In what ways does/do soils differ?

Question

Today I found the following question in a question paper

In what ways does soils differ?

My understanding is that the subject here in this sentence is soils, which is plural. If the subject is plural how can we use does in that question? Isn't that question wrong?

I believe that the correct question is : In what ways do soils differ?

Which one is correct?

-I am asking this question because it appeared in an exam conducted by a government agency and I am sure that questions were made by experts.-=

Answer 1

You are correct and the original sentence is wrong. Soils is plural, so we would conjugate the verbs accordingly, whether it's the main verb or an auxiliary: "Soils differ / In what ways do soils differ".

I am asking this question because it appeared in an exam conducted by a government agency and I am sure that questions were made by experts.

I hate to tell you this, but governments and experts make mistakes all the time.