(D). Time taken: 0:47
(A) No verb for the main subject "The Paris Commune". Incorrect.
(B) Again no verb for the main subject. Incorrect.
(C) Participle phrase (or verb-ing phrase) "ruling France for less than two months in 1871" is an action modifier, but in no way does it modify the
action in the preceding clause. Action is, " The Paris Commune
was a government", "ruling France for less than two months in 1871" in no way modifies the action "was a government". It should modify just the "Government" (noun). But, the placement of this participle phrase is as such that it incorrectly modifies the action of the previous clause and not the noun. Incorrect.
(D) This choice converts the "Participle phrase" from a "Action modifier" to a "Noun modifier" by turning the participle phrase to a "that clause" which is a relative pronoun modifier. Thus, now "
that ruled France for less than two months in 1871" refers to the
noun it touches, that is "
government". This is the correct modification and thus this choice is correct.
Correct.
(E) Placement of "in 1981" makes this answer choice incorrect. "Touch rule" at play here. In the phrase, "that ruled France for less than two months in 1871", "that" can not jump over the "in 1981" to refer to its actual referent "government". The jump can not happen because the prepositional phrase "in 1981" can be placed elsewhere in the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence (See (D) for this). This is one way to check whether the jump can or can not happen in a sentence. If the prepositional phrase before a relative pronoun can not be placed elsewhere in the sentence or it distorts the meaning of the sentence, then the "jump" does not happen. Incorrect.