A prep SC question: the Inuit people

[aflaamM589]

the passive is not an error.

think about the meaning of this sentence. there are two ideas:

1/
they led a nomadic existence
(= how they LIVED THEIR WHOLE LIVES)

2/
they slept in certain types of housing
(= how ONE ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES worked)

now ask yourself... should #1 modify #2, or should #2 modify #1?
the answer should be clear. choice E is backward.

Ron , can this choice be crossed out also because of two initial back to back modifiers?
Best

[RonPurewal]

sorry, i don't really understand what you are asking.

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron,
Hope you are doing good.
Until recent times, leading a nomadic existence, the Inuit people were sheltered

Until recent times is a modifier--> subject should follow it
but another modifier leading a nomadic existence follows it.
Shouldn't there be subject immediately after Until recent times?
Thanks,

[RonPurewal]

time modifiers describe actions, not nouns.

[RichaChampion]

Ron Sir,

Lead & Led are the Bonafide verbs, but in option D and E, these bonafide verbs have taken a sharp turn to something else that is not a verb for sure, leading.

I am reproducing option D and E -

D.Up until recently, the Inuit people, leading a nomadic existence, have sheltered
E.Until recent times, leading a nomadic existence, the Inuit people were sheltered

Based on my understanding leading is a Verb+Ing Modifier, and its position is correct in D as it is modifying the Inuit people, but wrong in option E as it is modifying recent time and that makes it nonsensical.

On a different understanding, they are both are wrong because Verb + ing holds the tense of the preceding clause, Until recent time in option E is in past tense and leading in present and that makes it incorrect. I believe on the basis of same understanding leading is also wrong in Option D, although it is modifying the correct subject.

[RonPurewal]

i'm sorry, but i can't tell what you are trying to ask. what exactly is your question?

[RichaChampion]

I'm sorry, but I can't tell what you are trying to ask. what exactly is your question?

Ok, Let me ask in a different manner -

A.Until recently, the Inuit people led a nomadic existence, sheltering

Sheltering is a Verb+Ing modifier. As you have said many times that Verb+Ing modifier takes the tense of the preceding clause.
led: past tense, but I do not think that sheltering, which is Verb+Ing modifier, is in past tense? Or do you think that sheltering is in past tense?

I believe here sheltering is unable to take the tense of the preceding clause. what is your opinion on this?

[PengG163]

Because we need a "and" before "sheltered..."? But, Can I interpret "sheltered..." as a modifier that has a "comma + Ved" structure?

you can read it that way ... but then it doesn't make sense.

if you read the modifier that way, the previous sentence (= the stuff that it's modifying) has to describe something that the inuit people do while sheltered in igloos.
e.g.,
Amaqjuaq was safe from the bitter Arctic cold, sheltered in an igloo for the night.

Ron, if I am correct, you mentioned that "Comma Verbed" only can be used to modify the noun before it. In this question, "... , sheltered ..." should modify the previous noun, which has not, so should it wrong?

[RonPurewal]

Ron, if I am correct, you mentioned that "Comma Verbed" only can be used to modify the noun before it.

i'm pretty sure i never said that. can you post a link?

those kinds of modifiers CAN describe the preceding noun (e.g., SC problem 29 in the 2016 OG), but they don't have to.

[RichaChampion]

Hye Ron you didn't answered my question.

[PengG163]

Ron, if I am correct, you mentioned that "Comma Verbed" only can be used to modify the noun before it.

i'm pretty sure i never said that. can you post a link?

those kinds of modifiers CAN describe the preceding noun (e.g., SC problem 29 in the 2016 OG), but they don't have to.

Thank you RON, I think it is my fault. Comma+Ved can not only modifies the preceding noun but also skips other modifiers to modify other nouns (the closer the better) in the sentence. Below are all correct sentences:

The ABC settlements at CC village were built on a spectacular scale with more than 75 carefully engineered structures, of up to 600 rooms each, connected by a complex regional system of roads.

(Manh-OL1) Many of Guy de Maupassant's short stories have become classics because of the author's famed and masterful use of irony, evidenced in the slow revelation of a tragic twist of fate at the end of each piece.

D-disease, together with its complications, ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

If I am wrong please kindly let me know, thank you again RON! Nice day!

[RonPurewal]

your analysis of the last one is incorrect. (think about it -- "Disease D is surpassed only by heart disease and cancer" BY ITSELF is nonsense, so, that modifier isn't modifying "Disease D".)

in that sentence, the modifier (comma + "surpassed only by heart disease and cancer") is describing the previous clause/action/verb/sentence ("ranks as the nation's third leading cause of death").
it's giving you more information about why it's ranked THIRD (by telling you which things are ranked first and second, respectively).

in other words, the last example works EXACTLY like "comma + __ing".

[Kovid]

Hi Ron,

As you have explained that in "comma+___ing" form, the SUBJECT should be most directly responsible for the '___ing' action, and timeframe of ___ing must be same as main action.

I have two questions
1. whether inuit people is most directly responsible for sheltering in x and in y?
2. is the timeframe of both the actions same?




Thanks

[RonPurewal]

1. whether inuit people is most directly responsible for sheltering in x and in y?

they are the ones who took shelter in igloos, so, yes.

2. is the timeframe of both the actions same?

in context, this should be obvious.