Sentence Correction

yogami wrote:whats your take on D vaishali? to analyze sounds so much better than just analyzing. We need an OA and end this controversy !!

IMO the use of infinitive is not correct after comma. I am still with 'A'.

yogami wrote:whats your take on D vaishali? to analyze sounds so much better than just analyzing. We need an OA and end this controversy !!

OA is A as i have posted earlier.
Unfortunately i don't have the OE

To determine whether there are deposits of frozen water on the moon, research scientists at NASA launched two unmanned satellites that orbited the moon's atmosphere, analyzing radar echos from the lunar surface.

A) analyzing
B) as the analysis technique of
C) to the analysis of
D) to analyze
E) a tecnique for analyzing

D

B&E: "launching" was not a technique to discover water.
C: "to the ... of" construction sounds really awkward
A: who's doing the analyzing?

now that i've read explanations by @vitalina, @lunarpower, A makes total sense.

rahulg83 wrote:OA is A

But in A, isn't analyzing modifies atmosphere??
Even i chose D, but OE given was that it would have been a better option had it used 'used to analyze' insted of 'to analyze'.

Any opinions??

As per my understanding...."ing" verb modifer with comma modifies the subject of the preceding clause....which in my opinion is scientists here.

Please tell if there are gaps in my understanding.

I find D is a better choice just by going this part of the sentence:

research scientists at NASA launched two unmanned satellites that orbited the moon's atmosphere, [u]analyzing[/u] radar echos from the lunar surface.

to analyze radar echos from the lunar surface makes sense.

This is the rule :-

Placing modifiers - In general a modifier must be placed close to its headword - that is the phrase or word it modifies.But different kinds pf modifiers are placed at different positions.

"Participle phrases can appear in various positions."

I guess this question is a great learning.

vaishalijain7
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:31 pm Post subject:
rahulg83 wrote:
OA is A

But in A, isn't analyzing modifies atmosphere??
Even i chose D, but OE given was that it would have been a better option had it used 'used to analyze' insted of 'to analyze'. Confused

Any opinions??



'Analyzing' can't modify 'atmosphere' because you need 'which' after comma if you want to modify atmosphere. Also IMO 'A' is correct because 'analyzing' is present participle and if it's used after comma it modifies the whole preceding clause.

So in this case the participle modifier is modifying the satellites and not atmosphere. Look at simple example below and it will bust your myths.

For members of the seventeenth century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames were essential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.

A) a method to protect
B) as a method protecting
C) protecting
D) as a protection of
E) to protect


Guess what the OA is ?

C

lunarpower wrote:

goelmohit2002 wrote:

rahulg83 wrote:OA is A

But in A, isn't analyzing modifies atmosphere??
Even i chose D, but OE given was that it would have been a better option had it used 'used to analyze' insted of 'to analyze'.

Any opinions??

As per my understanding...."ing" verb modifer with comma modifies the subject of the preceding clause....which in my opinion is scientists here.

Please tell if there are gaps in my understanding.

i hear ya, but there's also a smaller clause embedded within that clause: "satellites that orbited the earth's atmosphere".
it is this clause that's modified by the -ing modifier at the end of the sentence.

yes, there is a certain amount of ambiguity here. but the other choices are actually wrong, and ambiguous beats incorrect hands down.

doubt- why the analyzing form not modifying the preceding main clause-"research scientists at NASA launched two unmanned satellites" ??

instead its modifying the essential modifier that-clause

how to figure this purpose of -ing modifier??