Hi there,

Yes, you are correct in saying that “developed” and “called” are parallel in the sense that both are verb-ed modifiers that modifies “a technique”.

Now, the usage of “called” or “named” is little different from other verb-ed modifiers. “Called” and “named” must be placed immediately after the entities they modify. They cannot be placed far away as seen in Choices C and D.
So yes, in a way we can say that placing only “and” without preceded by comma before “called” can solve this modification error. But, this will make the choices wordy. In choice A, both these modifiers are placed perfectly.
Also, there are “which” modification error in choice C and D. These also make choices C and D incorrect.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Hi,

I am having one doubt with regards to usage of "which", can it modify subject of the preceding clause or it is strictly Noun/ Noun phrase modifier?

It is not exactly related to the question under discussion, but I couldn't find any other topic having similar discussion so posted here.

Thanks,
Sumit

The absence of 'quickly' does not significantly alter the core intent. As long as the technique finishes the job of analysis, whether slowly or swiftly, it is good to go.

teaserbae

In B the verb-ed modifer developed is placed too far from the noun that it modifies: technique.
As far as possible, we prefer modifier to be placed as close to the subject i.e. noun it modifies.

What does "it" in (A) stands for?

can someone explain if "it" refers to chemical elements in portion "without destroying it"?

can someone explain if "it" refers to chemical elements in portion "without destroying it"?

Hi there,

Let us split choice C into clauses:

A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.
• A technique originally developed for detecting air pollutants, called proton-induced x-ray emission,
o which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it,
• (Cont. of Cl. 1) is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.

“developed” is not a verb here. It’s a verb-ed modifier. The only verb that clause 1 has is “is finding”. (Click on the following link to learn how to distinguish between a past tense verb and verb-ed modifier: http://gmatclub.com/forum/ed-forms-verb ... l#p1100855)

In choice C, “called proton-induced x-ray emission” has been separated from the entity it should modify – “a technique”. As a result, relative pronoun “which” is now only modifying the preceding noun “proton-induced x-ray emission”. It is not modifying “a technique” anymore. This leads to the modification error in Choice C.

Same is the case with Choice D as well.

Now let’s take a look at the correct Choice A:
Originally developed for detecting air pollutants, a technique called proton-induced X-ray emission, which can quickly analyze the chemical elements in almost any substance without destroying it, is finding uses in medicine, archaeology, and criminology.

In this sentence, the opening modifier “developed” is correctly modifying the subject of the preceding clause “a technique”. Now another modifier “called…” is placed just after “a technique”. So here the sentence is really saying:
a technique = proton-induced X-ray emission
“a technique called proton-induced X-ray emission” makes one big noun phrase here and hence, “which” correctly modifies this entire noun phrase, including “a technique”.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha

Why can't we say that "proton-induced x ray" be modified by "developed"?