English Language
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In advanced English syntax and formal morphosyntax, subject-verb agreement (concord) is governed by strict structural principles involving complex noun phrases, collective nouns, coordinate subjects, and intervening prepositional modifiers. Consider the following four advanced propositions regarding subject-verb agreement: I. When two singular noun phrases are joined by correlative conjunctions such as 'either... or', 'neither... nor', or 'not only... but also', the verb agrees in person and number exclusively with the closer (second) noun phrase, whereas when joined by additive coordinators like 'as well as' or 'along with', the verb agrees strictly with the first (head) noun phrase. II. Collective nouns such as 'committee', 'jury', 'audience', and 'faculty' always require a plural verb form across all dialects of English, completely disallowing singular verb agreement regardless of whether the group is acting as a unified institutional entity or as a collection of dissenting individuals. III. When a singular subject noun phrase is followed by post-modifying prepositional phrases containing plural nouns (e.g., 'The box of expensive imported chocolates'), the head noun remains the sole governor of subject-verb concord, requiring a singular verb ('was') despite the immediate proximity of the plural noun in the prepositional complement. IV. Fractional expressions, percentages, and quantitative expressions (e.g., 'two thirds of the reservoir', 'half of the archaeological artifacts') determine verb number based on the grammatical countability and number of the noun phrase following the preposition 'of' (e.g., 'Two thirds of the water was polluted' versus 'Two thirds of the artifacts were stolen'). Identify the option that correctly evaluates the grammatical and syntactic validity of propositions I, II, III, and IV according to standard English grammar and Agreement (linguistics) principles.
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Detailed Explanation
Proposition I is correct because correlative conjunctions ('neither... nor') trigger proximity agreement with the second subject, whereas additive phrases ('as well as') preserve concord with the primary head noun. Proposition II is incorrect because collective nouns can take either singular (when acting as a single unit) or plural (when members act individually) verbs, varying notably between American and British English. Proposition III is correct as the grammatical head noun ('box') governs concord over intervening modifiers. Proposition IV is correct because quantifiers and fractions take singular or plural verbs depending on whether the object of the 'of'-phrase is mass/singular or countable/plural. For more details on syntactic rules, see Agreement (linguistics).
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