OG12 - A sentence without an actor

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OG12 - A sentence without an actor

by GMATMadeEasy » Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:18 pm
The patient's rare disease was treated using novel techniques developed at the medical school. (Incorrect)
The doctor treated the patient's rare disease by using novel techniques developed at the medical school (correct)

Question: There are some dangling modifiers ,especially at the begining, that can be identified very easily.But in the casse above, it is difficult to get it. WHAT is the best way to deal with such situation ?

An example question from OG 12 # 101 (Also it really falls in the category I have described ?)

Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

(A) Heavy commitment by an executive to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes it likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.
(B) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that worked well in the past, makes missing signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting ones likely when they do appear.
(C) An executive who is heavily committed to a course of action is likely to miss or misinterpret signs of incipient trouble when they do appear, especially if it has worked well in the past.
(D) Executives' being heavily committed to a course of action, especially if it has worked well in the past, makes them likely to miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpreting them when they do appear.
(E) Being heavily committed to a course of action, especially one that has worked well in the past, is likely to make an executive miss signs of incipient trouble or misinterpret them when they do appear.

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by Jim@Grockit » Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:46 pm
Keep in mind that "by" can signify the agent or the means. Without "by" (like your example with just "using") it becomes a participle trying to modify the nearest noun.

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by GMATMadeEasy » Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:35 am
OG explains about this questoin:

This sentence explains that an executive who is blindly committed to a proven course of action is
likely to overlook or misinterpret indicators that the plan may no longer be working. The sentence
needs to make clear who may misinterpret these indicators
.

Question is how the situation in BOLD could be identified to act accordingly?