SC:the Louisiana Purchase of 1803

[RonPurewal]

Ron,member, pls, help

I agree that D is wrong but I want to know more.

in D, "in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803", and "for about four cents an acre" are not connected. I think we need "and" between these phrase.

A I correct? pls, help.

no. you don't use X and Y unless "X" and "Y" are separate and relatively independent.

here's an analogy:
On December 3, between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning, a burglar broke into the house. --> here, these modifiers are not separate and independent, so you don't put "and" between them.

On the morning of December 3 and on the evening of December 5, burglars broke into the house. --> here, these are separate and independent, so you use "and".

[sachin.w]

In the right answer C , please let me know what role does 'with' play?

I am going to party with Ron..

'with' in the above sentence is the only legitimate usage of 'with' that I know..

Please explain with some examples..

[jlucero]

With is an adverbial modifier, modifying the word "acquired".

How did 828,000 sq miles? With the Louisiana purchase.

Another example:

With 13 league championships, the Green Bay Packers have more titles than any other team in the NFL.

How do they have more titles than other teams? With 13 championships.

[sachin.w]

thanks joe

[jlucero]

Sure thing.

[ericyuan0811]

responses point by point:

(A): "which" followed by comma is expected to modify "an acre", "in the Louisiana purchase, U.s" is wierd in meaning

i think you have the right idea in your discussion of "which", but, just to clarify -- that "which" is trying to refer to the entire idea of the preceding clause, but grammatical rules will allow it to apply to, at the very most, "four cents an acre".


HI RON

Is this part"828,000 square miles for about four cents an acre, which..." the same structure of "noun1+prep+noun2,which..."

so "which" can refer not only to" "four cents an acre""(as you mentioned above) but also to "828,000 square miles for about four cents an acre" ??

i.e
noun1=828,000 square miles
prep=for about
noun2=four cents an acre

thank you!!

[tim]

Wait, where did Ron give the impression that "which" could refer to "square miles"?

[ericyuan0811]

Wait, where did Ron give the impression that "which" could refer to "square miles"?

HI Tim

Sorry for that I made an editorial error. I have edited it again.

My question is can we regard "828,000 square miles for about four cents an acre" as a noun to be the antecedent of "which"?

Ron said in another post:
here's the basic summary:
if you have "X of Y, which..."
then:
* if Y works as the antecedent of "which", then "which" should stand for Y.
* if Y doesn't work as the antecedent, but "X of Y" DOES work, then "which" can stand for "X of Y".

thanks for your help!

[tim]

Your summary with the asterisks is accurate. Note that this specifically does NOT allow the "which" in this case to modify the square miles.

[Suapplle]

Hi,Ron,I have one more question about this problem.
in the following structure:
main clause,sub-clause,verb-ing......
does the "comma+verb-ing" modify the sub-clause?
Subj+verb......，modifier,verb-ing......
does the "comma+ving" modify the " modifier "or the "subj+verb......" ?
I am confused,please help,thanks a lot!

[RonPurewal]

Hi,Ron,I have one more question about this problem.
in the following structure:
main clause,sub-clause,verb-ing......
does the "comma+verb-ing" modify the sub-clause?
Subj+verb......，modifier,verb-ing......
does the "comma+ving" modify the " modifier "or the "subj+verb......" ?
I am confused,please help,thanks a lot!

Hi,
Please provide specific examples. Thanks.
(I don't know what a "sub-clause" is.)

[Suapplle]

Hi,Ron,I have one more question about this problem.
in the following structure:
main clause,sub-clause,verb-ing......
does the "comma+verb-ing" modify the sub-clause?
Subj+verb......，modifier,verb-ing......
does the "comma+ving" modify the " modifier "or the "subj+verb......" ?
I am confused,please help,thanks a lot!

Hi,
Please provide specific examples. Thanks.
(I don't know what a "sub-clause" is.)

sorry not to express my idea clearly.
I mean,in choice(D),
"more than doubling the country's size,bring......"
here,"bring" modify "doubling" or the main clause"the united states acquired ......"?
also,in a similar prep question:
The new image of Stone Age people as systematic hunters of large animals, rather than merely scavenging for meat, have emerged from the examination from the examination of tools found in Germany, including three wooden spears that archaeologists believe to be above 400,000 years old.

correct answer:E. mere scavengers of meat, has emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, including
it seems that,"including" modified "tools"
but,I remeber "comma+v-ing " function as an adverb and modify the entire preceding clause,why "comma+including" modify the noun "tools"?please shed more light on,thanks!

[tkotw79]

Hello,

I am confused with the first part of option 'B'

''For about four cents an acre the United States acquired, in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, 828,000 square miles''

I wanted to know if this part of the sentence structure grammatically correct

Also in your previous post as you mentioned that the IT brought is not a parallel structure.

So would this structure be correct - ''For about four cents an acre the United States acquired, in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, 828,000 square miles, more than doubling the country's size and brought''

I choose option C over Option B because - ''more than doubling its size and bringing''

Both the parts 1) doubling its size and
2)bringing its western border - is modifying the verb ''acquired''

Stating that this acquisition has doubled and brought..., - intended meaning of the sentence.

If I use, as used in Option B - United States acquired and Brought (without It)- the focus of the sentence moves away from the Purchase agreement to United States. Will this structure be correct and conveying the same meaning.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks and Rgds

[RonPurewal]

[quote="tkotw79"]So would this structure be correct - ''For about four cents an acre the United States acquired, in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, 828,000 square miles, more than doubling the country's size and brought''

The purple things are grammatically parallel, but the construction doesn't make logical sense.

Note the intended meaning:
One action: The U.S. acquired xxxx.
Two separate consequences of that action: (a) doubling the size of the country, (b) bringing its western border blah blah blah.

The correct answer conveys this meaning perfectly. The two consequences are a modifier of the main action. Since they are separate, they are expressed as "x and y".

Your answer puts "acquired" and "brought" in parallel, using the word "and". That doesn't make sense, since those are not two separate actions.

[Suapplle]

hi,Ron,I am confused about "comma+v-ing' and "comma+v-ed"
First,"comma+v-ing"
In this question,in choice(D),
"more than doubling the country's size,bring......"
here,"bring" modify "doubling" or the main clause"the united states acquired ......"?
also,in a similar prep question:
The new image of Stone Age people as systematic hunters of large animals, rather than merely scavenging for meat, have emerged from the examination from the examination of tools found in Germany, including three wooden spears that archaeologists believe to be above 400,000 years old.

correct answer:E. mere scavengers of meat, has emerged from the examination of tools found in Germany, including
it seems that,"including" modified "tools"
but,I remeber "comma+v-ing " function as an adverb and modify the entire preceding clause,why "comma+including" modify the noun "tools"?
Second,"comma+v-ed"
I think "comma+v-ed" should modify the preceding clause,but in this sentence(it is part of sentence from Og13,but I am not sure whether I can quote it, I am really confused about this sentence,if it violates the forum rules,please delete it,thank you)
Correct sentence:Pilot JC held seventeen official national and international speed records,earned at a time when aviation was so new that many of .....
It seems "earned" modify the closet noun "records"
I met several prep questions similar to the above sentence,maybe I am wrong about the usage of "comma+v-ed"please shed more light on,thanks!