For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames were essential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.
For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames wereessential items of military equipment, a method to protectwarriors against enemy arrows and spears.
(A) a method to protect
(B) as a method protecting
(C) protecting
(D) as a protection of
(E) to protect
首先 A NOUN and its MODIFIER should TOUCH each other.
其次:Manhattan里说有四种exceptions to the touch rule,其中一种是The modifier is part of a series of parallel modifiers, one of which touches the noun
然后:linking verbs是一种parallel maker, A is B, A和B必须平行
最后: animal-hide shields with wooden frames (A) were essential items (B), protecting....
因此protecting是修饰主语animal-hide shields with wooden frames。
另外从意思上说ving表结果,to do表目的。主句意思是说A were essential items,那后面补充说明的当然是应该是表示A为什么是essential的咯。
再另外,a method of/for doing;似乎没有a method to do
For members of the seventeenth-century Ashanti nation in Africa, animal-hide shields with wooden frames wereessential items of military equipment, a method to protect warriors against enemy arrows and spears.