vscid...I think you are right..i have messed up completely..

better to leave it to experts..ron pls help..

+1 for E

E mistakenly implies that water somehow prevents its molecules from evaporating


Note: active participle replaces active voice

Quoting Lunarpower in an earlier post

nevertheless, here are some considerations that you should know regarding modifiers:
1) modifiers that start with "which" are always nonessential (set off by a comma).
2) modifiers that start with "that" are always essential (not set off by a comma).
3) COMMA -ING modifiers modify the ENTIRETY of the preceding CLAUSE.
4) -ING modifiers WITHOUT COMMAS modify only the preceding NOUN or NOUN PHRASE.

is rule three applicable here even though to eliminate option E ?

PS the discussion in this post and the one about Sound travels through water are invaluable.

vscid wrote:Theoretically, water could remain in liquid form indefinitely in extremely low-energy environments, prevented from evaporating its molecules as a result of an insufficient level of kinetic energy present in the molecules on the liquid's surface.

(A)prevented from evaporating its molecules as a result of
(B) prevented from having its molecules evaporated by
(C)its molecules prevented from evaporating by
(D)its molecules prevented from being evaporated as a result of
(E)preventing its molecules from evaporating by

Is water preventing its molecules from flying away to cloud 9? No. Its the fact that molecules posses insufficient Kinetic Energy to evaporate.

A,B use past tense. Hence out.
E is wrong because water is not preventing its molecules from anything.

Between C and D, D is unnecessary wordy. C is my choice.

Edit: Just saw Kevin's reply, Kevin's reasoning is in line with my reasoning for ruling E out, C is the correct choice.

Theoretically, water could remain in liquid form indefinitely in extremely low-energy environments, prevented from evaporating its molecules as a result of an insufficient level of kinetic energy present in the molecules on the liquid's surface.

(A)prevented from evaporating its molecules as a result of
(B) prevented from having its molecules evaporated by
(C)its molecules prevented from evaporating by
(D)its molecules prevented from being evaporated as a result of
(E)preventing its molecules from evaporating by

Option A -> 'prevented .....as a result of' (past participle phrase acting as a noun modifier) - it modifies 'environments' and is WRONG

Option B -> same as A

Option E -> 'preventing ...' (present participle phrase that should refer to the subject 'water' and that should describe / extend the meaning of the previous clause) - WRONG

Between C & D, C is concise and hence the WINNER

Yes, we have understood that all are incorrect except C.

However, we are seeking correctness of the correct problem.

imo e is best answer

lunarpower wrote:what's the source of this question?

as one poster has already indicated above, this question is a blatant ripoff of a problem from the OG.

here's a thread dealing with the original:
https://www.beatthegmat.com/sound-can-tr ... 41971.html

Knewton.

IMO E: Typical cause\effect relationship with the previous clause, whenever effect of earlier clause needs to be stated, Comma + ing Modifier is the best.. You can find several such eg in OG12.

(A)prevented from evaporating its molecules as a result of --->quite wordy.
(B) prevented from having its molecules evaporated by ---->'from having its' quite vague construction to go with.
(C)its molecules prevented from evaporating by ----->RUN ON sentence i.e sentence without conjunction
(D)its molecules prevented from being evaporated as a result of ----->3error: RUN ON sentence + being + wordy
(E)preventing its molecules from evaporating by ------>Correct because water remain in liquid form, the evaporation of its molecules was prevented.