Double Gerund Agreement

Solution 1:

A subject consisting of multiple gerunds may take a singular verb when they may be construed as a single action or sequence. If the writer sees them as different actions, then a plural verb is chosen. Compare these five pairs in which the first sentence uses a singular verb and the second a plural one:

For many of us, baking and eating a traditional fruity Christmas cake is one of the best parts of the festive holiday. — Alternative Christmas Cake Ideas | The Craft Company Blog

Baking and eating are part of what makes the holidays so special for a lot of people. — Pinterest

The mowing and raking of these crops requires 25 to 100 per cent more time than mowing and raking alfalfa. — Waldo Ernest Grimes, A Study of Farm Organization in Central Kansas, 1925, 41.

While mowing and raking are easily done by most homeowners, aeration and fertilization are generally best left up to trained professionals. — Portage Turf Specialists, 29 Oct. 2016.

Reading the book and then watching the movie is an engaging way to keep your young reader reading. — Family Literacy Month – Barbershop Books

Cuckoo's Nest is the rare case where I think both reading the book and watching the movie are important. — Goodreads.

Only after the painting and sculpting is completed, a process that takes several hours, does Milló photograph his models. — Miguel Millo — Lois Lambert Gallery

Painting and sculpting were not part of the liberal arts, which included philosophy, grammar, dialectic, mathematics, and astronomy. — Ian P. Howard, Brian J. Rogers, Perceiving in Depth, Volume 1: Basic Mechanisms, 2012, 53.

Speaking, reading and writing English is perfected only through practice … ESL - TutorBright

The answer is that writing and speaking are social behaviors, performed by human beings, in stressful environments, and that, quite often, our models of correct rhetoric are just biologically inadequate. — David F Beer, Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions: A Practical Guide, 2003.