还是ing修饰，preceding clause指哪一句

stellalights

呵呵。。。我都不好意思再问ing修饰的了。。。

comma+ing, it MODIFIESTHE ENTIRE ACTION of the precedingclause, and it APPLIES TO THE SUBJECT of that clause;


87. According to scientists who monitored its path, an expanding cloud of energized particles ejected from the Sun recently triggered a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, which brightened the Northern Lights and also possibly knocking out a communications satellite



A. an expanding cloud of energized particles ejected from the Sun recently triggered a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, whichbrightened the Northern Lights and also possibly knocking


B.an expanding cloud of energized particles ejected from the Sun was what recently triggered a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, andit the brightened the Northern Lights and also possibly knocked

C.an expanding cloud of energized particles ejected from the Sun recently triggered a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, brighteningthe Northern Lights and also possibly knocking


D. a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth, recently triggered by an expanding cloud of energized particles, brightened the Northern Lights and it possibly knocked

E. a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth was recently triggered by an expanding cloud of energized particles, brightening the Northern Lights and itpossibly knocked


我明白C中的brightening是做结果状语修饰一整个句子的。但是在这句话中，comma+ing的preceding clause 不是field that surround earth么？？？不是定语从句么。。。

DUKB24

good question

your understanding is right，but that really depends on different questions


when u look at the core structure of choice C


an cloud triggered a strom （other part are all modifiers）


it indeed has an ambiguity pointed out by u


but compared to other choices （which have some intolerable mistakes，either grammatically or logically）


it is the best choice

stellalights

soga~~thx！！！

斑斑开头的good question让我想起了我们外教每次都慢悠悠咬字超清楚的讲"good question "。。。

kiwifoodtown

LZ，状语是修饰前一句的an expanding cloud of energized particles ejected from the Sun recently triggered a large storm in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth这一整句的。而且brightening 的逻辑主语为an expanding cloud of energized particles 。所以绝不可能是that surrounds Earth。

babybearmm

Hey, Great question!

I agree with what DUKB says. Just to add my 2c:


Consider this sentence that I make up (if anyone finds a similar sentence in reliable source, let me know and I'll substitute the sample sentence)


Scientists found that drug X activates the cellular pathway Y, leading to cell death.


core: Scientists found that X activates Y.


Here, the comma+v-ing ", leading to cell death" modifies the preceding clause "X activates Y", not the main clause "Scientists found bla bla".


Notice the difference between my sentence and your sentence?


In your sentence, "... in the magnetic field that surrounds Earth ..."
"that surrounds Earth" is indeed a noun modifier that modifies "the magnetic field". Just as DUKB said, when you look at the core structure, "that surrounds Earth" is left out.
In contrast, in my sentence "X activates Y" is a clause, acting as the object - "Scientists found WHAT".

babybearmm

I just found a official sentence:

65.In a plan to stop the erosion of East Coast beaches, the Army Crops of Engineers proposed building parallel to shore a breakwater of rocks that would rise six feet above the waterline and act as a buffer, absorbing the energy of crashing waves and protecting the beaches.


Here, yes - the preceding clause "that would rise ... and act ..."


Umm, your question is interesting. I would guess that in your sentence "that surrounds earth" is really short and just add a little bit of clarifying info, so it is treated as a noun modifier. But here, "that would rise ... and act ..." is quite long and expresses really important information (the key information that this sentence is about to say), so it makes sense that the v-ing part is modifying the PRECEDING clause.


Anyway, DUKB is right. Looks like we shall not treat these "rules" as rigid rigid rules, rather apply them to a particular context - the meaning of a sentence.

DUKB24

baby姐回复真细心

stellalights

真心感谢baby姐那么详细的回答！！
NN们好厉害！
thanks!

stellalights

babybearmm 发表于 2013-3-23 03:44
I just found a official sentence:65.In a plan to stop the erosion of East Coast beaches, the Army Cr ...

还有一个问题，弱弱的问，如果ing在句尾表示结果状语的话，要不要求it APPLIES TO THE SUBJECT of that clause？？

stellalights

有木有人帮我解答一下上面这个问题==