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Question

Difficulty: MediumModifier Placement

Deep-ocean submersibles have recently mapped several hydrothermal vents in the Mariana Trench. Emitting mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius, scientists have discovered thriving ecosystems surrounding these underwater geysers. These extreme environments support specialized bacteria that convert toxic chemicals into energy.

Which of the following is the most grammatically correct and logical revision of the underlined portion of the passage?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    scientists have discovered thriving ecosystems surrounding these underwater geysers, which emits mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius.
  3. scientists have discovered thriving ecosystems surrounding these underwater geysers, which emit mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius.Answer
  4. D
    scientists have discovered thriving ecosystems surrounding these underwater geysers, they emit mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius.

Answer

scientists have discovered thriving ecosystems surrounding these underwater geysers, which emit mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius.
The correct answer fixes the dangling modifier by restructuring the sentence so that the description of emitting mineral-rich water is placed in a relative clause ('which emit...') directly following the noun it describes ('geysers'). This choice also maintains proper subject-verb agreement, matching the plural subject 'geysers' with the plural verb 'emit.'

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the dangling modifier in the original sentence.
The introductory participial phrase 'Emitting mineral-rich water at temperatures exceeding 400 degrees Celsius' is positioned to modify the subject 'scientists,' which makes no logical sense since scientists cannot emit superheated water.
Correcting the dangling modifier requires placing the modifying information immediately adjacent to the noun it logically modifies ('geysers' or 'vents').
2
Evaluate option structures for logical modifier placement and grammatical correctness.
Placing a relative clause starting with 'which' after 'underwater geysers' correctly associates the action of emitting water with the geysers. The verb in this relative clause must agree in number with the plural noun 'geysers.'
This step ensures that correcting the modifier placement does not introduce other grammatical errors such as subject-verb agreement violations.
3
Check for punctuation errors like comma splices.
Using 'they emit' creates a comma splice because it attempts to join two independent clauses with a comma and no conjunction. The relative pronoun 'which' is needed to properly connect the dependent clause.
Verifying that the final choice contains no secondary grammatical errors establishes the correct answer.

Key Concept

Modifier Placement
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Topics

Modifier Placement

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