The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, a leader among dozens of facilities studying deep-sea ecosystems, ______ critical data about ocean...

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 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute,
• a leader among dozens of facilities
• studying deep-sea ecosystems,
• [?] critical data about ocean temperatures and marine biodiversity
• to scientists worldwide.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute'

• This is what the sentence is about - a specific research institute
• It's one single institution

Then we hit a comma and get some extra information:

• 'a leader among dozens of facilities studying deep-sea ecosystems'
• This is just telling us more about the Institute - that it's a leading facility
• This extra description sits between commas

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

• 'The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ______ critical data...'

Let's look at our choices:

1. provides (singular)
2. provide (plural)
3. are providing (plural)
4. have provided (plural)

We're deciding between singular and plural verb forms.

What subject do we need to match?

• The subject is 'The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute'
• This is ONE institute - it's singular

Here's the key thing to notice:

• Between the subject and the blank, we have that descriptive phrase 'a leader among dozens of facilities'
• Within that phrase, there's the word 'facilities' which is PLURAL
• But this phrase is just extra information - it's not the subject
• The verb needs to match the actual subject (the Institute), not words tucked inside the descriptive phrase

So we need a singular verb: provides

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

• '______ critical data about ocean temperatures and marine biodiversity to scientists worldwide'
• This tells us what the Institute does - it provides this important data to scientists around the world
• This is describing a general, ongoing role, so simple present tense works perfectly

The correct answer is A. provides - the singular form that matches our singular subject 'The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.'

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Subject-Verb Agreement with Descriptive Phrases in Between

When extra descriptive information sits between a subject and its verb, we need to:

1. Identify the true subject
2. Ignore nouns within the descriptive phrase
3. Make the verb agree with the actual subject

Pattern:

• Subject (singular) + descriptive phrase with plural noun + verb (must be singular)
• The museum, home to dozens of paintings, attracts visitors daily
  • Subject: "The museum" (singular)
  • Descriptive phrase: "home to dozens of paintings" (contains "paintings" - plural)
  • Verb: "attracts" (singular) - matches "museum," not "paintings"

• Subject (plural) + descriptive phrase with singular noun + verb (must be plural)
• The students, along with their teacher, arrive at 9 AM
  • Subject: "The students" (plural)
  • Descriptive phrase: "along with their teacher" (contains "teacher" - singular)
  • Verb: "arrive" (plural) - matches "students," not "teacher"

In our question:

• Subject: "The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute" (singular - one institute)
• Descriptive phrase: "a leader among dozens of facilities studying deep-sea ecosystems" (contains "facilities" - plural)
• Verb needed: "provides" (singular) - matches "Institute," not "facilities"

The key is recognizing that descriptive information set off by commas (called appositives in grammar terms) doesn't change what the subject is. The verb must agree with the main subject, no matter what other nouns appear in between.