1.The number of the people that were invited to the party fifty, but a number of them absent for different reasons.
A. are; is B. is; are C. is; is D. are; are
答案及解析：B
The number of---做主语后面的谓语动词用单数形式；a number of---做主语后面的谓语动词用复数形式，根据句意可知选B。
2.There _______ some gifts on the teacher's desk just now，but now there _____ nothing on it．
A．have； has B．were； has C．were； is D．has； has
答案及解析：C
刚才老师的桌子上有一些花，但现在没有了．
考查固定句型．首先看时态，前半句有just now，是过去时的标志；后半句有now是现在时的标志．前半句 gifts是复数，根据There be 句型可知第一个空填were．后半句nothing不定代词单数，所以答案选C．
