The inmates of Arizona state prison who are selected

Question

The inmates of Arizona state prison who are selected by the state forest department to work as wilderness firefighters eat in the same cafeterias, sleep in the same campsites, and wear the same uniforms as their professional counterparts do,   defying the rigid relationship barriers enforced   inside prison walls.

A. defying the rigid relationship barriers enforced 
B. defying the relationship barriers enforced rigidly 
C. they defy the rigid relationship barriers enforced 
D. an arrangement to defy the relationship barriers that are enforced rigidly 
E. an arrangement that defies the rigid relationship barriers enforced

OptimusPrepJanielle · Answer

This is a good question that tests your understanding of the meaning along with the grammar.
We need to understand here that the inmates a re not defying anything. It is infact the overall arrangement that defies the rigid relationship barriers.

This is correctly expressed by option E.

ccooley · Answer

Look out for 'ing verb' modifiers that appear at the end of a sentence, after a comma. These are a bit of a special case. They don't modify the closest noun in the sentence; rather, they modify the main subject and verb of the sentence. In this case, the main subject and verb(s) are 'the inmates eat, sleep, and wear'. The problem is that it isn't the inmates who are defying barriers by eating, sleeping, and wearing. That would imply that the inmates somehow choose to defy barriers through their actions. (E) changes the meaning to a more logical one, by substituting the ing-verb modifier with an appositive modifier. An appositive modifier, which starts with a noun, makes it clear that the entire arrangement defies barriers, not the inmates themselves.

leanhdung · Answer

The inmates of Arizona state prison who are selected by the state forest department to work as wilderness firefighters eat in the same cafeterias, sleep in the same campsites, and wear the same uniforms as their professional counterparts do,   defying the rigid relationship barriers enforced   inside prison walls.

A.  defying  the rigid relationship barriers enforced
--> The inmates did not intend to defy..., but the way they lived ( an arrangement ) did -->  , V-ing  is not appropriate.

B.  defying  the relationship barriers enforced rigidly
--> The inmates did not intend to defy..., but the way they lived ( an arrangement ) did -->  , V-ing  is not appropriate.

C.  they defy  the rigid relationship barriers enforced
--> run-on sentence.

D. an arrangement  to  defy the relationship barriers that are enforced rigidly
--> The inmates did not intend to defy, so the use  to defy  is inappropriate .

E. an arrangement that defies the rigid relationship barriers enforced
--> correct.

arvind910619 · Answer

The answer is E 
 A is wrong as Inmates are themselves are not defying the relationship barriers .

B This choice is even more ridiculous as rigid should modify relationship

C They is ambiguous and even if it refers to inmates then also it is wrong as inmates are not defying the barriers.

D use of infinitive is not correct and rigid should modify relationship
 
  E is correct as it uses Noun +Noun modifier and this clause modifies the whole preceding sentence .

VerbalBot · Answer

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The inmates of Arizona state prison who are selected

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