Another Example
Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War. Horace Pippin,
a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his
left
(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
Og Explanation says
Choice C is wordy and awkwardly places the clause beginning that
crippled... so that it appears to modify the First World War rather than bullet.
but according to Your post , the modifier that crippled correctly modifies bullet
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Quantity expressions - Plural or singualar
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mundasingh123
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lunarpower
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no matter where you assign the modifier, choice (e) appears to say that the 1973 mortgage payments were part of something that did something in 1984. this is nonsense.mundasingh123 wrote: why is E wrong here
this is what the og is trying to say with the "separate clause" thing -- it's impossible to construct this sentence with any sort of modifier of this kind, because you can't have a statement about 1984 modifying a statement about 1973.
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lunarpower
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ya, i don't think that is explained correctly. (this is an OG10 problem; a lot of the explanations in OG10 are notorious for being ... not so good.)mundasingh123 wrote:Another Example
Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War. Horace Pippin,
a Black American painter, worked by holding the brush in his right hand and guiding its movements with his
left
(A) Having the right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(B) In spite of his right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(C) Because there had been a sniper's bullet during the First World War that crippled his right hand and arm
(D) The right hand and arm being crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
(E) His right hand and arm crippled by a sniper's bullet during the First World War
Og Explanation says
Choice C is wordy and awkwardly places the clause beginning that
crippled... so that it appears to modify the First World War rather than bullet.
but according to Your post , the modifier that crippled correctly modifies bullet
two big problems with that:
1) "there had been a bullet during the war" doesn't make sense; "during the war" must modify an actual *event* that happened during the war, i.e., his right hand was crippled during the war.
2) "there had been a bullet..." makes it sound as though the very existence of the bullet itself was the reason why pippin had to paint with the wrong hand. that's not accurate; he had to paint this way not because *there was* a bullet (hey, there are lots of bullets in the world), but, rather, because his hand was crippled.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
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mundasingh123
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In 1973 mortgage payments represented twenty-one percent of an average thirty-year-old male's income;lunarpower wrote:no matter where you assign the modifier, choice (e) appears to say that the 1973 mortgage payments were part of something that did something in 1984. this is nonsense.mundasingh123 wrote: why is E wrong here
this is what the og is trying to say with the "separate clause" thing -- it's impossible to construct this sentence with any sort of modifier of this kind, because you can't have a statement about 1984 modifying a statement about 1973.
and forty-four percent in 1984.
(A) income; and forty-four percent in 1984
(B) income; in 1984 the figure was forty-four percent
(C) income, and in 1984 forty-four percent
(D) income, forty-four percent in 1984 was the figure
(E) income that rose to forty-four percent in 1984
But Ron , you had once stated that the that clause is flexible and could modify the subject of the prepositional phrase which precedes the that clause.
So here the "that" clause modifies " 21 Per cent " . Why is it incorrect to say 21 % in 1973 rose to 44% in 1984 ? I am still pondering over the same issue
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lunarpower
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these are two completely separate statistical statements; therefore, the use of a modifier is inappropriate. no matter what you think it modifies, the use of a "that" modifier actually suggests that a man's income (or some percent of that income -- note that 21% is still a percent of that income) rose to 44% of something in 1984. that's incorrect.mundasingh123 wrote:But Ron , you had once stated that the that clause is flexible and could modify the subject of the prepositional phrase which precedes the that clause.
So here the "that" clause modifies " 21 Per cent " . Why is it incorrect to say 21 % in 1973 rose to 44% in 1984 ? I am still pondering over the same issue
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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Learn more about ron
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
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Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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aaditya005
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This is excellent Ron. Clears up a lot of doubts.lunarpower wrote: ↑Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:45 amin any case, in most sentences, it will be easier to use context than to memorize tons and tons of different singular/plural conventions.
for instance, in the sentence you've quoted - "the majority of students ______ hard workers" - the context, as well as the plural quality of "hard workers", shows that you're talking about students (plural).
in general, here are some hints.
* if you're talking about a literal fraction or proportion, then you should use the singular.
ex: the proportion of residents who are of filipino descent has increased steadily over the last ten years. --> the proportion itself has increased (the residents haven't "increased"), so, singular.
* if you're talking about a group of people or things, acting separately, then you should use the plural.
ex: the majority of students turn in their papers in the last hour before the deadline.
* if you're talking about a portion of some mass noun and/or singular thing, then you should use the singular.
ex: the majority of the student body votes in the election each year. (since "student body" is singular)
these won't cover every case - but, in most cases, you can cover yourself by thinking about context.
