Puny wrote:
The tallest freestanding structure of the ancient world is the Great Pyramid of Khufu, a tomb that consists of three vast
chambers constructed on the outskirts of modern day Giza in 2570 BCE, by Khufu's vizier Hemon, and collectively standing at a little less than 147 feet tall, a height unmatched by that of any other manmade structure for over 1,000 years.
a) standing
b) stands
c) stood
d) it stood
e) is standing
I have doubt in above-mentioned ques. When I saw the solution, it mentioned constructed and standing as a noun modifier. I thought why not option B as an answer. Can you pls help here?
B is fine for several reasons and wrong for just one! It would make total sense to use parallelism and say 'a tomb that consists... and stands...'
The problem is the modifier 'collectively.' The tomb is *one thing*. I can't say "One thing collectively stands this tall."
So it must be the three chambers that collectively stand [this tall]. But in this sentence, the three chambers aren't doing a verb--they are modified by the noun modifier 'constructed,' and then, yes, with the parallel noun modifier 'standing.' Both of these modifiers are what we call 'participles' (modifiers that come from verbs). 'Constructed' is a past participle, 'standing' is a present participle, and yes, both can modify nouns. While it's unusual to have a past participle in parallel structure with a present participle, I don't believe it's wrong (I think there are official SC questions with such a construction, in fact). However, I'd love to hear Avi's and other experts' take on this one.