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PriyamRathor
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Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excava 04 Aug 2023, 11:28
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go2venkat
Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as the civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.


(A) that flourished at the same time as the civilizations

(B) that had flourished at the same time as had the civilizations

(C) that flourished at the same time those had

(D) flourishing at the same time as those did

(E) flourishing at the same time as those were



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https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/24/science/progress-reported-in-struggle-to-save-imperiled-ruins.html

FOR thousands of years, the Indus River has brought the blessing of water for crops and the curse of destructive floods. But today the Indus River poses a new danger to the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as those in the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates and the Nile.

Moisture and salt deposits threaten to erode and destroy the remarkable Mohenjo Daro archeological excavation that has fascinated and awed scientists and visitors since its discovery under a giant mound of earth more than 60 years ago.

Attachment:
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Hi AndrewN

Why Flourishing is wrong in Option D and E ?

Flourishing is a modifier which is correctly modifying the site of an ancient civilization.

Also if we change option C ( I know its better that we donot change the question , but still for the sake of understanding verb-ing modifier)

Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization flourishing at the same time as civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.

So is this modified sentence is correct ?

Thanks
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Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excava 04 Aug 2023, 16:41
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PriyamRathor
go2venkat
Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as the civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.


(A) that flourished at the same time as the civilizations

(B) that had flourished at the same time as had the civilizations

(C) that flourished at the same time those had

(D) flourishing at the same time as those did

(E) flourishing at the same time as those were

Hi AndrewN

Why Flourishing is wrong in Option D and E ?

Flourishing is a modifier which is correctly modifying the site of an ancient civilization.

Also if we change option C ( I know its better that we donot change the question , but still for the sake of understanding verb-ing modifier)

Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization flourishing at the same time as civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.

So is this modified sentence is correct ?

Thanks
Show more
Hello, PriyamRathor. I agree that the flourishing modifier is correctly placed after civilization, but that does not make it a correct alternative in the context of the sentence. That is, the ancient civilization is understood to have died out. When we encounter an ancient civilization flourishing, we should interpret that civilization as one that is alive and well at present. Now, it is not necessarily incorrect to suggest that an ancient civilization exists in the present day, but I would expect a continuation more like an ancient civilization that has flourished to bridge from past to present, rather than what we get at the end, examples of other ancient civilizations. Thus, we should keep the timeline in the past, and the way to do so is to use the correct verb tense or form in flourished. The issue would remain in your altered version of answer choice (C). Play it safe when it comes to SC.

Thank you for thinking to ask, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excava 05 Aug 2023, 00:17
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PriyamRathor
go2venkat
Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization that flourished at the same time as the civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.


(A) that flourished at the same time as the civilizations

(B) that had flourished at the same time as had the civilizations

(C) that flourished at the same time those had

(D) flourishing at the same time as those did

(E) flourishing at the same time as those were

Hi AndrewN

Why Flourishing is wrong in Option D and E ?

Flourishing is a modifier which is correctly modifying the site of an ancient civilization.

Also if we change option C ( I know its better that we donot change the question , but still for the sake of understanding verb-ing modifier)

Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excavation in Pakistan, the site of an ancient civilization flourishing at the same time as civilizations in the Nile delta and the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.

So is this modified sentence is correct ?

Thanks
Hello, PriyamRathor. I agree that the flourishing modifier is correctly placed after civilization, but that does not make it a correct alternative in the context of the sentence. That is, the ancient civilization is understood to have died out. When we encounter an ancient civilization flourishing, we should interpret that civilization as one that is alive and well at present. Now, it is not necessarily incorrect to suggest that an ancient civilization exists in the present day, but I would expect a continuation more like an ancient civilization that has flourished to bridge from past to present, rather than what we get at the end, examples of other ancient civilizations. Thus, we should keep the timeline in the past, and the way to do so is to use the correct verb tense or form in flourished. The issue would remain in your altered version of answer choice (C). Play it safe when it comes to SC.

Thank you for thinking to ask, and good luck with your studies.

- Andrew
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Hi AndrewN,

Thank you for the reply.

I was just recalling the rules for Verb-ing modifiers and realized that they should make sense with the subject.

So here,
Quote:
The site of an ancient civilization flourishing at the same time
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This means that the site is flourishing on its own. This meaning is nonsensical . Hence, we can reject OPTION D and E . Am I right ?

Regards
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Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excava 05 Aug 2023, 05:48
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PriyamRathor
Hi AndrewN,

Thank you for the reply.

I was just recalling the rules for Verb-ing modifiers and realized that they should make sense with the subject.

So here,
Quote:
The site of an ancient civilization flourishing at the same time

This means that the site is flourishing on its own. This meaning is nonsensical . Hence, we can reject OPTION D and E . Am I right ?

Regards
Show more
Be careful with so-called rules, PriyamRathor, concerning subjects and objects, especially the object of the preposition of. You should look to the context of the entire sentence to make an informed decision on whether the noun before or after of acts as the logical subject for the modifier. Here, I do not think we can examine the first word of answer choices (D) and (E) and eliminate those options for the suggested nonsensical interpretation you mentioned. The sentence suggests, rather, that the civilization was flourishing at a point in time in the past. It just does a poor job of conveying that message through the modifier flourishing. As a general tendency, if you can avoid pursuing a potentially dangerous line of reasoning, it is probably better to do so. In this case, a much safer, unambiguous alternative exists in answer choices (A) and (C): that flourished.

- Andrew
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Salt deposits and moisture threaten to destroy the Mohenjo-Daro excava 06 Oct 2025, 07:34
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