subject - verb agreement

[ivy]

Hello,

I have doubt regarding subject-verb agreement in the following sentences.

1. The ship and its crew was/were lost.

2. Every door and every window was/were painted in a different shade at the museum.

3. The wages of labor is/are sweet.

Answers given in one of the grammar books I'm reading these days:
1. was
2. was
3. is

Are the answers correct? If yes, how? :S

Thanks! :)

[mahasweta911]

Hello,

I have doubt regarding subject-verb agreement in the following sentences.

1. The ship and its crew was/were lost.

2. Every door and every window was/were painted in a different shade at the museum.

3. The wages of labor is/are sweet.

Answers given in one of the grammar books I'm reading these days:
1. was
2. was
3. is

Reason could be... someone please correct if incorrect
sentence 1 refers to the ship ( and its crew is contained in it ) so what sank is not the crew but the ship in total hence singular
sentence 2 uses every door is singular hence was
sentence 3 wages is uncountable hence singular is..

[tim]

The first two are definitely wrong. What grammar book are you using?! The rule is that if you join two distinct subjects with an "and", you have a plural subject. As for the third one, the language is archaic (the last reference I know of is from 1611 to be exact), so it is impossible to determine what the GMAT would do with such an expression in a modern context..

[sachin.w]

1)Isn't 'The ship and its crew ' 1 object logically? Both are binded together. .. ship and crew on teh ship.. so shouldn't it be 'was'?

2)Which would be correct among these 2: cost or costs?

A dozen costs / cost $30.
A dozen oranges costs / cost $30.

3)
If a plural noun denotes some specific quality or amount considered as a whole, the verb is singular.

In the seminar, 30 minutes is / are allowed for each participant.

So the right word would be 'is' but my Question is whether GMAT tests SV errors like the one mentioned above?

4)To read well, good light is needed.

Does the above have the problem of dangling modifer?

[tim]

1) no

2/3) depends on how the oranges are packaged. :) in other words, either one could be correct and the GMAT will never ask you to make a distinction like this

4) yes