Although covered in about 11 inches of snow

[yo4561]

MP says that an additional requirement for comma-ing and comma-ed modifiers is that the first piece of info leads to or results in the second piece of info.

On this CAT problem below (the correct choice is D), the "according to aviation officials" does not seem to serve either of these purposes?


Although covered in about 11 inches of snow, aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing was acceptable.


aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing was acceptable


the runway conditions during the emergency landing were acceptable according to aviation officials


according to aviation officials, the runway was in acceptable condition during the time of the emergency landing


the runway was in acceptable condition during the emergency landing, according to aviation officials


aviation officials said that conditions on the runway at the time of the emergency landing were acceptable

[esledge]

It's often the case that a comma-ing modifiers gives the result of the main clause, but that definition is probably too strict. Try this: a comma-ing modifier has to make sense describing the main clause.

The runway was in acceptable condition, according to aviation officials. (What did the officials claim? that the runway was ok...)
The dog chased the squirrels, yapping and hopping around. (Just describes how the dog chased)
He sped thru the neighborhood recklessly, crashing into mailboxes. (The modifier is the result of the main clause "he sped... recklessly.")

In this particular CAT example, it is a little unusual that "according to officials" is at the end; such modifiers often come first. However, the non-underlined modifier "Although covered in...snow" must be followed by "the runway," so the authors have a valid reason to place "(comma) according to...officials" at the end instead.