Modifiers Doubt

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Modifiers Doubt

by gmatjeet » Sun May 29, 2011 7:45 am
Declining values for farm equipment and land, the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is going to force many lenders to tighten or deny credit this spring.
(A) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, is
(B) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, is
(C) the collateral which is borrowed against by farmers to get through the harvest season, is
(D) which farmers use as collateral to borrow against to get through the harvest season, are
(E) the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season, are

We know that answer is E however the doubt is that how can the modifier "the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" refer to only "farm equipment and land". Isnt modifier are suppose to modify the entire phrase/sentence .
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by sameerballani » Sun May 29, 2011 8:26 am
What's the Question No please.

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by smackmartine » Sun May 29, 2011 10:46 am
gmatjeet wrote: We know that answer is E however the doubt is that how can the modifier "the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" refer to only "farm equipment and land". Isnt modifier are suppose to modify the entire phrase/sentence .
In this case "the collateral against which farmers borrow to get through the harvest season" is an appositive, which can only define a noun (in this case compound noun "farm equipment and land") closest to it separated by commas.

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by hardikm » Tue May 31, 2011 9:19 am
Hi,
2/3 split based on whether verb is "is / are". Since Declining values are........ is correct,
eliminate A,B,C
comparing D and E,
D "which farmers uses as a collateral to borrow against" sounds bit absurd where as E is correct as the appositive is placed right next to the noun it modifies.

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