问题补充：
children whose parents had died in the earthquake sent to live with families in other cities.
A. A great number of ; was
B. The great number of ; was
C. A great number of ; were
D. The great number of ; were
答案：
A. A great number of ; was
B. The great number of ; was
(答案→)C. A great number of ; were
D. The great number of ; were
解析：考查a number of 与the number of 的用法区别。句意：很多父母在地震中丧生的孩子被送去和别的城市的家庭居住。A great number of是很多，大量的意思，谓语动词使用复数形式。而The great number of……的大数量，描述的事物是数字，是个单数主语，故谓语动词使用单数形式。故选C。
