a faulty or vague pronoun reference?

[Teia]

Hi teachers

What is the correct form of the verb I should use in the following sentence?
As he emphasized, it.....the small to medium-sized companies, especially that they have benefited from the customs union.

a. has been
b. have been
In my opinion the correct answer is "a" because the pronoun "it" does not refer to "companies" but states a fact.
Am I right?

Thank you in advance.

[Philly]

Hi Teia
.
I can't think of any examples in which you'd ever say "it have been" or "it are" etc.

So, yes, "it has been" is correct.

The end of the sentence seems odd, though. Typos?

[chtylmz]

a vey easy question and the correct answer is sure to be has been as you thought..
you cant say it have been..or it have ..

[Teia]

Hi Teia
.
I can't think of any examples in which you'd ever say "it have been" or "it are" etc.
So, yes, "it has been" is correct.
The end of the sentence seems odd, though. Typos?

Hi Philly
Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, that part of the sentence seems odd to me as well. I found this sentence in an exercise made up by some Romanian professors who did their best to puzzle or confuse their students`comprehension of English language . What does "typos" mean?
Thank you again

Regards

[Casiopea]

typo(graphical error)s - typing errors.

[Teia]

Hi Casiopea

Thank you very much for clarifying that.

[Casiopea]

You're welcome.