The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud, most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it inspired,...

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 artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud,
  • most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings
    • and the conversation it inspired,
• [?] limited to the realm of prose:
• she first excelled in sculpture,
  • where her affinity for bronze—
    • a material she described as 'timeless'
      • due to its use across eras and cultures—
  • became part of her artistic identity.

Understanding the Meaning

The sentence starts by introducing the subject:

• 'The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud'

Then we get some background about her:

• 'most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it inspired'
  • She's famous for this historical novel and the discussions it sparked.

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

• 'The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud ______ limited to the realm of prose'

Let's look at our choices:

• We need to decide between different verb forms
• Some are singular (hasn't been, wasn't, isn't)
• One is plural (aren't)

What's the subject of this sentence?

• 'The artistic talents' - this is what the sentence is about
  • Notice 'talents' is PLURAL
  • Don't be distracted by 'Barbara Chase-Riboud' - that's just describing WHOSE talents we're talking about
• So we need a plural verb to match 'talents'

Looking at our choices:

• Only 'aren't' is plural
• The others (hasn't been, wasn't, isn't) are all singular and would work with 'talent' but not 'talents'

So we need: aren't

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

• 'she first excelled in sculpture'
  • This tells us she was excellent at sculpture, not just prose
• 'where her affinity for bronze—a material she described as 'timeless' due to its use across eras and cultures—became part of her artistic identity'
  • She had a special connection to bronze as a material
  • This became a defining part of who she was as an artist

So the complete picture is:

• Chase-Riboud's talents AREN'T limited to just prose writing
• She also excelled in sculpture
• The colon introduces this explanation - proving her talents extend beyond prose

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The subject 'talents' is PLURAL
• It's separated from the verb by a descriptive phrase about Barbara Chase-Riboud
• The verb must agree with 'talents,' not with 'Barbara Chase-Riboud'
• We need: 'talents aren't' (both plural)

The correct answer is D: aren't

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Verbs to the True Subject When They're Separated

The key principle: When a subject is separated from its verb by extra information, the verb must still agree with the actual subject, not with other nouns that appear in between.

Pattern:

• Subject + extra information + Verb
• The verb matches the subject in number (singular or plural)

Example 1:

• The box of chocolates is on the table.
• Subject: "box" (singular)
• Distractor: "chocolates" (plural) - but this is just in a descriptive phrase
• Verb: "is" (singular) - matches "box"

Example 2:

• The recommendations from the committee were accepted.
• Subject: "recommendations" (plural)
• Distractor: "committee" (singular) - but this is in a prepositional phrase
• Verb: "were" (plural) - matches "recommendations"

In this question:

• The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud aren't limited...
• Subject: "talents" (plural)
• Distractor: "Barbara Chase-Riboud" (singular) - but this is just telling us whose talents
• Additional separation: descriptive phrase "most known for..."
• Verb: "aren't" (plural) - matches "talents"

The test-makers are checking whether you can identify the true subject when it's followed by a prepositional phrase (like "of Barbara Chase-Riboud") that contains a different noun. Don't let the extra information distract you - always find the main subject and make sure your verb agrees with it!