Concept:
This question tests the foundational rule of English grammar:
Subject-Verb Agreement. The rule dictates that a singular subject must always take a singular verb, while a plural subject must take a plural verb. In the simple present tense, a singular verb uniquely takes an -s or -es suffix, whereas a plural verb remains in its base form.
Detailed Error Analysis:
• Identify the Subject: The subject of the sentence is ``The central board of customs''.
• To find the correct verb alignment, we must isolate the head noun of this compound subject phrase. The head noun is
``board''. The prepositional phrase ``of customs'' merely provides descriptive context modifying the board.
• Since
``The central board'' is a single, unified organizational body, it functions as a
singular collective noun subject.
• Check the Verb: Look at Part (B): ``deal with the tasks of''. The verb given is
``deal'', which is the plural/base form.
• A singular subject (board) paired with a plural verb (deal) is a core violation of subject-verb agreement.
• Correction: The verb must be modified to its singular form by adding an "s". Thus, ``deal'' must be changed to
``deals''.
Analysis of Parts:
• Part (A) is correct: It simply introduces the singular subject entity.
• Part (B) is incorrect: It contains the wrong verb agreement form (deal instead of deals). This makes it the incorrect part.
• Part (C) is correct: ``formulation of policies'' is grammatically sound, using proper prepositional connections and appropriate noun phrasing.
• Option (D) is incorrect because an error has been clearly identified in Part B.