Question:

Choose the option that conforms most closely to Standard English usage.

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Find the real subject of the verb and check whether it is singular or plural. Then look at the order of making and selling and at the tenses.
Updated On: Nov 7, 2026
  • The running of large businesses consist of getting somebody to make something that somebody else sold to somebody else for more than its cost.
  • The running of a large business consists of getting somebody to make something that somebody else will sell to somebody else for more than it costs.
  • The running of a large business consists of getting somebody to sell something that somebody else made for more than it cost.
  • The running of large businesses consist of getting somebody to make something else that somebody else will sell to somebody else for more than it costs.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understand what the sentence must say:
The sentence defines the work of running a large business. A definition like this is a general statement, so it should stay in the present tense and talk about one activity.
Running a business means getting one person to make a product and getting another person to sell it for more than it costs. The sentence should show this order: make first, then sell.

Step 2: Fix the subject and its verb:
The subject is "The running", and it is singular. The words "of large businesses" only describe it. They do not change the subject.
So the verb must be "consists", not "consist". Options (1) and (4) use "consist", so both are wrong at this point.
Options (2) and (3) both use "a large business consists", which is correct.

Step 3: Compare the remaining two options:
Option (2) says "somebody else will sell". The word "will" gives the right sense: the second person sells the thing later, after it is made. It ends with "for more than it costs", which is a present fact and matches "consists".
Option (3) says "getting somebody to sell something that somebody else made for more than it cost". The order is reversed, and it is unclear what "for more than it cost" belongs to. It can be read as the maker producing the item at a price above its cost, which is not the idea.
Option (3) also uses the past tense "cost" after the present "consists", so the tenses do not agree.

Step 4: Check why options (1) and (4) fail in other ways too:
Option (1) uses the past "sold" for something that has not happened yet in a general statement. It also says "its cost", a noun phrase that does not fit the comparison "more than it costs".
Option (4) adds "something else", which makes the sentence confusing because "something else" does not refer to anything. It has the same agreement error as option (1).

Final Answer:
Only option (2) has the correct subject-verb agreement, a clear make-then-sell order and consistent present tense. The answer is option (2). \[ \boxed{\text{Option 2}} \]
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