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Difficulty: MediumMisplaced and Dangling Modifiers

By utilizing advanced sonar mapping, the sunken vessel's exact location was identified by the marine historians in the deep waters of the Atlantic.

Which choice most logically and grammatically completes the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. the marine historians identified the exact location of the sunken vesselAnswer
  3. C
    the marine historians identifying the exact location of the sunken vessel
  4. D
    the marine historians identified the exact location of the sunken vessel, they immediately began diving operations

Answer

The option that changes the subject to the marine historians and uses active voice correctly avoids the dangling modifier and maintains complete sentence structure.
The correct option correctly positions 'the marine historians' as the subject of the main clause immediately following the introductory phrase. Since the historians are the ones utilizing the sonar mapping, this structure resolves the dangling modifier and forms a grammatically correct, complete sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the action in the introductory phrase and determine its logical subject.
The action is 'utilizing advanced sonar mapping'. The logical subject who can perform this action is 'the marine historians'.
An introductory modifier must describe the subject of the main clause that follows it.
2
Select the option that places the logical subject immediately after the modifier without creating punctuation or fragment errors.
Replacing the underlined phrase with 'the marine historians identified the exact location of the sunken vessel' correctly aligns the modifier with the subject and maintains standard sentence structure.
This yields a grammatically complete and logical sentence.

Key Concept

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

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