Examkin

Question

Difficulty: Very hardModifier Placement

Read the passage below:

In 1610, Galileo Galilei directed his newly constructed telescope toward the night sky, revealing Jupiter’s four largest moons. By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, these celestial bodies were proved to be orbiting a body other than Earth. This groundbreaking discovery directly challenged the geocentric model that had dominated European astronomy for centuries.

Which choice most effectively corrects the underlined portion to ensure the sentence is clear, logical, and grammatically correct?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies were orbiting a body other than Earth.Answer
  3. C
    By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies, which challenged ancient theories, was orbiting a body other than Earth.
  4. D
    He recorded their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies were orbiting a body other than Earth.

Answer

The correct answer is the option that reads: 'By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies were orbiting a body other than Earth.'
The correct option is the one that introduces the subject 'Galileo' immediately after the introductory phrase 'By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal'. This placement resolves the dangling modifier because Galileo is the person who recorded the observations. Additionally, this option maintains subject-verb agreement by correctly pairing the plural subject 'celestial bodies' with the plural verb 'were orbiting', and uses correct punctuation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the underlined portion in the context of the sentence to identify any modifier errors.
The introductory phrase 'By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal' describes the action of recording observations. However, the subject of the main clause immediately following this phrase is 'these celestial bodies.' Because celestial bodies cannot write in a journal, this is a dangling modifier error.
An introductory modifying phrase must logically modify the subject that immediately follows the comma.
2
Evaluate the first choice ('NO CHANGE').
This choice retains the dangling modifier 'By recording... these celestial bodies were proved', which is grammatically incorrect.
It fails to align the modifying phrase with its logical subject (Galileo).
3
Evaluate the option with the intervening relative clause ('By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies, which challenged ancient theories, was orbiting a body other than Earth.').
This option corrects the dangling modifier by introducing 'Galileo' as the subject, but it introduces a subject-verb agreement error. The plural subject 'celestial bodies' is paired with the singular verb 'was orbiting' across the intervening nonessential clause 'which challenged ancient theories'.
A plural subject must agree with a plural verb regardless of any intervening descriptive phrase.
4
Evaluate the option that creates two independent clauses ('He recorded their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies were orbiting a body other than Earth.').
This choice resolves the dangling modifier by creating two complete thoughts, but it joins them with only a comma, creating a comma splice error.
Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone without a coordinating conjunction or proper punctuation like a semicolon.
5
Evaluate the correct option ('By recording their positions night after night in his leather-bound journal, Galileo proved that these celestial bodies were orbiting a body other than Earth.').
This option correctly associates the introductory phrase with the subject 'Galileo' and maintains proper subject-verb agreement ('bodies' with 'were orbiting') and correct punctuation.
It resolves the dangling modifier without introducing any secondary grammatical errors.

Key Concept

Modifier Placement
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Rate this question

Topics

Modifier Placement

More questions from this topic