<span id="docs-internal-guid-b906a6e4-7fff-2526-ad08-5cc3cd012932"><p dir="ltr">Let's analyze the sentence:<br></p><p><span style="font-weight: 600;">The number of people (being recruited by the company this winter for internship jobs) ___ to exceed forty.</span> </p><p>The part wrapped with "()" is an adjective phrase. The subject is “The number of people”.</p><p dir="ltr"><span>The blank should be filled with a verb to complete the sentence. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Since the subject “The number of people” is singular, (D) "</span><span>are expecting"</span><span> can be eliminated first because it’s a plural verb, failing to meet the subject-verb agreement. </span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Next, the number of people is expected to exceed a certain number instead of expecting others to exceed a number. So, the verb “expect” should be in the passive voice. For this reason, (A) "</span><span>expects"</span><span> and (B) "</span><span>expected"</span><span> can be eliminated, too, since they are both active verbs, the former in the simple present tense and the latter in the simple past tense. Only (C) "</span><span>is expected"</span><span> is the correct answer. </span></p></span>