Choose the correct sentence :
(a) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child was drowned.
(b) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child were drowned.
(c) The sentence 'The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child are drowned' is not in the options directly but relates. Wait, let me transcribe exactly:
(a) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child was drowned.
(b) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child were drowned.
(c) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child are drowned.
(d) The ship was wrecked and every man, woman and child had drowned.

The correct answer is Option D ((a) only).

Key Points:
• Core Language Concept Tested: The question primarily tests the candidate's understanding of Subject-Verb Agreement, specifically the rule governing nouns connected by 'and' when preceded by the distributives 'each' or 'every'.
• Why the Correct Option is Right: The official answer key marks option 4 as correct, meaning only sentence (a) is correct. In English grammar, when two or more singular nouns are joined by the conjunction 'and' and are preceded by the word 'each' or 'every', they are treated as a singular distributive entity. Consequently, the pronoun and the verb that follow must absolutely be singular. Therefore, "every man, woman and child was drowned" is the grammatically accurate construction.
• Common Exam Traps and Pitfalls: MPSC often uses compound subjects to trick the candidate into defaulting to plural verbs. A common mistake here is seeing three entities (man, woman, child) joined by 'and' and reflexively selecting 'were' (option b), completely ignoring the grammatical override provided by the word 'every'.
• Elimination of Incorrect Options: Option (b) fails because 'were' is plural. Option (c) fails due to the plural verb 'are' and a tense mismatch. Option (d) 'had drowned' could potentially act as past perfect, but (a) is the most standard, structurally sound passive construction illustrating the specific grammar rule being tested. Thus, (a) stands alone.
• Preparation Strategy: Always pay attention to distributive adjectives like 'each', 'every', 'either', and 'neither'—they almost always take singular verbs.
• Key Takeaway: Remember: When multiple nouns joined by 'and' are preceded by 'every' or 'each', the verb used must always be singular.