The agile methodologies, set of collaborative practices embraced by the software development community, _____ among the most influential frameworks in...

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

• The agile methodologies,
• set of collaborative practices
• embraced by the software development community,
• [?] among the most influential frameworks in modern project management:
• they emphasize iterative progress over rigid planning.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The agile methodologies'

• This is what the sentence is about - these methodologies
• Notice this is plural: methodologies (more than one methodology)

Then we get some descriptive information set off by commas:

• 'set of collaborative practices embraced by the software development community'
• This is just giving us more detail about what these methodologies are
• Think of this as extra information tucked between commas

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

• 'The agile methodologies _____ among the most influential frameworks'

Let's look at our choices:

• A. is,
• B. has been,
• C. are,
• D. was,

We're choosing between different forms of the verb "to be."

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The subject of our sentence is "The agile methodologies" - that's plural
• The phrase between the commas is just descriptive - it's not the subject
• Our verb needs to agree with "methodologies"
• Since "methodologies" is plural, we need a plural verb

So we need are (Choice C).

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

• The sentence continues: 'they are among the most influential frameworks in modern project management'
• Then after the colon: 'they emphasize iterative progress over rigid planning'
• The colon introduces an explanation of why they're so influential

The complete meaning: Agile methodologies (which are collaborative practices used in software development) rank among the most influential frameworks in modern project management because they focus on iterative progress rather than rigid planning.

The correct answer is C.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Subject-Verb Agreement with Intervening Phrases

When a descriptive phrase comes between a subject and its verb (often set off by commas), you need to identify the true subject and make sure your verb agrees with it - not with any nouns that appear in the intervening phrase.

The Pattern:

• Subject (plural or singular)
• Intervening descriptive phrase (set off by commas)
• Verb that must agree with the subject

Example 1:

• The students, along with their teacher, are going on the trip.
• Subject: "students" (plural)
• Intervening phrase: "along with their teacher"
• Verb: "are" (plural to match "students")

Example 2:

• The director, who has worked on many acclaimed films, is receiving an award.
• Subject: "director" (singular)
• Intervening phrase: "who has worked on many acclaimed films"
• Verb: "is" (singular to match "director")

In this question:

• Subject: "The agile methodologies" (plural)
• Intervening phrase: "set of collaborative practices embraced by the software development community"
• Verb needed: "are" (plural to match "methodologies")

The trap here is that "set" (singular) appears in the intervening phrase, but that's not your subject. Your subject is "methodologies" (plural), so you need the plural verb "are."