Sentence Correction

I have a few doubts regarding modifiers which if you guys could clarify
would help me a lot. Most of my doubts are related to something in the
correct choice. I know GMAT is about choosing the best option, but I still
want to clear my concepts.


1) Presenters at the seminar, one of whom is blind, will demonstrate
adaptive adaptive equipment that allows visually impaired people to use computers.

The modifier here 'one of whom is blind' is meant to modify the presenters
but is placed next to the seminar. So why is this not a case of dangling modifier?


2) A survey by the National Council of Churches showed that in 1986 there
were 20,736 female ministers, almost 9% of the nation's clergy, double
the figure for 1977.

The modifier 'double the figure for 1977' is meant to modify 20,736 female
ministers, but is placed next to nation's clergy. Shoudn't there be an
"and" before 'double...' so that we have a list of modifiers 'almost 9%...'
and 'double...' modifying female ministers.

3)Bihar is India's poorest state, with an annual per capita income of $111,
which is lower than it is in the most impoverished countries of the world.

The relative pronoun here 'which' refers to 'annual per capita income of
$111'. My understanding was that 'which' refers to the noun immediately
preceding it, which in this case was $111. But I guess 'which' can refer to a noun phrase as well. Is my understanding correct?

thanks.

1. I'm not sure how to explain this structure, but I've seen it used all the time. This is just an "as-a-matter-of-fact" inserted modifier (non-essential really) with a clear antecedent (whom refering to presenters). As i said - I just rely on my ear on this one (it sounds natural), and would like to hear a correct "grammatical" explanation myself.

2. "almost 9% of the nation's clergy" is an inserted non-essential (hence the commas) modifier of "female ministers". For purposes of clarity, try ignoring it when reading the whole sentence. In that case, we have "20,736 female ministers, double the figure for 1977" - clearly makes sense (Note that we need "figure" here to make the comparison complete)

3. Correct. WHICH can refer to the NOUN immediately preceding it (or noun clause in that case), NOT to the ACTION of the entire preceding clause (and we don't have an action here anyway).

vam82:

thanks a lot for the reply. I still have a doubt regarding (2).

Take a look at this sentence.

After moving to Switzerland in the 1890’s, Albert Einstein attended the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, receiving in-depth training in quantitative analysis and developing a foundation for his future work in mathematical physics.

Now 'receiving in-depth training in quantitative analysis' and 'developing a foundation for his future work in mathematical physics' are adverbial modifiers modifying the verb attended.

Now if this sentence was written as where we donot have an 'and' after the first modifier:
After moving to Switzerland in the 1890’s, Albert Einstein attended the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich, receiving in-depth training in quantitative analysis,
developing a foundation for his future work in mathematical physics.

Would this still be correct?

1. 'one of whom'... modifies presenters. 'at the seminar' is a prepositional phrase explaining which presenters. Also seminar is singular and 'one of whom' clearly refers to a plural subject, so that reinforces the fact that one of whom modifies presenters.

2. both phrases modify female ministers. The 'and' you want to insert is grammatically correct, but not necessary -- just the comma works as well.

3. Ditto on Vam82

As for your additional question, removing the 'and' makes the sentence grammatically incorrect. To compound two nouns, adjectives, etc in a sentence use 'and'. Commas only are used when listing two adjectives immediately preceeding the noun they modify or in a list of nouns or adjectives in a sentence.