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Sukant2010
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 17 Jan 2014, 15:21
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75% (hard)

Question Stats:

39% (01:13) correct 61% (01:11) wrong based on 509 sessions

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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.


A. having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her

B. having finished a hard day's work, she felt sleep descend on her

C. sleep descended on her having finished a hard day's work

D. having finished a hard day's work, sleep had descended on her

E. having completed a hard day's work, sleeping descended on her


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All the options are too ambiguous that the question baffles me. Any expert comment would be truly welcomed. Thanks in advance...!!
Source: 800score.com Practice tests
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sivasanjeev
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 17 Jan 2014, 19:01
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Sukant2010
After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.

A. having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her

B. having finished a hard day's work, she felt sleep descend on her

C. sleep descended on her having finished a hard day's work

D. having finished a hard day's work, sleep had descended on her

E. having completed a hard day's work, sleeping descended on her

All the options are too ambiguous that the question baffles me. Any expert comment would be truly welcomed. Thanks in advance...!!
Source: 800score.com Practice tests
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Whenever you see a participle modifier, the first thing that should come to your mind is that a participle modifier should always modify the word it describes.
Here, having ... shouldn't modify sleep. Instead it should modify she.

Except for B, all the others are dangling modifiers.
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AnirudhaS
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 08 Nov 2020, 11:26
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Verb tense in B looks odd.

....sleep descend on her.

Experts help please.

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Aishyk97
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 14 Jul 2023, 20:52
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sivasanjeev
Sukant2010
After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.

A. having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her

B. having finished a hard day's work, she felt sleep descend on her

C. sleep descended on her having finished a hard day's work

D. having finished a hard day's work, sleep had descended on her

E. having completed a hard day's work, sleeping descended on her

All the options are too ambiguous that the question baffles me. Any expert comment would be truly welcomed. Thanks in advance...!!
Source: 800score.com Practice tests

Whenever you see a participle modifier, the first thing that should come to your mind is that a participle modifier should always modify the word it describes.
Here, having ... shouldn't modify sleep. Instead it should modify she.

Except for B, all the others are dangling modifiers.
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Hi,
How do you say in A that it is a dangling modifier?

I thought "having finished a hard days work" modified Janet in the first part of the sentence. And ,having is a present participle modifier that is modifying subject the previous clause.

I read the sentence like this: (Information in between commas is removable)
After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.

Experts please help.
AjiteshArun generis ScottTargetTestPrep AndrewN egmat GMATNinja
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 15 Jul 2023, 03:32
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Aishyk97
Hi,
How do you say in A that it is a dangling modifier?

I thought "having finished a hard days work" modified Janet in the first part of the sentence. And ,having is a present participle modifier that is modifying subject the previous clause.

I read the sentence like this: (Information in between commas is removable)
After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.

Experts please help.
Show more
Hello, Aishyk97. This question is probably better relegated to the sidelines. The idea of sleep being comparable to a blanket may be poetic, but such a florid touch is not like any comparison I have seen or would expect to see on the exam. Answer choices (C) through (E) are fundamentally flawed, but the idea that the modifier having finished a hard day's work must refer to the latter part of the sentence is incorrect. With (A) and (B) to consider, there is nothing but philosophy to fall back on. Can sleep be said to descend on somebody, like some puff of wind? Is a person capable of feeling sleep descend on her? What does that feel like? The sentence seems to be describing fatigue, but in a way that is unrealistic, to say the least.

Many questions by third parties are designed with some talking point in mind, but the efforts fall short of a GMAT-like standard. I would recommend studying only official questions for SC practice, and even if you have gone through them all, there is much to be learned by combing through them again, especially the questions you missed, guessed on, or struggled with the first time through.

- Andrew
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After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descend 15 Jul 2023, 04:27
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Aishyk97
Hi,
How do you say in A that it is a dangling modifier?

I thought "having finished a hard days work" modified Janet in the first part of the sentence. And ,having is a present participle modifier that is modifying subject the previous clause.

I read the sentence like this: (Information in between commas is removable)
After Janet lay down, having finished a hard day's work, sleep descended on her like a soft blanket.

Experts please help.
Hello, Aishyk97. This question is probably better relegated to the sidelines. The idea of sleep being comparable to a blanket may be poetic, but such a florid touch is not like any comparison I have seen or would expect to see on the exam. Answer choices (C) through (E) are fundamentally flawed, but the idea that the modifier having finished a hard day's work must refer to the latter part of the sentence is incorrect. With (A) and (B) to consider, there is nothing but philosophy to fall back on. Can sleep be said to descend on somebody, like some puff of wind? Is a person capable of feeling sleep descend on her? What does that feel like? The sentence seems to be describing fatigue, but in a way that is unrealistic, to say the least.

Many questions by third parties are designed with some talking point in mind, but the efforts fall short of a GMAT-like standard. I would recommend studying only official questions for SC practice, and even if you have gone through them all, there is much to be learned by combing through them again, especially the questions you missed, guessed on, or struggled with the first time through.

- Andrew
Show more

Hi AndrewN,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have seen many of your posts on the forum, thank you for all the great explanations.

As per your advice I will relegate this question.

Posted from my mobile device
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