Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa, of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil, ________ food and sociability in contemporary Brazil—specifically, how...

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

• Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa,
• of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil,
• [studies/?] food and sociability in contemporary Brazil—
• specifically,
• how foods such as cabidela (a rice and rabbit dish) and churrasco (a barbeque dish) function as central mechanisms in building social relationships, values, and identities.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

The sentence is about:

• 'Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa'
  • This is one person - a specific anthropologist
  • This is who the sentence is about

Then we get some additional information:

• 'of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil'
  • This just tells us where she works or is affiliated
  • It's describing Barbosa, giving us more context about her

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

• 'Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa ______ food and sociability in contemporary Brazil'

Let's look at our choices:

• studies (singular form)
• are studying (plural form)
• have studied (plural form)
• study (plural form)

What do we notice?

• We're deciding between singular and plural verb forms
• Our subject is 'Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa' - one person
  • This is a singular subject
  • The phrase 'of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil' is just describing where she's from - it doesn't change the fact that we're talking about one person
• When we have a singular subject (one person), we need a singular verb
  • In present tense: she studies, he works, it functions
  • So we need 'studies'

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

• 'studies food and sociability in contemporary Brazil'
  • This is her research topic

Then after the dash:

• 'specifically, how foods such as cabidela (a rice and rabbit dish) and churrasco (a barbeque dish) function as central mechanisms in building social relationships, values, and identities'
  • This gives us more detail about what aspect of food and sociability she's studying
  • She's looking at how specific foods help build relationships and cultural identity in Brazil

So the complete picture is:

• Lívia Barbosa is an anthropologist who studies how food creates social bonds and cultural identity in contemporary Brazil, focusing on dishes like cabidela and churrasco.

The correct answer is A. studies - because we need a singular verb to match the singular subject 'Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa.'

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verbs to Singular Subjects (Subject-Verb Agreement)

When you have a singular subject (one person or thing), your verb needs to match that singular form. In present tense, singular third-person subjects (he, she, it, or any singular noun) take the -s form of the verb (called subject-verb agreement in grammar terms).

The pattern:

• Singular subject: The student studies hard.
  • "student" = singular (one person)
  • "studies" = singular verb form (-s ending)
• Plural subject: The students study hard.
  • "students" = plural (multiple people)
  • "study" = plural verb form (base form, no -s)

Watch out for phrases that come between the subject and verb:

• With intervening phrase: The student, along with her friends, studies hard.
  • "student" = still the singular subject
  • "along with her friends" = just additional information
  • "studies" = singular verb (matches "student," not "friends")

In our question:

• Subject: Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa (singular - one person)
• Intervening phrase: "of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil" (just describes where she's from)
• Verb needed: studies (singular form to match the singular subject)

The phrase "of the Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil" might tempt you to think about "Brazil" as the subject, but it's not - it's just part of a descriptive phrase. The true subject is "Anthropologist Lívia Barbosa," which is singular, so we need the singular verb "studies."