Answer : 3. "Neither of the boys was present in the class."
Explanation :

In this sentence, "neither" is used to refer to "boys," which is a plural noun. When "neither" or "either" is used as the subject followed by "of," the verb agrees with the noun immediately following "of." In this case, "boys" is plural, but "neither" requires a singular verb form because it refers to "none" or "not one" of the boys.

Therefore, the correct verb form is "was" (singular), making the correct sentence:

c) Neither of the boys was present in the class.

This sentence correctly matches the singular verb "was" with the subject "neither of the boys."