Change to a sentence using "one of" is always followed by the plural sam is a very generous person ( my building)

1. Sam is one of the generous people in my building.

2. This sofa is one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture in my home.

3. The desert is one of the hottest places on earth.

4. The chicken curry is one of the spicy dishes at this restaurant

5. Billy is one of the energetic children at this school  

6. That is one of the most interesting T.V. program this season.

7. One of the most shy people at party's is Betty.

8. One of the brides maids was a beautiful woman.

9. The best man was one of the most handsomest guys at the wedding.

10. The groom was one of the most nervous man I had ever seen at his wedding.  

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).