Question

------ houses were knocked down in the earthquake.

------ houses were knocked down in the earthquake.

A. A great many of B.The number of C. A great many D.A large amount of

Answer 1

C
a great many + 可数名词复数
the number of +可数名词复数 意为“。。。的数量”
a large amount of +不可数名词

Answer 2

答案选 C. A great many 很多，许多
后直接接名词，不需要加of,
the number of ......的数量，谓语动词要用单数形式；A large amount of 接不可数名词，谓语动词用单数形式

追问

The news that an earthquake happend in Yushu ------ throughout the whole world quickly

A. was spread B. were spreading C. spread D. had been spread

追答

答案选A. was spread

追问

我也是选A 可是错了。是选C

Answer 3

D
因为系动词用were,所以B排除，又因为A、C不符合题意，所以选D.
解释：The number of+名词单数。
注意：The number of 不要写成"A number of"，因为：
The number of ......的数量(后面加名词单数）
而A number of 许多，大量(后面加名词复数).

Answer 4

A