问题补充：
The number of people invited40, but a number of themabsent for different reasons.
A. were; was
B. was; was
C. was; were
D. were; were
答案：
A. were; was
B. was; was
(答案→)C. was; were
D. were; were
解析：考查主谓一致。句中the number of…..的数目，谓语动词用单数；a number of许多，谓语动词用复数。句意：邀请人的数目是40，但他们中许多人因不同原因缺席。
