nityabhasin2 wrote:
can you explain the modifier error in choice B
In some cases, using "based on" before a clause is clearly incorrect.
For example:
Based on false advertising, people have purchased inferior products.In that sentence, nothing is "based on false advertising." Normally, the noun that follows "based on ..." would be the target of the modifier, but since "people" would not be "based on false advertising," there is no logical target for the modifier.
However, "based on ..." is not always used as a noun modifier. It has become conventional for it to be used adverbially to indicate how a decision has been made even though using "based on ..." in this was is not in line with standard rules of sentence construction.
For example;
Based on the results, they concluded that a new element had been created.In the above example, "based on the results" is used in an unusual way to indicate how "they concluded."
So, regarding this question, we could view the opening modifier in the (B) version in two different ways.
We could decide that it has no logical target since "anthropologists" would not be "based on the ancient Mayan text." Alternatively, we could decide that "based on ..." is used to indicate how or why the anthropologists speculated.
Since it's not 100 percent clear whether that modifier is used incorrectly, our move is to find other decision points as
KarishmaB outlined in the response above this one.