In the question below choose the word(s) or phrase(s) which best fill(s) the gap:
A number of teachers in secondary schools are not so well disposed to .... these days, .... they?
The correct answer is B. teaching/are
The best answer to fill the gap is B. teaching/are. This is because the sentence is a type of question called a tag question.
A tag question is a short question added at the end of a statement to confirm or check something.
The structure of a tag question is:
- Statement, question tag?
- Question tag, statement?
The question tag usually has the opposite polarity of the statement, which means that if the statement is positive, the question tag is negative, and vice versa.
The question tag also usually uses the same verb and tense as the statement, or a modal verb if the statement has one.
The subject of the question tag is usually a pronoun that refers to the subject of the statement.
The first part of the sentence (A number of teachers in secondary schools are not so well disposed to) is the statement, which is negative and uses the verb to be in the present simple tense.
The second part of the sentence (… these days, … they?) is the question tag, which should be positive and use the same verb and tense as the statement.
The subject of the question tag should be a pronoun that refers to a number of teachers, which is they. Therefore, the correct question tag is are they.
The gap in the statement is a verb that follows the preposition to. The verb should be in the -ing form, which is called the gerund.
The gerund is used after certain verbs and prepositions to express an action or state. One of the verbs that is followed by the gerund is to be disposed to, which means to be inclined or willing to do something.
Therefore, the correct verb is teaching.
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