I suppose that you are seeking examples of exception to modifier touch rule. Following is an excerpt from Manhattan SC guide:

1. A “mission-critical” modifier falls between.
Right: He had a wav OF DODGING OPPONENTS that impressed the scouts.
2. A very short predicate falls between, shifting a very long modifier back.
Right: A new CEO has been hired who will transform the company bv decentralizing authority to various division heads while increasing their accountability through the use of public scorecards.
3. 3. A short non-essential phrase intervenes and is set off by commas.
Right: Our system of Presidential elections favors states, such as Delaware, that bv population are over-represented in the Electoral College.
4. The modifier is part of a series of parallel modifiers, one of which touches the noun.
Right: In heraldry, the term "tincture" refers to a color emblazoned on a coat of arms and labeled with a special French word.

The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the fact that the males build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs to attract females, decorating them with flowers and other vegetation in a display of courtship.

a) the fact that the males build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs to attract females, decorating them with flowers and other vegetation

b) the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build and decorate with flowers and other vegetation in order to attract females

c) the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs, decorated with flowers and other vegetation that the males use to attract females

d) the fact that the males build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs, having decorated them with flowers and other vegetation, to attract females

e) the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that are built by the males and decorated with flowers and other vegetation to attract females

the fact that is wordy
A and D is out
In C decorated modifies twigs
B is best answer

techiesam wrote
daagh



Techie! You must look at the grammar and logic of the context

1. Grammar: in the context, the verb build and participle having decorated are not parallel
2. Meaning: Having decorated implies that the act of decoration was done earlier than building the Bowers. This isn't logical.
When there is a such a big hole, why bother about trivial things such as passive voice and GMAT's likes and dislikes.

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MadaraU wrote:


MadaraU
Hi


Original B: The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the fact that the males build elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs that the males build and decorate with flowers and other vegetation in order to attract females, decorating them with flowers and other vegetation in a display of courtship.

Your version: The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs, that the males build and decorate with flowers and other vegetation in order to attract females, decorating them with flowers and other vegetation in a display of courtship.

You can see the meaning goes awry with the introduction of the comma before that. When you put the comma, then the content between the two commas is rendered inessential and should not alter the intended meaning of the main sentence. If you remove the modifier, then the sentence reads:

The bowerbirds of Australia derive their name from the elaborate bowers of sticks and twigs decorating them with flowers and other vegetation in a display of courtship.

Now, who is decorating whom or what? It looks as though sticks and twigs or bowers of sticks and twigs are decorating the birds (them)
We can now see how weird the meaning changes. Logically, we know that the birds cannot build sticks and twigs but only bowers. Therefore, B is quite ok
_________________

you can know a lot about something but not really understand it."-- a quote
No one knows this better than a GMAT student does.
Narendran +9198845 44509

Official Explanation (Courtesy: Manhattan Prep)

The original sentence contains the pronoun "them" but it is not grammatically clear whether the pronoun's antecedent is "bowers of sticks and twigs" or "females." Logically, we know that the antecedent is "bowers", so we need to find a replacement that makes this clear. Moreover, the bowerbird does not derive its name from the fact that it builds bowers, but from the bowers themselves.

(A) This choice is incorrect as it is the same as the original sentence.

(B) CORRECT. This choice rewrites the sentence to make it clear that the name derives from the bowers and not from the fact of building them, and it also eliminates the pronoun "them" and instead refers to "structures" to make the relationship clear.

(C) This choice does not make it clear that the males build the bowers and decorate them. Instead, it seems to suggest that the bowers exist on their own and that the male uses only the flowers and vegetation to attract females.

(D) This choice uses the phrase "having decorated them" improperly. It is not necessary to use "having" in this context because the sentence describes an ongoing event, not one that occurred in the past.

(E) This choice is in the passive voice, which is not preferable to active voice when a grammatical active version (such as B) is also offered. Moreover, the choice implies that the males only build the bowers. Since the original sentence clearly indicates that the males also decorate the bowers, this choice changes the meaning unacceptably.
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