gmatvic wrote:As we know that in sentence where 'present participle + comma + Independent Clause (IC)', present participle modifies the subject of IC.
However below SC does not follow this rule. Why below B is incorrect ? Can someone elaborate ?
This SC is from OG12 and I can't understand their explanation about present participle modifier.
Am i missing something here?

i'm not a huge fan of that explanation either. that modifier is definitely in a weird place, but i don't really see the exact reason why the answer key so definitively assigns the modifier to the preceding noun rather than to the following clause.

in any case, the real problem i see with choice (b) is the pronoun. because of the placement of that prepositional phrase, the pronoun can't legitimately stand for "illustrations". let me show you what i mean:
In his dreams, explaining them to his friends... (this is not a complete sentence; it's just meant as an illustration)
--> if this sentence were correct, then it should be able to be flipped around and rewritten as Explaining them to his friends in his dreams...
in this case, "them" has to be something that carlos was explaining IN his dreams. hence, "them" ≠ dreams.

for the same reason, (b) can be flipped to give
carefully coordinating them with her narratives in her book illustrations, ...
--> for the same reason, "them" in this excerpt seems to stand for something other than book illustrations.

i agree that this choice is very difficult to eliminate.

Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.
(A) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it,
(B) Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, having the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, a technique called proton induced x-ray emission
(C) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it,
(D) A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying it,
(E) A technique that was originally developed for detecting air pollutants and has the ability to analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance quickly and without destroying the substance, called proton-induced x-ray emission,

My question is for B: OG says 'having the ability to analyze the chemical elements...' (M2) actually modifies 'originally developed for detecting air pollutants' (M1), but my reasoning is same as above, therefore
'having the ability...' (M1) should modify 'a technique' instead. How can M2 modify M1 ??

My second question: according to OG, in C & D, 'which' incorrectly modifies 'emission', if so why in A 'which' correctly modifies 'a technique', not 'emission' while the structure in A, C & D are all identical (.....emission, which....)?