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Difficulty: MediumMisplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Having spent millions of years buried under layers of volcanic ash, the paleobotanist easily identified the fossilized leaf as an extinct species of fern.

Which of the following choices best restores grammatical correctness to the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. the fossilized leaf was easily identified by the paleobotanistAnswer
  3. C
    the paleobotanist, who easily identified the fossilized leaf,
  4. D
    the fossilized leaf was easily identified by the paleobotanist, she recognized it

Answer

The phrasing that places the fossilized leaf as the subject of the main clause to correctly align with the introductory modifying phrase.
The correct option changes the subject of the main clause to 'the fossilized leaf.' Because the leaf is the entity that spent millions of years buried under volcanic ash, this change resolves the dangling modifier. The resulting sentence is grammatically correct and logically sound.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the introductory modifying phrase and determine what it describes.
The phrase 'Having spent millions of years buried under layers of volcanic ash' is an introductory modifier that must describe the noun immediately following the comma.
English grammar rules dictate that an introductory descriptive phrase must logically modify the subject of the clause that follows it.
2
Check the subject of the original main clause for logical agreement.
The subject in the original sentence is 'the paleobotanist.' A scientist cannot be buried under volcanic ash for millions of years, which identifies a dangling modifier.
Since the original subject is illogical, the subject of the main clause must be changed to the item that was actually buried, which is the fossilized leaf.
3
Evaluate the remaining options to find the grammatically correct correction that avoids new errors.
The passive construction 'the fossilized leaf was easily identified by the paleobotanist' correctly places 'the fossilized leaf' immediately after the modifier. The options introducing a relative clause fragment or a comma splice are incorrect.
This choice resolves the modifier error while maintaining a complete, grammatically sound sentence structure.

Key Concept

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

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