tgou008 wrote:

Patrick_GMATFix wrote:

elevinty wrote:Hey Patrick,

Can you please tell me if the following construction is the same as the above(meaning is the modifier acting as an adverb)

years ago, according to some scientists, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into North America, an event that caused the plant and animal extinctions that mark the end of the geologic era known as the Cretaceous Period.

note: the modifier is in green.

Thanks

There are 2 types of modifiers: noun modifiers (which describe nouns) and adverbial modifiers (which describe everything else, most importantly actions and clauses). In this case, the modifier in green as an adverbial modifier because it doesn't describe a noun, but the entire clause. It tells you the result of the entire clause. In correct GMAT sentences, these modifiers often begin with a noun (such as "an event" above) or with an -ing, such as in OG12 SC # 47: "Five eagles left their nests in Scotland, bringing to 34 the number of birds successfully raised since 1975."


I wouldn't say that your modifier acts exactly as an adverb because it doesn't modify just a single word (adjective, adverb or verb) but it modifies an entire clause. Still, it's called an adverbial modifier. You can practice these by setting the Drill Generator to topic='modifiers' and difficulty='600-700 AND 700+'

-Patrick

So to confirm - the modifier in green above correctly modifies the entire clause?
Thanks

elevinty wrote:Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992, Project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

(A) Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992, project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

(B) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992, five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was pledged by Project SETI．

(C) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992，five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，Project SETI pledged a$100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence．

(D) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the initiation of Project SETI five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992．

(E) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，on Columbus Day 1992，the initiation of Project SETI took place

here is my question:
what I dont understand is the structure:
In C and B: Initiated on Columbus Day 1992，five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World, what is the function of the noun phrase in here(five centuries....), at first glance it seemed as an misplaced modifier, because you need a noun subject after the introductory phrase instead we have another modifier, to me the place of this modifier seems illogic.

Anyway, correct me if am wrong:
The sentence starts with an adverb(initiated...) hence it can come any where in the sentence and still modify the main clause, the second bit is a noun modifier(five centuries...) that is functioning as appositive, therefore it can come before or after the noun that it's meant to modify, as a result the sentence is grammatically right.

elevinty wrote:Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992, Project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

(A) Initiated five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992, project SETI pledged a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

(B) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992, five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was pledged by Project SETI．

(C) Initiated on Columbus Day 1992，five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，Project SETI pledged a$100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence．

(D) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, the initiation of Project SETI five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World on Columbus Day 1992．

(E) Pledging a $100 million investment in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence five centuries after Europeans arrived in the New World，on Columbus Day 1992，the initiation of Project SETI took place