John,
The agreement in the first sentence is not to the gallons but to the rate: an estimated 210,000 gallons a day. The rate is sometimes given by using the preposition "per", but the use of the article is just as common, I think. In any case the "an" before "estimated" marks the subject as singular.
In the second sentence there is an added element in the use of the conjunction "as well as." This is easily taken as a compound equivalent to "and" in its binding power. However, many grammars will say that it does not effect the number of the subject: "John as well as Susan has been exposed and dismissed." (Susan is a parenthetical addition.) Indeed, my own desire for a logical grammar conforms to this opinion. However, I believe the analysis of the subject noun phrase is what is pivotal here. The first of the noun phrases is headed syntactically by the collective noun "a slew." This noun is just about synonymous with the quantifier "a lot." We say "a lot of people are ...." and "plenty of people are ...." There is a tendancy, in British English at least, to take collectives as plural when the individuals denoted are to be understood as acting independently, as typically a committee in disagreement. It seems it could be argued that "a slew" is to be handled either like a quantifier and always allow a plural verb phrase, or like a collective and sometimes allow a plural verb phrase. (The fact that the story is Chinese suggests also that the author may be influenced by that culture, where number agreement is mostly irrelevant.)
Bruce Despain
--- [log in to unmask] wrote:
From: Edmond Wright <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Subject/verb agreement
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:33:15 +0000
One agrees about the first. It seems counter-intuitive to say 'the gallons
are coming', as if the single measure, the gallon, was being foregrounded.
In the second the subject is 'slew', so singular, requiring 'has'.
Mismatches in number between subject and verb in people's speech are
becoming increasingly common in England, the common form being to use
singular where plural is required.
Edmond Wright
> By my thinking they are both correct. In the first sentence, "210,000 gallons"
> represents a single amount and, therefore, is treated as a singular subject.
> In the second example the subject is "officials" which takes the plural "have
> been exposed."
> Bud McKibban
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Chorazy <[log in to unmask]>
> To: ATEG <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sun, Jan 20, 2013 2:28 am
> Subject: Subject/verb agreement
>
>
> Without my own comments on these sentences or a longer preface, I'll just
> submit them and ask for your thoughts on subject/verb agreement. Thank you...
>
>
> According to NOAA, an estimated 210,000 gallons(5,000 barrels) a day is coming
> from the remaining ruptures (PBS).
>
> In recent months, a slew of low-level Communist officials as well as a few
> high ranking onesmost notably the vice party chief of the southwestern
> province of Sichuan, LiChuncheng have been exposed by local media
> anddismissed from their positions after their sexual peccadilloes came to
> light(NBC News).
>
>
>
>
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