relative pronoun. In the given sentence, the word “places” comes before the relative pronoun “that”. Therefore, the verb that follows the relative pronoun must be plural to agree with “places” (plural noun) i.e. ‘are’.

Therefore, option (2) is the correct answer.

Note: Rules with "one of "-

1. one of the "noun"(will always be plural, except in case of a collective noun) + that/who+plural verb.

2. one of the "noun"(will always be plural) + singular verb

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Ans (2): sixteen houses, are

The verb must agree in number and person to the main subject of the sentence.

In the given sentence, the subject is ‘Jacob’ which is singular. Hence, the verb ‘are’ must be replaced with ‘is’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.

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Ans (4): and the dish washing

Parallelism uses similar words, phrases, or clauses to show that ideas have the same level of importance. It is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning.

In the given sentence, all the verbs are in the gerund form while the fourth part does not have a verb. Rather it contains a noun phrase which is erroneous. It should be replaced with ‘washing the dishes’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.

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Ans (5): No error

All the items in the list are in the same form (send, keep and make), so they are all parallel in structure. Therefore, option E is the correct answer. Note: We use 'the' definite article in front of a noun when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we are referring to. Here, use of 'the' before Never lands, implies that Tinker bell already identifies the place and has knowledge about it.

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Ans (4): lowering workers’ wages

Parallelism uses similar words, phrases, or clauses to show that ideas have the same level of importance. It is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning. When using a correlative conjunction, the words, phrases, or clauses following each part should be parallel. The sentence contains two items that use the same verb construction (reduce, cut) and a third item that uses a different verb form (lowering). Therefore, it is erroneous. It must be replaced with ‘lower’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.

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Ans (3): a few evil men

The error is in the third part of the sentence because of the usage of ‘a’ before ‘few’. ‘A few’ means ‘some’ while ‘the few’ means ‘not many, but all of those’. In the given sentence, one of those evil men whom the subject had encountered is mentioned. Therefore, ‘a few’ must be replaced with ‘the few’ to convey the required meaning.

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Ans (4): favouritism towards an eldest son

The error is in the fourth part of the sentence. When we use a superlative adjective before the noun, we use it with 'the'. This is because there's only one (or one group) of the things we are talking about. Therefore, ‘an’ must be replaced with ‘the’ to make the sentence grammatically correct.

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Ans (1): What snack would

The error is in the first part of the sentence because of the usage of ‘what’. What seeks the answer from an undefined set while which asks you to choose among possible options. Therefore, ‘what’ must be replaced with ‘which’ to form a grammatically correct sentence.