A new satellite sweeping over the poles at altitudes of up to 32,000

the main problem with choice c is that sweeping in choice c is adjective but not a adverb as in choice d. because sweeping is adverb, it shows that by sweeping, the satallite give scientists the best look. sweeping here means "by sweeping". so , meaning in choice c is different from meaning in choice d.

Hello Experts,
KarishmaB EducationAisle AjiteshArun

In Choice B, I just want to understand whether the verb-ing modifier SWEEPING is correct or not .

Can the verb-ing modifier jump over Noun Modifier ( the region of space under the invisible influence of Earth’s magnetic field) and modify A new satellite ?

Thanks.

KarishmaB EducationAisle

In A, why "giving scientists their best look" can't be consider as verb-ing modifying or sharing more info about previous clause "A new satellite is called POLAR"?

Indeed, "giving..." is a present participial phrase. However, notice the structure:

A new satellite ....is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look...

How is the fact that the satellite is called POLAR, giving giving scientists their best look...?

These are two unrelated independent facts. So, usage of present participial phrase is not justified here.

The correct sentence could have been:

A new satellite ....is called POLAR, and it is giving scientists their best look...

Hello EducationAisle

As per your book Participle Phrases "Appearing at the end of the Clause/Sentence" that are proceeded by Comma "Modifies the subject of the proceeding clause or the entire clause (whichever makes sense)"

Based on that, I picked A. I thought the -ing modifier "giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere" is modifying the subject "A new satellite" and it made sense, what am I missing?

GMATNinja I understand why D is correct but cannot take A off

I think you might be looking at a different section of the book.

As per the book, Present Participle Phrases "appearing at the end of the Clause/Sentence and proceeded by a comma" actually modify the subject of the preceding clause, and the present participial phrase should be a result / description of this clause.

I have also attached the corresponding section of the book ("pp phrase") for your reference.


Reiterating, such participial phrases:

Condition-I. Modify the subject of the preceding clause, and
Condition-II. The present participial phrase should be a result / description of this clause

In option A, while the participial phrase correctly modifies the subject of the preceding clause (so, Condition-I is satisfied), condition-II is not satisfied. As mentioned in my post above, the fact that the satellite is called POLAR is unrelated with the fact that this satellite is giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere.

Since these are two unrelated facts, the usage of present participial phrase is not justified here. We have covered this aspect in detail in our book (please refer to the "Note" attached).

It is certainly possible for -ing words to act as simple adjectives (as explained in this article: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 39780.html). Here's an example:

"The taverna serving delicious Greek lemon soup was closed by the health inspectors."

This seems fine. "Serving" acts as an adjective, telling us more about the taverna that was tragically closed by health inspectors.

But moving the "-ing" modifier to the end of the sentence changes things:

"The taverna was closed by health inspectors, serving delicious Greek lemon soup."

Now, is it the health inspectors who are serving the soup? Probably not (and if so, why is there a comma before the modifier?). Okay, so let's agree that the modifier should describe the taverna.

Still, by moving the modifier to the end (AFTER the full clause), the modifier seems to tell us something about the action of the taverna, not just something about the taverna itself. In other words, the "-ing" modifier seems to describe the entire clause ("The taverna was closed...").

So is "serving delicious Greek lemon soup" what the taverna was doing while it was being closed by health inspectors? Let's hope not -- that would be a pretty sad waste of soup.

With that in mind, let's look at a simplified version of (A):

"A new satellite is called POLAR, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere."

Like the second example above, placing the modifier at the end suggests that it describes the entire clause -- the action of the satellite (being called POLAR) -- as opposed to being a simple adjective describing the satellite. If we wanted to use "giving" as an adjective describing the satellite, it would be much clearer to put it right after "satellite". ("A new satellite, giving scientists their best look yet at the magnetosphere, is called Polar.")

Choice (D) avoids that point of confusion entirely. The opening modifier ("Sweeping...") clearly and logically modifies the subject ("a new satellite called POLAR"). And since "is giving" is the main verb, we know it must go with that same subject. The meaning is entirely clear and logical, so (D) is a much better choice.

I hope that helps!

Hello IN2MBB2PE,

Hope you are doing well. Although you have gotten a very detailed response to your question, I would like to direct you to an article in which we have explained the use of the comma + verb-ing modifier through simple and official examples. It is a well-loved article, and I am sure that you will find it helpful too. Here is the link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/usage-of-ver ... 35220.html


Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

I am confused with the correct answer D. In the sentence D, if the pronoun "their" logically corresponds to the noun "poles", it will be possible that the pronoun could gramatically correspond to the relatively closer noun "scientists" . Hence, the D option also has the ambiguity problem as the C has in the modifier "called Polar".
On the other hands, assuming that the pronoun logically refers to the "scientists", does the existence of the pronoun cause a redundant problem?

Thank you for your explanation!