Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
My interpretation is that "the majority" is a proportion modifier on "readers", leaving "readers" as the relevant noun for selecting the verb - hence I would go with "agree". I even managed to find a source that agrees with me 
According to this source (see rule 9): |
Yeah, this is my take; the 1 in 6 is a modifier, and "boys" is the noun. But I've read other opinions on this thread which I don't think are necessarily invalid. It's a sentence that could have been better written, to convey the actual intent. After all--the writer isn't speaking about ONE boy in Australia, is s/he? No, s/he's speaking about however many boys is the mathematical equivalent of "1/6th of all boys in AUS," essentially.
Just my $.02, and worth less than you paid for it. ;-)
Hitch