Read the passage and answer the following question:
Engineering was once considered one of the most prestigious and secure career choices in India. For decades, thousands of students competed fiercely to enter top engineering colleges, believing that a degree would guarantee a stable job and a prosperous future. However, in recent years, this perception has started to change dramatically.
One of the main reasons for the decline in scope is the oversaturation of engineering graduates. With hundreds of private colleges producing lakhs of engineers every year, the job market cannot absorb them all. As a result, many graduates remain unemployed or are forced to accept jobs unrelated to their field of study. Additionally, rapid technological changes demand new skills that traditional curriculums often fail to provide, leaving graduates underprepared for modern industry requirements.
Moreover, industries now prefer candidates with practical knowledge and specialised skills over generic degrees. While there are still opportunities in emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Data Science, they require constant upskilling and innovation. Thus, unless the education system reforms its approach and students focus on skill-based learning, the scope for conventional engineering will continue to shrink.
In the sentence: “Moreover, industries now prefer candidates with practical knowledge and specialised skills over generic degrees,” why is the verb “prefer” used and not “prefers”?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
In English grammar, a verb must agree with its subject in number. The subject of this sentence is 'industries,' which is a plural noun. Therefore, the plural form of the verb, 'prefer,' must be used instead of the singular form, 'prefers.'