'professional athletes' - Need help with grammar (verb usage)

Hello guys,

I'm going to take IELTS exam and i have some grammar questions.
Which one is it right down?
"It is widely accepted that professional athletes earn a lot of money."
OR
"Professional athletes is widely accepted that earn a lot money"

one more question:
we say:"the field is cultivated by bananas"
but also say "i want to cultivate my spirit"

Should i put "" when i use this verb metaphorically?

Thanks in advance.

This is the right one or you can put it like this.. It is a well known fact that professional athletes earn a lot of money.


I personally don't think it is necessary to put it in quotes.

Yes... this is the right one.
Let's take the second one;


... this has an obvious grammar issues;
athletes are / athlete is
"accepted" is not so appropriate word to use for this idea. "known" is a better word;
Professional athletes are widely known for earning lots of money