Doubt regarding the use of present participle modifier

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by lunarpower » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:54 am
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.
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by gmatvic » Mon Aug 22, 2011 8:53 pm
Thanks Ron. So glad that my doubt is not alone :)
I had hard time to dig out OG explanation and now have feeling they/OG
tend to mislead test takers with such explanation that we hardly can find no where
has such grammatical rule. Not only in above question, but also in below (q no. 107)
question they had same explanation:


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....)?

I am very confused


PS: if you can dig out such grammatical rule that validates OG explanation, pls teach me. Appreciate !!

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by lunarpower » Thu Sep 01, 2011 1:09 am
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,
in this problem, most of the differences in the answer choices come from shifting modifiers -- i.e., the answer choices take almost exactly the same parts and just move them around.
when a bunch of modifiers are moved around, you should look for choices in which the modifiers are placed AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE to the things they're supposed to modify.

in this problem, consider the following modifiers:
"Originally developed for detecting air pollutants"
"which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it"
both of these modifiers are talking about the technique, so both of them should be placed as close as possible to a technique (called PIXRE).

among the five choices, choice (a) definitely puts these two modifiers in the closest proximity to that phrase.
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 ??


i agree with the idea that the OG is being a little bit overly definitive here. however, the point to take from that description is that "m2" is placed in a location that is at best confusing, and at worst ambiguous.
in the correct answer, "a technique (called PIKRE)" is in one piece and the "which" modifier immediately follows it, so no such confusion/ambiguity is possible.

there's also the issue of the word "ability" -- i don't think it's ok to use this word unless you are describing the abilities of a human being, animal, or other similar entity (such as a robot or other artificial intelligence). notice that the correct answer gets rid of that word.

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....)?


well, look at the placement of "a technique" in those two choices -- again, the real issue is which choice places the modifier(s) in closest proximity to the things it's supposed to modify. if you use that criterion, there's no question which choice is best.
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by mundasingh123 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:39 am
Ron, It is known that "which " clause always modifies the noun that immediately precedes it . But in A , the which clause seems to modify technique in the noun phrase "a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission". This is confusing . Could you please throw some light on this
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by prashant.mishra » Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:07 am
The which clause here is indeed modifying the preceding noun that is "proton-induced-x ray-emission".
mundasingh123 wrote:Ron, It is known that "which " clause always modifies the noun that immediately precedes it . But in A , the which clause seems to modify technique in the noun phrase "a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission". This is confusing . Could you please throw some light on this

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by mundasingh123 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:13 am
Hi Ron,
Edit Question : Can the the which clause modify technique in the noun phrase "a technique called proton-induced x-ray emission".
an the which clause modify the noun in (Noun + Modifier ) Constructions
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