What is the suitable present continuous tense for this sentence?

Question

Hi everyone! I'm a 15 year old, studying at a secondary school in one of the states in Malaysia. My teacher gave me a task to find out whether the usage of the present continuous tense in this  sentence is right or vice versa. This is the sentence:-

"Another group of volunteers ............(wait) for the arrival of boats to travel to another flood evacuation centre".

Should I put "is waiting" or "are waiting" to fill in the blank??

Also, can somebody explain to me the reason?

Thank you so much for spending some of your time to answer this knowledgeable question of mine.  Hoping to get a nice and effective feedback. If there are any mistakes in any of the sentences that I've used, I apologise and kindly remind me :)

Again,  thank you!

-Dania-

Earthling · Answer

..... usage of the present continuous tense in this sentence is right or *wrong. (not vice versa !)
..... explain *to me the reason? (explain me the reason !)

Another group of volunteers *is waiting for the arrival of boats to travel to another flood evacuation centre.

If we are referring to a group as a whole which interacts with the outside world, we consider it as a single entity and use 'is'. 
If we are referring to the members of the group interacting with each other, then we use 'are'.

A group of people is waiting outside.
A group of people are fighting outside.
A group of students is given the assignment
A group of students are arguing about the assignment

Here, we are talking about a group of volunteers collectively waiting for the boats to arrive. So, go with 'is waiting'.

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What is the suitable present continuous tense for this sentence?

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