Compound subjects

[Anon123456]

http://www.majortests.com/sat/explain.php?exp=423030322439243230

Sentence:
9. Pollution and degradation of the environment is, according to the commission's report, a matter of universal concern.

The explanation says that it should be "Pollution and degradation of the environment are", but it didn't sound right to me. Hence, I looked it up on google and found this link:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/compound-subjects

It basically says that if the subjects of the sentence are different variations of one theme, then a singular verb is more appropriate. I think that "pollution and degradation" represents a single idea, so should take "is". However, I am not sure and will really appreciate some help here.
Thank you!

 

[Raymott]

It depends on your interpretation. I'd use 'are', even if GrammarGirl chose 'is'.
"Pollution and degradation of the environment are, according to the commission's report, matters of universal concern."
However, what to write here could be out of our hands. If the commission's report says that this combination "is a matter of concern", then that's how it should be reported.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Following the link to look at the answer I noticed that they prefer "are", but that there were two choices with are, neither of which used "matters" in the plural.

The actual "correct" answer as given is, "Pollution and degradation of the environment are, according to the commission's report, a matter of universal concern." Nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned.

Off topic @Raymott, I like your new avatar. By a curious coincidence it resembles one of my cats and, even curiouser, that cat's name is Yoda! Would you believe it?

 

[Raymott]

Off topic @Raymott, I like your new avatar. By a curious coincidence it resembles one of my cats and, even curiouser, that cat's name is Yoda! Would you believe it?

Thank you. Mine's called Benny. He's a Tonkinese. Yes, I'd believe it. Stranger coincidences have occurred!

 

[Tdol]

The explanation says that it should be "Pollution and degradation of the environment are", but it didn't sound right to me.

I disagree with the test that this is a matter for correction; it's a question of choice/preference, not right and wrong.