Richardson wrote:
In the last few years, the number of convicted criminals given community service sentences allowing them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs that benefit the public has risen dramatically.
Duongluong wrote:
With POE, I can easily take A, B, C, D out, but still confused with option E: Whom 'performing specific job'? I think reasonably they are 'them'/criminals, but we dont have any precedent subject for that clause. It is usual to say that "I do A while doing B" (the precedent subject "I" applying for both clauses of the sentence), but when I re-write this clause as following, causing a little ambiguity:
Community service sentences {allow them to remain unconfined} while {performing specific jobs} that benefit the public.
Then, I tried to rewrite it in different way to make "them" a subject for the gerund "performing", it should be like this:
Community service sentences allow them {to remain unconfined} while {to perform} specific jobs that benefit the public.
Can someone help me out what is problem with my thought?
Duongluong , I'm not sure I understand your question. Actually, I'm sure I
don't understand your question.
1) what bothers you?
2) what is it that you are trying to fix about the sentence? What is it that you want the sentence to say that it does not say?
Is is possible that you are over thinking this issue?
I am about to deploy too much jargon.
I need to do so because the focus seems to be grammar rules.
I understand the urge to find hard-and-fast rules. But you wrote that you could eliminate option D easily.
Answer E is correct.Here's a productive question: What rule or rules might you be incorrectly relying upon?
The subject is
number.The verb is
has risen.An unusually long prepositional phrase follows:
of convicted criminals / given community service sentences / allowing them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs / that benefit the publicWithin the prepositional phrase we have:
1) essential participial modifier = of convicted
criminals 2 past participle + nouns = given community service sentences
3) present participle + pronoun + infinitive phrase = allowing
them to remain unconfined while performing specific jobs
4) that clause (relative clause modifer) = that benefit the public
Where did you get the idea that the object of a preposition could not be the antecedent of a pronoun? (IS this issue the one that bothers you?
)
Or that a pronoun must refer to a noun that is a
subject of the sentence?
This is correct:
The object of a preposition CAN be the antecedent of a pronoun.This is correct:
A pronoun does NOT have to refer to the subject of the sentence.The object of a preposition cannot be the subject of a clause or sentence. The object of a preposition cannot simultaneously be the object of a verb.But the object of a preposition certainly CAN be an antecedent for a pronoun.The subject of the sentence is not
criminals.
But "criminals" IS the antecedent of "them."
Look at the structure of the participial phrases. The pronoun-noun relationship is logical.
Criminals are people. Sentences are not people. Sentences cannot perform jobs. The only logical antecedent of
them in the long prepositional modifier is "criminals."
I admire your tenacity. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture, too. You may well be doing so and I just cannot see that you are doing so because I do not understand your question.
Hope that reply helps.
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