1000SC #765 - Usage of None

[vid]

The herbicide Oryzalin was still being produced in 1979, three years after the wives of workers producing the chemical in Rensselaer, New York, were found to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was normal.

(A) to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was

(B) to have had children born with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of the pregnancies was

(C) either to have had children with heart defects or miscarriages, without any of their pregnancies being

(D) either to have had miscarriages or to have borne children with heart defects; none of the pregnancies was

(E) either to have had miscarriages or children born with heart defects, without any of their pregnancies being

The OA is D. But I feel as 'none' is a SANAM pronoun as per Manhattan SC, it should be 'were' rather than 'was'. Pls explain how 'was' is justified here.

[RonPurewal]

The herbicide Oryzalin was still being produced in 1979, three years after the wives of workers producing the chemical in Rensselaer, New York, were found to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was normal.

(A) to have borne children with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of their pregnancies was

(B) to have had children born with heart defects or miscarriages, and none of the pregnancies was

(C) either to have had children with heart defects or miscarriages, without any of their pregnancies being

(D) either to have had miscarriages or to have borne children with heart defects; none of the pregnancies was

(E) either to have had miscarriages or children born with heart defects, without any of their pregnancies being

The OA is D. But I feel as 'none' is a SANAM pronoun as per Manhattan SC, it should be 'were' rather than 'was'. Pls explain how 'was' is justified here.

According to most English-language experts, 'none' is acceptable in either the singular or the plural. The usage most steeped in tradition, however, is the singular ('None of the patients was able to give informed consent'). You can think of 'none' in this regard as a contraction of 'not one' (although it isn't really): Not one of the pregnancies was...

Of course, 'none' must be plural if it appears in a sentence like the following: None but the most fanatical of Packers fans travel (not 'travels') 2000 miles to attend a game.