Manhattan Prep Sentence Correction , Modifiers, Problem 8

[TamaraM471]

Dear experts,

Would this version (using a -ed modifier) be correct?

The tallest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest located on the border between Nepal and Tibet.

(Official answer: The tallest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest, which is on the border between Nepal and Tibet.)

Thank you!
Tamara

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

I would say no. This kind of modifier is a bit like the 'comma VERB-ing' modifier in that it modifies the whole clause. Also, we'd expect a comma before 'located'. The general principle here is that we need some connection between the events. Take this (correct) example:

The dog fell asleep, exhausted from the run.

This is fine, since we've got a clear relationship between being exhausted and falling asleep. However, this example is not fine:

The dog fell asleep, raised by my brother.

Since there's no obvious connection between the two facts, we'd be better off using the 'which' modifier:

The dog, which was raised by my brother, fell asleep.