I agree with Jeff: it depends on whether the gerunds constitute a unified
concept or two concepts.

Begetting and raising children is a major responsibility of marriage.
Begetting and raising children are very different activities.

Dick Veit

At 12:37 PM 07/30/2001, Jeff Glauner wrote:
>Singular is correct.  The entire constituent, "Learning and assimilating
>new information,"  is a gerund phrase (a nominal nonfinite verb phrase)
>serving as the singular subject of the sentence.
>
>Notice what happens, however, when we delete " . . . new information . . .
>."  Now we have two separate gerund phrases as compound subjects and the
>verb reflects this by changing to "are."
>
>"Learning and assimilating are always easier when the information is
>presented in a familiar pattern."
>
>But we have entered a fuzzy area here.  It could be argued that "Learning
>and assimilating" is still a singular act based upon its meaning in the
>original sentence.  It is dangerous to allow semantics to rub noses with
>syntax.  We rediscover that nothing is as simple as it seems.
>
>Jeff Glauner