Communities around the world are experiencing rapid language loss, with linguists estimating that nearly half of the world's 7,000 languages...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• First sentence:
  • Communities around the world are experiencing rapid language loss, with linguists estimating that nearly half of the world's 7,000 languages may disappear by the end of this century.
• Second sentence:
  • A recent UNESCO report [?] that digital documentation technology offers new opportunities for preservation efforts, allowing endangered languages to be recorded and archived for future generations.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence to get the context:

'Communities around the world are experiencing rapid language loss'

• This tells us there's a crisis happening with languages disappearing

The sentence continues:

• 'with linguists estimating that nearly half of the world's 7,000 languages may disappear by the end of this century.'
  • This gives us the scope - about half of 7,000 languages (so around 3,500 languages!) could be gone by 2100
  • That's the problem being set up

Now the second sentence tells us about a potential solution:

• 'A recent UNESCO report...'

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank:

• 'A recent UNESCO report ______ that digital documentation technology offers new opportunities...'

Let's look at our choices - they're all different forms of the verb "indicate":

1. to indicate (infinitive)
2. indicate (base form)
3. indicating (present participle)
4. indicates (third person singular present)

What do we need here?

• The subject is 'A recent UNESCO report' - that's singular (one report)
• We need the main verb of the sentence
• Since we have a singular subject, we need a singular verb form

So we need indicates - that's the form that agrees with the singular subject "report."

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

• 'that digital documentation technology offers new opportunities for preservation efforts'
  • This is what the report indicates - the content/findings of the report
  • Digital technology can help preserve these endangered languages
• 'allowing endangered languages to be recorded and archived for future generations.'
  • This describes how it helps - by recording and archiving them

The complete meaning: There's a language loss crisis (first sentence), but a UNESCO report indicates that new digital technology offers hope for preservation (second sentence).

What do we notice about the structure?

• We have a singular subject: 'A recent UNESCO report'
• We need a main verb that matches this singular subject
• In present tense, singular subjects need the verb form with -s or -es
• 'indicates' is the singular form that properly agrees with 'report'

The correct answer is D. indicates

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verbs to Singular and Plural Subjects

When you're writing in the present tense, your verb needs to match (or "agree with") your subject in number. Here's the key pattern:

Singular subjects (one thing) take the -s/-es form:

• The scientist discovers a new species
• "scientist" = singular, so verb gets -s: "discovers"
• A recent study indicates promising results
• "study" = singular, so verb gets -s: "indicates"

Plural subjects (more than one thing) take the base form:

• The scientists discover a new species
• "scientists" = plural, so verb stays in base form: "discover"
• Recent studies indicate promising results
• "studies" = plural, so verb stays in base form: "indicate"

In our question:

• Subject: "A recent UNESCO report" (singular - it's ONE report)
• Verb needed: "indicates" (singular form with -s)
• This creates proper agreement: "A recent UNESCO report indicates that..."

Common trap: Sometimes other words come between the subject and verb, but you still need to match the verb to the actual subject, not to nearby words. Here, "report" is singular, so we need "indicates" even though we might hear phrases like "opportunities indicate" elsewhere.