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Dangling Modifiers- Terrorists and Hostages

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by kanha81 » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:50 pm
I could not find the following quesiton in the forum, so I am posting this for further clarification.

Torn between [spoiler][D][/spoiler] and [spoiler][E][/spoiler]

Somber in tone and menacing in content, the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope that they would be released by the end of the week.

(A) leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope that they would be

(B) leader of the terrorists holding the hostages sent a message that left little hope for their being

(C) leader of the terrorists holding the hostages sent a message leaving little hope of the hostages being

(D) message sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope that the hostages would be

(E) message that was sent by the leader of the terrorists who were holding the hostages left little hope for the hostages to be

Any suggestions or pointers?
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by karmayogi » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:43 pm
Only message can be somber and menacing, so eliminate A, B, and C. Between D and E, I would go for D. D is pithier, and 'that" is clearly describing the hope.
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by lilu » Sat Apr 18, 2009 3:47 pm
Both D and E are correct, but D is less wordy than E, so D must be the answer.
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by 4seasoncentre » Sat Apr 18, 2009 5:55 pm
I vote D as well. First 3 can be eliminated, unless you argue that people can be sombre in tone and menacing in context- I've met some.
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usage of that

by mharv » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:43 am
I think your answer can be found in this post

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-tha ... 14000.html

E is an example of using that in a redundant form, thereby making D the best choice
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by amit_unlimited » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:10 am
A,B,C are clearly out.Misplaced modifier.

Between D and E.I would go for D.

First of all D is brief and in my opinion E changes the meaning by writing "left little hope for the hostages"

D Correctly writes that "left little hope that the hostages would be".

See the letter certainly has been addressed to some authority and not to the hostages.The authorities had hope that the hostages would be released. Now the letter left little hope that the hostages would be released by the end of the week.
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Re: usage of that

by kanha81 » Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:18 pm
mharv wrote:I think your answer can be found in this post

https://www.beatthegmat.com/usage-of-tha ... 14000.html

E is an example of using that in a redundant form, thereby making D the best choice
Thanks. OA is [spoiler][D][/spoiler]
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